This fabulous church was built in the 1890’s. In WWII it was pretty much destroyed. Here is the church around 1900.
Here it is after the bombing, at a 1953 memorial service:
Eventually the apse was declared unsafe and demolished. The area was cleared for new construction:
Instead of rebuilding, they left the narthex as a memorial and then built an ultramodern (1959-1963) new sanctuary, fellowship hall and bell tower.
Here is the church this afternoon:
Opposite the altar in the gallery is an organ containing about 5,000 pipes, which was built by Schuke. By the northeast wall of the church are three works of art.
And the inside of the narthex, a bit ornate by modern US Lutheran standards. 🙂
Eerily, the inscription below the statue above says, “And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”
June 19, 2014 at 12:58 pm
This is a deeply moving description and collection of photos of the church. It is always a stunning sight on the city landscape, always reminding one of the horrors of the War. I have the deepest respect for this presentation.
My particular ‘call’ within the church and culture involves reminding us all that every church in the city of Warsaw Poland was bombed, blown up, and ruined during the War, much worse than this. Poland is rather out of sight, out of mind, and we forget. The entire city was bombed and left in ruins. The rubble was only interrupted by the occasional fragment of a facade. Warsaw was completely destroyed.
I’m not Polish, I have no “dog in this fight,” no personal stake in sharing this information. Rather, I believe it is important to bear witness to all the horrors of WWII, and because Poland is so often forgotten, it has become one of my calls to bear witness to the terrible suffering of the Polish people: 3 million ethnic Poles (besides the Polish Jews) were killed in the War, by Nazis and by Soviets, too.
I appreciate your thoughtful consideration of this, in light of our mutual concerns for the damage done to Dresden, Berlin and elsewhere in Europe. I invite you to remember them as you pray for the souls of the dead and for the healing of the survivors, and their kin down to this day. Thank you.