A Modernist garrison church from 1930-1933 on Kopernika Street, entered in the heritage register, with almost complete original furnishings.
The Church of St Casimir the Prince stands in the centre of Katowice on Mikołaja Kopernika Street and from the beginning was a garrison and school church. It was built in 1930-1933 in the spirit of Functionalism, of brick, and its distinguishing feature is a single tall tower in the north-west corner.
Construction began on 23 June 1930, and the foundation stone was blessed in September of that year by Field Bishop Stanisław Gall. The design was prepared by Leon Dietz d'Arma, then still a student at the Warsaw University of Technology, in cooperation with Jan Zarzycki. The site was donated by the city, and the building committee included Father Józef Gawlina, Voivode Michał Grażyński and the mayor of Katowice Adam Kocur. The interior was blessed in November 1931, and the consecration took place in June 1933.
The tower is 40 metres tall and topped with an openwork superstructure of eight pillars, and the main body reaches 17 metres. Inside is a three-nave pseudo-basilica with plain pillars, and the decor is in the Art Deco style. Almost all the original furnishings have survived: altars of grey Żurawica marble, the font, confessionals, pews, lamps and stained glass. Notable are a wooden sculpture of Christ by Marian Spindler of Lwów, bas-reliefs of the Stations of the Cross by Zofia Trzcińska-Kamińska and a sculpture of St Anthony of Padua by Karol Muszkiet.
The organ from 1933 was made by the Piotrków firm Stanisław Krukowski and Son. It has two manuals and 21 stops. Behind the chancel there are two chapels: of St Joseph and of Our Lady Queen of the Polish Crown.
The church lies near the centre, about 400 metres from the Cathedral of Christ the King, so it combines well with a walk around the interwar churches of Katowice.
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