urbexosaurus
18-03-2013, 10:23 AM
Ok, here we go, first post...
After an epic fail in May 2012, we decided to do a re-visit in october.
Luckily for us, it was accessible again... :)
Let me first start with a bit of the history from this cool place;
This classic protestant church has been build between 1796 - 1797 and was designed by Carl Langhans Gottard, who, amongst other things, designed the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
The outside of the church is nothing spectacular, but the inside must have been simply amazing; A beautiful alter, white floors, a huge organ, a wooden baptismal font in the middle of the church with a enormous crystal chandelier above it and two huge oval/egg shaped balconies.
The church once offered seats to more or less 400 people.
Next to the church you'll find a small cemetery...
Since 1945 this church hasn't been used anymore for church like activities, due to various reasons;
First and foremost, when this church was build, the ground it was standing on belonged to Germany and the people living there were mainly protestant.
However, when the 2nd world war ended, this area was given back to Poland and the people who came back to this area were mostly catholic.
Due to the different religion and the recent experiences with the Germans, they rather not used any of their churches to pray in and so they build their own.
Also, when the first Polish people moved back to this area, they were poor and weren't in need of a protestant church and so it didn't take long before the first graves were opened, looking for anything of value; Skulls with gold teeth, coins, rings, jewelry and so on. The same happened to the church and eventually everything of value was stolen or destroyed...
A little later the church has been repurposed as a place to keep the sheep warm and nowadays it's not much more than a complete ruin.
Due to the fact that nobody cared to maintain the building, it simply started to fall apart and right now it's in a shape almost beyond repair. (The tower is completely missing, the floors are gone and the roof contains more holes that actual tiles..)
The estimated costs to repair the holes in the roof is more or less a million euro and since nobody is willing to pay this, it's unlikely the church will ever be restored to it's former glory. (Even though it's on the "red" list of monuments in Poland.)
To show the beauty of this place, here are a few pics of the church, dated 1926;
Outside:
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/362/362353.jpg
Inside:
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/369/369742.jpg
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/362/362357.jpg
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/425/425894.jpg
Ok, that's it for the history, let's move on to the current state;
1#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8327/8128422866_1719af2fbb_c.jpg
2#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8193/8128395579_7dd44f7dc6_c.jpg
3#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8469/8128422204_835abc234f_c.jpg
4#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8185/8128394803_556f2d9222_c.jpg
5#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8187/8128421400_697d2befa3_c.jpg
6#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8190/8128394131_29c7d08c91_c.jpg
7#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8193/8128392575_fb9b63ca54_c.jpg
8#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8335/8128418906_c8f3c28950_c.jpg
9#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8128388917_2a76c8f54a_c.jpg
10#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8328/8128419774_dce3a5dbd6_c.jpg
11#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8333/8128393879_2908486f82_c.jpg
12#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8048/8128393639_58b41b351a_c.jpg
13#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8186/8128420156_1588d1c3ff_c.jpg
14#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8051/8128390021_f3744cac91_c.jpg
15#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8476/8128418670_252f93d405_c.jpg
16#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8128391443_31620a751f_c.jpg
17#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8327/8128417234_a62772dda4_c.jpg
18#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8470/8128416476_f50378eaee_c.jpg
19#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8331/8128416174_676ece3108_c.jpg
20#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8471/8128417744_84a2831aa9_c.jpg
Thnx for watching!!
After an epic fail in May 2012, we decided to do a re-visit in october.
Luckily for us, it was accessible again... :)
Let me first start with a bit of the history from this cool place;
This classic protestant church has been build between 1796 - 1797 and was designed by Carl Langhans Gottard, who, amongst other things, designed the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
The outside of the church is nothing spectacular, but the inside must have been simply amazing; A beautiful alter, white floors, a huge organ, a wooden baptismal font in the middle of the church with a enormous crystal chandelier above it and two huge oval/egg shaped balconies.
The church once offered seats to more or less 400 people.
Next to the church you'll find a small cemetery...
Since 1945 this church hasn't been used anymore for church like activities, due to various reasons;
First and foremost, when this church was build, the ground it was standing on belonged to Germany and the people living there were mainly protestant.
However, when the 2nd world war ended, this area was given back to Poland and the people who came back to this area were mostly catholic.
Due to the different religion and the recent experiences with the Germans, they rather not used any of their churches to pray in and so they build their own.
Also, when the first Polish people moved back to this area, they were poor and weren't in need of a protestant church and so it didn't take long before the first graves were opened, looking for anything of value; Skulls with gold teeth, coins, rings, jewelry and so on. The same happened to the church and eventually everything of value was stolen or destroyed...
A little later the church has been repurposed as a place to keep the sheep warm and nowadays it's not much more than a complete ruin.
Due to the fact that nobody cared to maintain the building, it simply started to fall apart and right now it's in a shape almost beyond repair. (The tower is completely missing, the floors are gone and the roof contains more holes that actual tiles..)
The estimated costs to repair the holes in the roof is more or less a million euro and since nobody is willing to pay this, it's unlikely the church will ever be restored to it's former glory. (Even though it's on the "red" list of monuments in Poland.)
To show the beauty of this place, here are a few pics of the church, dated 1926;
Outside:
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/362/362353.jpg
Inside:
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/369/369742.jpg
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/362/362357.jpg
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/425/425894.jpg
Ok, that's it for the history, let's move on to the current state;
1#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8327/8128422866_1719af2fbb_c.jpg
2#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8193/8128395579_7dd44f7dc6_c.jpg
3#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8469/8128422204_835abc234f_c.jpg
4#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8185/8128394803_556f2d9222_c.jpg
5#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8187/8128421400_697d2befa3_c.jpg
6#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8190/8128394131_29c7d08c91_c.jpg
7#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8193/8128392575_fb9b63ca54_c.jpg
8#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8335/8128418906_c8f3c28950_c.jpg
9#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8128388917_2a76c8f54a_c.jpg
10#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8328/8128419774_dce3a5dbd6_c.jpg
11#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8333/8128393879_2908486f82_c.jpg
12#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8048/8128393639_58b41b351a_c.jpg
13#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8186/8128420156_1588d1c3ff_c.jpg
14#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8051/8128390021_f3744cac91_c.jpg
15#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8476/8128418670_252f93d405_c.jpg
16#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8128391443_31620a751f_c.jpg
17#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8327/8128417234_a62772dda4_c.jpg
18#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8470/8128416476_f50378eaee_c.jpg
19#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8331/8128416174_676ece3108_c.jpg
20#
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8471/8128417744_84a2831aa9_c.jpg
Thnx for watching!!