Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Zbrosławice

On a hill in Zbrosławice near Tarnowskie Góry stands the Gothic-Baroque church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary — a temple already mentioned in 1447, known today as the Sanctuary of the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Next to it rises a free-standing belfry from 1564.

From All Saints to the Assumption

The village takes its name from the Opole castellan Zbrosław (mentioned in 1235), and the parish is recorded from 1315; the first wooden church stood here in the mid-13th century. The present masonry church was enlarged in 1610–1620 with a nave funded by Jerzy Larisch, and rebuilt in 1774–1777 by master builder Christoph Worbs. Until 1737 the church bore the invocation of All Saints. In June 1909 the roof burned down; the church was quickly rebuilt with new bays added.

The figurine hidden from the Swedes

The heart of the sanctuary is a 43-centimetre wooden figurine of the Virgin Mary with Child from the 16th century. Before the Swedish invasion it was hidden in the Dominican convent in Imbach near Vienna; in 1707 it was found — after visions in dreams — by Duchess Maria Petronela of the Stockmans family, who dug it out of the sacristy. The figurine came to Zbrosławice by inheritance in 1799, and on 8 August 1954, during an enthronement ceremony, it was placed on a golden throne in the main altar.

Practicalities

The feast of Our Lady of Zbrosławice falls on the second day of Pentecost, and pilgrim groups arrive all year round. The interior features late-Baroque furnishings from the 18th century, full-figure tomb slabs from the 17th century and a 14-stop organ by Paul Berschdorf from 1917; by the cemetery wall stands the neo-Gothic Stockmans family mausoleum of 1827.