Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Szczecin-Dąbie

The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the oldest church of the former town of Dąbie, today part of Szczecin. Originally it was dedicated to St James, like the present archcathedral, and its tower is 75.6 m high.

History of the church

In 1182 Duke Bogusław I handed the estate called Damba to the Cistercian monastery in Kołbacz. In 1260 Barnim I founded a benefice for the parish in Dąbie, and in 1268 construction of a granite church began. The original small wooden church was in time replaced by a three-aisle brick-and-stone Gothic hall church with a tower and a chancel. In 1534 the church was taken over by Protestants. It was destroyed by fires in 1540, 1592 and 1652, and in 1863 lightning set fire to the tall helmet roof of the tower and a large part of the structure burned down.

Rebuilding in the 19th century

In 1864-1866 the church was rebuilt and furnished to a neo-Gothic design by Karl Brecht. Part of the medieval walls was kept, but the upper parts, the chancel, the chapels, the pillars and the vault were built anew. Today it is a six-bay hall church with a three-sided chancel and a square tower on the axis of the west façade. Until 12 January 2008, when the helmet roof of the tower of St James' Cathedral was reconstructed, it was the tallest church tower in the city.

Interior

The main altar is neo-Gothic, with wimpergs, pinnacles and rose windows, and in the middle hangs the painting “Resurrection” by Carl Gottfried Pfannschmidt. The side altar with the painting “Holy Trinity” was made in 1880 by the firm of Walenty Trzciński of Poznań. The neo-Gothic pulpit with a canopy is one of the more valuable pieces of furnishing. In 1866 the Szczecin organ builder Barnim Grüneberg built a 26-stop mechanical organ. A wooden crucifix from the 18th century has also survived.

After 1945 the church was damaged, it was blessed on 12 December 1945 and consecrated on 19 December 1982. Renovation work lasted in 1973-1981.

Practical information

• Address: Plac Kościelny 4, Szczecin-Dąbie.
• Mass times and the possibility of visiting the interior are given by the parish.

Since 2008 the tower of Dąbie has been surpassed by the tower of the Archcathedral Basilica of St James the Apostle.

About four kilometres further on lies Emerald Lake (Jezioro Szmaragdowe).