Martin Luther Church in Siemianowice Śląskie

A Neo-Gothic red-brick church stands on Wyspiańskiego Street in the centre of Siemianowice Śląskie. It was completed in 1895 for the Lutherans settling around the Laura Steelworks, who had previously had to travel to Królewska Huta for services. Today it again serves the Evangelical Augsburg parish.

Construction

Fundraising began in 1883 during a celebration in honour of Martin Luther, and the neighbouring Lutheran congregations also supported the building work. The foundation stone was laid in April 1893. The design was prepared by Franz Posern, the county building inspector from Pszczyna.

Architecture and interior

The church has a Latin cross plan with a transept and a single nave, and the walls are reinforced with buttresses. On the axis of the façade rises a square, two-storey tower with an octagonal spire. The chancel is covered by a rib vault, and the arms of the transept have galleries. The interior has preserved a colourful terrazzo floor, a wooden choir loft, stained glass from the Türcke & Schlein firm of Zittau, an organ by Schlag & Söhne of Świdnica, and a Neo-Gothic hexagonal font modelled on the one in Wittenberg. The three bells were donated by the brothers Wilhelm and Richard Fitzner.

After the war

The frescoes from 1920 that decorated the transept and the chancel arch were removed after 1945. In the same year the church was taken over by the Roman Catholic parish, and from 1946 it was used by the Visitation Sisters. It returned to the Lutheran congregation in 2000. Since 2010 it has been entered in the heritage register.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Stanisława Wyspiańskiego 4, Siemianowice Śląskie.
• The church is in active use; check with the Evangelical Augsburg parish whether the interior can be visited.