Church of St Augustine in Świętochłowice-Lipiny

The Church of St Augustine in Lipiny is a neo-Gothic parish church from 1871-1872, regarded as the oldest church in Świętochłowice. It is entered in the heritage register.

A church for a steelworks settlement

Lipiny developed around zinc metallurgy and coal mining. The residents originally belonged to the parish in Bytom, and later in Królewska Huta, that is, present-day Chorzów. The distance, bad roads and working conditions made it hard for them to attend services, so the parishioners of Lipiny and Chropaczów asked for a church of their own. In 1862 a chapel was set up in a school building, and in 1869 an application was made to build a church and a presbytery.

Construction began in 1871, the foundation stone was blessed on 3 July, and the church was blessed on 24 July 1872. The builder was August Schmieder, general director of the Silesian Joint-Stock Company for Mining and Zinc Works, even though he was himself a Protestant. The costs were covered mainly by the Steelworks Brotherhood Fund and the company's management. The name of the designer remains unknown. In its original dimensions the church held about 1,500 worshippers and was 15.9 metres wide and 18 metres long. The aisles, the Rosary chapel and other elements were added later.

Architecture

The church has a Latin cross plan, with three naves and a pseudo-hall layout. The two-bay transept forms arms that are clearly visible from outside, as high as the nave body. On the west the building is closed by a square tower, and the east side is occupied by the chancel with sacristies and a chapel. The façades are of brick, today uniformly dark grey. They are distinguished by a stone main portal at the base of the tower, crowned with sculptures of St Florian and St John of Nepomuk.

The interior is decorated with stained glass, several windows in the side aisle being designed by Adam Bunsch. What sets it apart from the town's other neo-Gothic churches are the cross-rib, rib and crystal vaults that cover the whole interior. Next to the church lies a cemetery with the graves of Silesian insurgents and of the Silesian writers Augustyn Świder and August Czarnynog.

Nearby

In Świętochłowice, about 2.5 kilometres from here, is the Museum of the Silesian Uprisings in Świętochłowice.

A little further, about 4.7 kilometres away, lies the Upper Silesian Ethnographic Park.

Practical information

• Address: doktora Antoniego Bukowego 22, Świętochłowice-Lipiny.
• This is an active parish church. The rules for entering the interior are given by the parish.