Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Złocieniec

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands in the centre of Złocieniec and is one of the oldest buildings in the town. The brick body dates from the 15th century, but today's appearance, especially of the tower, is the result of several rebuildings in the 19th and 20th centuries. The building is entered in the heritage register.

A Gothic body of the 15th century

The church was probably built in the 15th century in the so-called monastic Gothic, of brick. In 1529 the tower was covered with a copper roof, and in the mid-16th century the church received an organ. With the Reformation it was taken over by the Lutherans, who used it until 1945. In 1658 a fire destroyed the Gothic vault of the nave and it was never rebuilt.

Rebuildings that changed its appearance

The greatest changes came in 1847-1849. During modernisation the external buttresses and the Gothic window arches were removed, and the front part of the tower was clad with a smooth wall. In 1879 the ruins of the old tower were demolished and a new, neo-Gothic one built, with a clock. Another renovation in 1936-1937 concentrated on the tower: the corner turrets were taken off and the tops of the buttresses flattened, so that the formerly slender tower became squat. The interior was painted blue and decorated with gilding on the ceiling above the choir and the pulpit, and the floor was laid with clinker brick. The renovated church was consecrated in March 1937.

After 1945

Since May 1945 the church has been used by Catholics, and it is run by the Resurrectionists. After a fire in 1981 the balconies were removed, the façade was renovated and new stained glass was installed in the chancel. The entrance to the crypt under the altar was also bricked up, in which there is an 18th-century tomb of the von Borcke family. In 1984 a new organ was installed, and in 1985 the church was consecrated. In 1994-1997 the façade was altered. The choir was adorned with a stained-glass window of St Cecilia in 2003, and the chapel of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn received in 2006 a window with St John Paul II.

Nearby

The church lies next to the former castle, recalled by the castle ruins in Złocieniec. Less than two hundred metres further on is the Jewish cemetery.

Practical information

• Place: Złocieniec, town centre, Drawsko County.
• The building is in use as a parish church; check the times of services and the possibility of entering the interior with the parish.
• Heritage register entry: number 569 of 1966.