The Gothic Revival church is located outside the old town area, to the south-east of the market square. The body of the church has been preserved in its original state and the building is an important element in the spatial layout of the town.

History

At the efforts of a Catholic priest, Rev. Karl Ponsens, the church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected in Żary in the years 1914-1917. It was the first Catholic church built in the town after the Reformation. Owing to the commitment of Rev. Ponsens and generosity of corporations and associations active in the town, funds were raised for the purchase of the plot located in the area of the former manor farm and for the erection of an impressive Gothic Revival church. Wolfgang Wagner, an architect based in Berlin, designed the church. A ceremonious consecration of the temple took place on 8 September 1917, led by the Bishop of Breslau, Cardinal Adolf Bertram. A stylistically coherent clergy house was erected on the plot next to the church. Hostilities of World War II did not lead to major damage to the building. Rev. Karl Ponsens, who had been a parish priest from the very beginning, did not leave the town during the evacuation of German residents. Instead, he chose to stay and managed the parish until his death in 1949. The local community, in recognition of Rev. Ponsens’ merits, erected his tombstone in the church area. In the 1960s painting of the church interior took place and a boiler heating up the temple was repaired. In the 1970s the tower roof was covered with copper sheet. The interior of the church was repainted again in 1981. In the years 1998-2000 renovation of the temple roof and conservation of the roof truss of the church and the tower took place. In 2005 the stained glass windows were secured and cleaned. The Gothic Revival temple is one of the tourist attractions of Żary.

Description

The parish church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Żary is situated at 30 11 Listopada Street, outside the old town. The church and the nearby clergy house are located on a square parcel surrounded by an original, wrought fence with an Art Deco floral motif, resting on a brick base and posts. The area in front of the church is partially lined with granite paving blocks and partially overgrown with decorative plants. The Gothic Revival church is a building that is oriented towards the east, made of bricks and resting on a stone base, with non-plastered walls, a three-nave layout and featuring a transept. A quadrangular tower with a porch in its ground floor section adjoins the main body of the church at the north-west end. The main body of the temple is covered with a gable and multi-hipped roof (on the east side). The tower is topped by a pyramidal cupola with a clock. The façades are pierced by pointed-arch window openings, terminating in profiled surrounds and of different sizes and proportions. Two entrances to the church are adorned with pointed-arch portals with decorative mosaics presenting the Mother of God. Diversified architectural details are found on the façades, in the form of, among others, blinds, friezes and cornices. The interior of the three-nave temple is covered with ceramic groin and ribbed groin vaults. The original fittings and décor of the temple have survived. The fixtures and fittings and décor of the church include, among others: a wooden triptych presenting the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary from 1917; two side altars presenting the Pieta and the Holy Family; a stone baptismal font, a pulpit, a group of stained glass windows made at a workshop of Heinrich Oidtmann in Linnich near Aachen in 1917; confessionals; benches; three bells cast in 1916 and 1918; a tower clock from 1916; and plant-and-floral paintings on the walls and vaults.

The church is property of a religious community. It celebrates regular masses. It is open to the public.

Author of the note Krzysztof Słowiński, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra, 15-11-2017

Bibliography

• Danowska M., Witraże sakralne z okresu od 2. poł. XIX do lat 30. XX wieku w województwie lubuskim, [in:] Lubuskie Materiały Konserwatorskie, vol. 5 (2008), Zielona Góra 2008, p. 169;
• Majchrzak J.P., Encyklopedia Ziemi Żarskiej, Żary 2002, p. 116;
• White record sheet: Kościół parafialny p.w. Wniebowzięcia  Najświętszej Marii Panny w Żarach, prepared by Jacek Sawiński, study of 2005, [in] Archives of the Regional Monument Protection Office in Zielona Góra.