Church of Our Lady Queen of the Polish Crown (Norwegian-style church), Poznań

In Krzesiny, on the south-eastern edge of Poznań, stands a church that looks as if it had been shipped in from northern Norway. The steep roofs, dark weatherboarding and intricate little tower are not Scandinavian, though: the building was an exhibit at a major fair in 1911 and was bought for German settlers. Today it is the only wooden church within Poznań's city limits and a working parish church.

History: from the exhibition grounds to Krzesiny

In 1911 the church, with room for 180 people, was displayed at the East German Exhibition in Poznań (then the Prussian city of Posen) as a model church for small settler villages. It stood in a "model village" alongside a school, a village council building and an inn. It was then bought by the Prussian Colonisation Commission, which had settled families from Westphalia in Krzesiny (renamed Kreising). Assembly on the new site began on 6 May 1912, and the church was blessed on 30 October 1912.

Until the end of the Second World War it served as a Protestant church. On the night of 22–23 November 1941, right next to it, the German occupiers carried out the so-called Krzesiny action, beating and humiliating Poles from the village and the surrounding area. According to the parish, the church was handed over to Catholics on 10 May 1945, and an independent parish was established on 1 March 1958. The consecration only took place in 2012, the hundredth anniversary of the church's arrival in Krzesiny.

What to see

• Northern Norwegian silhouette – steep roof slopes and a tower of remarkably complex construction. It is probably the second church in Poland, after the Wang stave church in Karpacz, to draw directly on Norwegian models.
• Post-and-frame structure filled with brick, clad in boards outside and plastered inside.
• Traces of old wall paintings – a general renovation in 2011 uncovered floral ornaments and German inscriptions in Gothic script.
• Memorial to 21 victims of the Second World War (1975) and a commemorative boulder unveiled on 1 March 2008 for the parish's 50th anniversary.

Good to know

The Norwegian style was no accident in Prussian Posen: the authorities of the day liked Scandinavian models, and the Nordic room in the city's Imperial Castle is another example. After 1918 only five Protestant families remained in Krzesiny, so the church became a centre for Protestants from the neighbouring villages of Chartowo, Kamionki and Borówiec.

Tripto tip

This is a working church rather than a museum, so the easiest way to see the interior is just before or after Mass. According to the parish website, Sunday Masses are at 8:00, 10:00 and 11:30, on Tuesdays at 8:30 and on other weekdays at 18:00. Allow 15–30 minutes to look at the exterior. The parish office is at ul. Jarosławska 5. For the best photo of the tower, stand to one side so the whole roofline is visible. The old Krzesiny manor house stands nearby.