The Churches of Peace ( pl, Kościoły Pokoju, german: Friedenskirchen) in

Jawor Jawor (german: Jauer) is a town in south-western Poland with 22,890 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 it was in the former Legnica Voivodeship). It is the seat of Jawor County, and lies appr ...

(german: Jauer, link=no) and

Świdnica Świdnica (; german: Schweidnitz; cs, Svídnice; szl, Świdńica) is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. As of 2019, it has a population of 57,014 inhabitants. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh large ...

(german: Schweidnitz, link=no) in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

were named after the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. It permitted the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

s of

to build three churches from wood, loam and straw outside the city walls, without steeples and church bells. The construction time was limited to one year. The third Peace church, erected in

Głogów Głogów (; german: Glogau, links=no, rarely , cs, Hlohov, szl, Głogōw) is a city in western Poland. It is the county seat of Głogów County, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), and was previously in Legnica Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

(then German ), burned down in 1758. Since 2001, the two remaining churches are listed as

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

History

Despite the physical and political constraints, three of the churches became the biggest

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

religious buildings in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

due to pioneering constructional and architectural solutions. The church in

, dedicated to the

Holy Ghost For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is believed to be the third person of the Trinity, a Triune God manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each entity itself being God.Gru ...

is long, wide and high and has capacity of 5,500. It was constructed by architect Albrecht von Saebisch (1610–1688) from Wroclaw (then German ''Breslau'') and was finished a year later in 1655. The 200 paintings inside by were done by Georg Flegel in 1671–1681. The altar, by Martin Schneider, dates to 1672, the original organ of J. Hoferichter from Legnica (then German ''Liegnitz'') of 1664 was replaced in 1855–1856 by Adolf Alexander Lummert. By that time, the town had been part of the majority Protestant

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

for about a century. Another 100 years later, in 1945, the town became part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, as a result of the Potsdam Agreement. Although most of the Protestant churches in the German provinces taken over by Poland in 1945 became Catholic, the two Peace Churches still serve their

parishes. The similar church, erected in

(then German ''Glogau'') burned down in 1758, but the one in

, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, survived like the one in

. Both were restored by a Polish–German cooperation, and recognized by UNESCO in 2001. Friedensk-Glogau.jpg, Glogau (Głogów) Friedensk-Jauer.jpg, Jauer (Jawor) Friedensk-Schweidnitz.jpg, Schweidnitz (Świdnica)

Gallery

Świdnica

File:Swidnica- Kosciol Pokoju 02.jpg, Image:Swidnica-kosc-pokoju1.jpg, Main altar File:Swidnica - Kosciol Pokoju- wnetrze 01.jpg, Swidnica - Kosciol Pokoju- wnetrze 05.jpg,

Jawor

Swiątynia Pokoju w Jaworze - 191.jpg Image:Jawor2.jpg, Organ File:Wnętrze z ołtarzem głównym Świątyni Pokoju w Jaworze, woj. dolnośląskie, pow. jaworski A1905990 z 4.09.1963 -Magkrys.JPG, Main altar File:ChurchOfPeace Jawor Wiki.png,

Surroundings

Gola Dzierżoniowska Castle The Gola Castle (german: Schloss Guhlau) erected in the second half of the 16th century is situated in the village of Gola Dzierżoniowska, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It is located 4 km north-west of Niemcza, 18&nbs ...

* Medieval town of

Niemcza Niemcza (german: Nimptsch) is a town in Dzierżoniów County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Niemcza. The town lies on the Ślęza River, approximately e ...

* Cistercian monastery at Henryków * Wojsławice Arboretum

Bibliography

* Worthmann, Ludwig, ''Führer durch die Friedenskirche zu Schweidnitz''. Breslau 1929. * Kalinowski, Konstanty, ''Barock in Schlesien''. München 1990. . * Gruk, Wojciech, ''Silesian Churches of Peace and the Royal Hungarian Articular Churches. Possible Legal and Architectural Relations.'' In: Protestantischer Kirchenbau der Frühen Neuzeit in Europa. Grundlagen und neue Forschungskonzepte. — Protestant Church Architecture in Early Modern Europe. Fundamentals and New Research Approaches. Regensburg 2015, p. 333-343. .

External links

Church Of Peace in Jawor – photo gallery

Church of Peace in Świdnica
{{World Heritage Sites in Poland Christianity in the Holy Roman Empire Habsburg Silesia Christianity in Prussia Lutheran churches in Poland Jawor Buildings and structures in Świdnica 17th-century Lutheran churches in Germany Churches in Lower Silesian Voivodeship World Heritage Sites in Poland