Church of St Michael the Archangel in Świebodzin

Look up inside the church and you will see a vault woven from white ribs that has long been compared to St Peter's fishing net. That is no accident: the church was originally dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. Today's parish church of St Michael the Archangel stands a few steps from the market square and is the oldest religious building in Świebodzin.

History: fire, enlargement and a Gothic Revival costume

The church is first mentioned in 1311, probably as a small timber building. In the middle or late 15th century it was replaced by a brick, three-aisled hall church with a five-sided chancel and ambulatory. The great town fire of 1541 forced the burghers to rebuild: in 1546 they hired Georg Jakob Curtius and Thomas Heintz, and the work lasted until 1555. The church gained a fourth aisle on the north side and a row of chapels with a gallery on the south.

By the 19th century the building was in poor condition. Parish priest Künzer commissioned extensive work in 1850–1858 to designs by the Wrocław architect Alexis Langer. An arcaded porch was added, and the west gable was reshaped with a large tracery window flanked by two slender turrets. That is the gable you see from the street today.

What to see

• High altar – a late Gothic five-panel altarpiece from the workshop of the Master of the Gościszowice Altar. The predella shows the Last Supper, the central panel the Holy Kinship of Mary, and the wings scenes from the lives of Saints Martin, Augustine, Andrew and Roch. It is crowned by a Baroque figure of St Michael.
• Rood beam with a late Gothic Crucifixion group.
• Rococo altar of Our Lady of Victory from around 1740.
• The building – a nave block on a roughly 31 × 27-metre plan under a single roof, buttressed on all sides, with pointed windows and tracery.

Did you know?

From 1748 to 1766 the German composer Wilhelm Adolph was cantor of the church and rector of the parish school. The former parish school building on ul. Szpitalna, dating from the early 17th century, still stands next door. A school existed at the parish at least from the 14th century, and according to some records the present building replaced a timber one in 1604.

Tripto tip

This is a working parish church, so the easiest time to go in is just before or after Mass; please keep quiet during services. The best view of the vault is from the back of the nave, where you can take in the whole net of ribs. Allow 20–30 minutes for the interior and a walk around the outside. Combine it with the town hall and the Regional Museum on the other side of the square.