Square in the heart of Bielsko's Zion with the Church of the Saviour and the only monument to Martin Luther in Poland.
Martin Luther Square (Plac Marcina Lutra) is the central point of the Evangelical quarter of Bielsko-Biała, known as the Bielsko Zion. It lies on the border of the historic Lower and Upper Suburbs, right next to the town centre.
The origins of the district are linked to the Patent of Toleration of Emperor Joseph II of 13 October 1781, which gave Lutherans freedom to practise their religion. In March 1782, during the first service, Superintendent Jan Traugott Bartelmus used the term “Bielsko Zion”. The first to be built was a school (1782-1783), then a brick church, completed in 1790. The buildings were destroyed by the fire of the town in 1808, but soon rebuilt.
The Church of the Saviour was rebuilt in the neo-Gothic spirit: in 1881 to a design by the Viennese architect Heinrich von Ferstel, and in 1895-1896 the tower was raised. In 1900 a monument to Martin Luther by Franz Vogl was unveiled here. It was one of two such monuments in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and today it remains the only one in Poland. The square also has the Pastors' Well of 1934, commemorating Bielsko pastors who served the community, and the Monument of Gratitude and Love, a fragment of the tomb of Pastor Georg Nowak from 1818.
The building of the former Evangelical Teachers' Seminary of 1863-1866 was the first, and for over ten years the only, such institution in the Austrian state. Today it houses the University of Administration. A building from 1987-1992 is the seat of the Augustana Publishing House and the board of the Cieszyn diocese of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession.
In Austro-Hungarian times the square was called Kirchplatz, then Church Square (plac Kościelny), and in the communist period Father Piotr Ściegienny Square. The present name was given in 1990.
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