Former Lutheran Church in Zduny

The outer wall of the former Protestant church in Zduny still bears marks of German gunfire from the first day of the Second World War – at the time the little town lay right on the border. The church itself is a century and a half older: the Baroque-Neoclassical building with its tower went up in 1789–1792 and served the local Lutheran congregation for more than 150 years. Inside, two tiers of galleries on Ionic columns and the gravestones of former townspeople have survived.

History: from Cieszków to a funeral chapel

Zduny, granted town rights in 1267 on the border between Greater Poland and Silesia, flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries thanks to its position next to the Silesian frontier. At first the local Protestants had no church of their own and walked to Cieszków for services. They built their first wooden church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, in 1637. It burned down in 1789, and construction of the present building began that same year, finishing in 1792. In 1937 the Lutheran parish of Zduny had 950 members.

The congregation existed until the end of the Second World War, and from 1946 to 1989 the church was used as a warehouse. Today the building belongs to the municipality and serves as a funeral chapel; it is sometimes called the Church of the Sacred Heart. On the 13th of every month a Catholic Fatima devotion is held here. In 2012 a bilingual Polish–German plaque was unveiled inside in memory of the deceased members of the former Lutheran parish, 1636–1945.

What to look for

• The building: a rectangular nave with a square tower on the east side, a gabled roof and a pyramid-shaped tower roof, all covered in tiles.
• Bullet marks on the outer wall – a reminder of 1 September 1939.
• Galleries on two levels supported by Ionic columns – a typical Protestant layout designed so that everyone could hear the sermon.
• The Neoclassical pulpit of 1792 and an allegorical sculpture of Hope.
• 18th-century sandstone grave slabs commemorating prominent Protestant citizens of Zduny.

Tripto tip

The building does not function as an ordinary parish church, so the easiest time to see the interior is on the 13th of the month during the Fatima service; otherwise you can view the exterior and the bullet marks in 10–15 minutes. Zduny lies about 7 km from Krotoszyn on national road 15, and in the same municipality the late Neoclassical palace in Baszków with its 11-hectare park is worth a detour.