St John the Baptist's Church in Racibórz

St John the Baptist's Church stands in the Ostróg district of Racibórz, right by the castle. It is a Neo-Gothic church of 1856-1866, entered in the heritage register as part of the church complex in Ostróg.

The previous church and the new building

The first church is dated in the sources to the 13th century; it may have begun as a castle chapel moved outside the walls. In 1307 it was wooden and had no parish rights. After a fire in 1637 it was rebuilt by Count Jerzy Oppersdorf, and the bishop blessed the church and three altars in 1649. The old, Baroque church was moved to Zawada Książęca, where it was consecrated on 31 October 1869; it burned down after a lightning strike in 1993. The new church was designed by Vincenz Statz of Cologne, modelled on the 13th-century cathedral in Freiburg im Breisgau, and the master mason was Johannes Kirstein of Koźle.

Interior

The high altar and three side altars were made by the Munich sculptor Adalbert Sickinger. The high altar holds a painting of the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan. A stone font of the 16th century was moved from the old church. The pillars are decorated with figures of the twelve apostles, and a balustrade runs around with the Stations of the Cross and scenes from the lives of Jesus and Mary. The stained-glass windows in the transept, from around 1900, are the work of Otto Lazar of Racibórz and Franz Borgias Mayer of Munich, who made the window of the Last Judgement.

The miraculous image

Ostróg is associated with the cult of an image of the Man of Sorrows, painted on a board at the end of the 17th or the beginning of the 18th century and placed in the side altar of the Holy Cross. Pilgrimages to Ostróg have been recorded since 1817, and after 1827 interest grew in building a new church. A copy of the image on canvas from 1827 is in the high altar.

War and flood

In 1945 the church was bombed, but a considerable part of the decoration, including Mayer's Munich stained glass, survived. It was rebuilt in 1950. In July 1997 the church was flooded by the Flood of the Millennium; the water rose more than a metre and the wooden altar collapsed, after which a renovation was carried out.

Nearby

A few hundred metres away stands Racibórz Castle, and next to it the castle park.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Morawska 1, Racibórz-Ostróg.
• This is a working parish church and a place of worship; it is worth checking with the parish about access to the interior.