Church of St Joseph in Ruda Śląska

The Church and Shrine of St Joseph on ulica Piastowska in Ruda Śląska is a brick church built in 1902-1904, funded by Count Franz Xaver von Ballestrem. The foundation stone was blessed on 4 December 1901, on the feast of St Barbara, patron saint of miners, and the church was consecrated in 1905. Until 1910 it was the private property of the Ballestrem family, after which the count handed it over to the parish.

Architecture

The design was made by August Menken of Berlin. The building is modelled on the Roman basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura: it has a basilica layout on a Latin cross plan, a tower in the north-eastern corner and galleries above the side aisles. The portals are closed with semicircular arches, with sculptures of the Paschal Lamb and St Joseph in the tympana. The nave ceiling is decorated with coffers and with polychrome decoration from 1938.

Interior and crypt

The cushion capitals of the columns in the nave are decorated with symbolic reliefs depicting, among other things, the four estates of society, the four elements, the four stages of life and the four cardinal virtues. A large chandelier, made in Aachen, symbolises Jerusalem: the hoop is the walls, and on it are 12 gates and 12 turrets. In the tower chapel stands a marble Pietà from 1905. Beneath the chancel is a crypt in which the founder Franz Xaver Ballestrem and his wife and Walentin Wolfgang Ballestrem and his wife are buried; by the entrances stand bronze angels of death by the Berlin sculptor Józef Limburg. From the church it is about two kilometres to Fazaniec Park.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Piastowska 18, Ruda Śląska.
• The church is in use. Information about visiting is given by the parish.