Overview
The Church of the Divine Mercy is a Catholic church in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It is located at 68 Nakielska street in the district of Wilczak, south of the Bydgoszcz Canal. The building has been registered on the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage list since 10 June 1998 (Nr. A-507/1).
History
The construction of the church took place in the context of the intensive development of Protestant religious buildings in Bydgoszcz (then Bromberg) and its suburbs at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, there were already eight Protestant churches in the area, mostly in the red brick Neo-Gothic style. The Evangelical-Unionist community of the village of Wilczak (then Printzenthal) was subordinated to the parish of the Okole village, on the northern side of the Bydgoszcz Canal. Oskar Hossfeld was also the designer of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bydgoszcz in 1913. Remarkably, the same duo of architects (Hermann and Hossfeld) worked simultaneously on the design for the now-defunct Martin Luther Church in the parish of Szwederowo. The contractor for both edifices was Bydgoszcz builder businessman Carl Rose.
The main body of Wilczak church was completed in 1905 and the final construction continued through the year 1906. After WWII and the withdrawal of German citizens from Bydgoszcz, the church was devastated. On 2 February 1945, the city authorities transferred its management to the parish of the Holy Trinity Church in Bydgoszcz, in order to adapt the temple for Catholic use. Its consecration took place on 15 June 1945. Initially, the edifice was used as a branch church for the residents of the districts of Wilczak and Jara. On 24 August 1946, Cardinal August Hlond issued a decree establishing the Parish of the Divine Mercy, and on 1 October 1946, Father Feliks Małecki became the first parish priest; he held this position till 1982.
The church interiors had to be adjusted for the practice of the Catholic liturgy with: * new furniture; * a new pipe organ; * one main oak altar depicting Merciful Jesus, Andrew Bobola and Mary Magdalene, by sculptor Kazimierz Lipiński, (unveiled on 7 December 1947); * two side altars devoted to Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn and to St. St. Anthony, also created by sculptor Kazimierz Lipiński; * five confessionals. Lipiński additionally created a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Side galleries were closed, only the one above the main entrance was kept. A rectory was built between 1957 and 1961. In 1964, the existing outbuilding behind the church was converted into a catechetical facility. The current exterior of the church remains unchanged from its original design.
Only an ornately landscaped area around the church parvise and a park surrounding the edifice have ceased to exist: they used to stretch with regularly marked paths and extensive lawns towards the Bydgoszcz Canal.
Architecture
The church was built in the Neo-Gothic style, rather popular in Prussian Bydgoszcz for religious architecture at the beginning of the 20th century.
Exteriors
The edifice is basilica-shaped, measuring by . It has a north-facing Latin cross footprint with three chancels. The main body of the church consists of a wide nave, an extended chancel and a transept with limited extension. The facade is dominated by a massive tower topped with a tall 6-faces roof. Atop the tower, covered by a gable roof, stands a clock. The church's frontages are highly decorated, displaying a mix of apertures, blind traceries, friezes and pinnacles. The Neo-Gothic character of the building is underlined by stepped buttresses which support the external walls of the transept. The overall impression is reinforced by the contrast between the red brick walls and the white plastered elements. The front façade features a pointed-arched portal with a bas-relief in the tympanum depicting Christ the Good Shepherd, crowned by a mosaic portraying the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.
The main entrance door, highly decorated, exhibits preserved wrought-iron hinges and a lock adorned with floral motifs.
Interiors
The church's original galleries were removed after 1945, except for the segments located above the entrance. A wooden coffered ceiling can be seen in the main nave: in 2022, a renovation of the polychrome was completed. On the side naves, ceilings are not adorned. The chancel is covered with a stellar vault. The Evangelist past of the church still survives in the design of the pulpit with polychrome scenes on its panels and a baptismal font. The stained glass windows in the central nave body were designed by Redmerski in 1984 and are reminiscent of the original prewar ones. In the chancel stand two older stained glass windows, dating from 1949. They were created by Bydgoszcz artist Edward Kwiatkowski. In the tower, the main bell still dates back from the foundation of the Prussian church.
Cast in 1905 at Franz Schilling's workshop in Apolda, the inscriptions in German indicate that Wilhelm II's wife, Empress Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, was a protector of the church ().
Gallery
File:Bdg kscMilosierdzia 21 07-2013.jpg Church tower and portal File:Bdg kscMilosierdzia 13 07-2013.jpg Adorned portal File:Bydgoszcz Kościół Miłosierdzia 3.jpg Pilasters File:Bdg kscMilosierdzia 10 07-2013.jpg Outside view of the chancel File:Bydgoszcz, kościół ewangelicki, ob. rzym.-kat. par. p.w. Miłosierdzia Bożego, 1905-1906 - wnętrze kościoład.JPG View of the nave File:Ołtarz boczny w kościele p.w. Miłosierdzia Bożego (płaskorzeźba św. Antoniego).jpg Side altar dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua
See also
* Bydgoszcz * Bydgoszcz Canal * Nakielska Street, Bydgoszcz * Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Bydgoszcz * Church of the Holy Trinity, Bydgoszcz * Bydgoszcz Architects (1850–1970s) *
External links
* Website of the parish