Saint John the Evangelist church in Bydgoszcz

About

The Church of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist is a 19th-century Catholic church, dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist. The church is located at 8 General Sikorskiego street, in the district of Fordon, in the eastern part of Bydgoszcz. By decision of the Provincial Conservator of Monuments on 1 April 1996, the church has been registered on the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage list. It was built between 1878 and 1879 in the Gothic Revival style using red clinker brick.

After the First Partition of Poland in 1772, German Protestant settlers established themselves in Fordon. An independent Evangelical community was founded in 1822 with about 2,000 members from 36 nearby villages.

Construction began on 16 October 1878 and was completed in November 1879. The church was consecrated on 27 November 1879 by Consistorial Superintendent Taube of Bromberg.

In 1945, as the German Protestant population departed, the church was taken over by municipal authorities and used as a grain warehouse and later a clothing storehouse. In the 1970s, the building faced demolition due to deterioration, but efforts by Fr. Stanisław Grunt of St Nicholas Church preserved it. In 1983, it was officially transferred to the Catholic Church, fully renovated, and re-consecrated by Bishop Marian Przykucki on 1 November 1985. In 1990, the Catholic parish of St John was formally erected.

The construction of the church took place in the context of the development of Evangelical communities in then Bromberg and its vicinity in the 19th century.

Evangelicals arrived in the village of Fordon after 1772. They were German settlers encouraged by the incentive policies of the Kingdom of Prussia. Initially attached to the commune of Bromberg, the project of establishing an independent parish in Fordon received the support of Frederick William III of Prussia (1770–1840). However, the fulfilment of this scheme was hindered in 1806 by the signing of the Treaties of Tilsit and the creation of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw by Napoleon.

It was not until 1822 that Fordon was established as the seat of the Evangelical churches in the area. The ensemble comprised nearly 2 thousand Evangelical people from 36 nearby villages.

In 1855, 30 of them, located on the right side of the Vistula, formed their own religious community based in Ostromecko. The local church was subordinated to the Superintendent in Poznań.

In 1824, a pastor's house was built, housing as well the Evangelical school; this building harbored a prayer room during the construction of the temple. The Evangelical school building still stands today, at 4 Wyzwolenia Street: its walls shelter nowadays the Primary school No.4 and Kindergarten No.57 ( Zespół Szkolno - Przedszkolny nr 4 ).

In 1888, an Evangelical cemetery was opened on present day's Cechowa Street, adjacent to the Catholic cemetery. After WWII, pieces of funerary monuments from the abandoned Evangelical cemetery were used to strengthen the Vistula escarpment and create ridges. These elements were exposed by the low level of the river in 2015: in order to preserve the excavated fragments, local associations asked for the creation of a park on the plot of ancient cemetery. To this end, a Lapidarium park was unveiled in 2017. The oldest funeral elements date back to 1870 and the place is marked with a commemorative plaque stating (in Polish):

"Lapidary of the Protestant cemetery, which was located here until 1945. It was created from relics recovered from the Vistula River and secured by the Old Fordon Friends Association in the summer of 2015. In memory of the residents of the town of Fordon buried here. On the 500th anniversary of the Reformation".

The construction of the temple began on 16 October 1878 and was completed in November 1879. On 27 November 1879, the church was solemnly consecrated to John the Apostle ( Johannis – Kirche ) by Consistorial Superintendent Taube from Bromberg. Nevertheless, furnishing and interior decoration were finished only in 1892. The architecture style followed neo-Gothic features, quite popular in the region at the time for religious buildings. Bricks are the main construction element. For the construction, the religious community obtained a loan of 21,000 Marks, which was later partially covered by the state treasury.

The tower and the sacristy visible today were added in the first decade of the 20th century. The church was named after John the Apostle. It was equipped with two bells made of bronze and a pipe organ made by Wilhelm Sauer from Frankfurt (Oder), acquired for 4,000 Marks. The bells were melted down during World War I.

Local Evangelical parishes thrived between 1850 and 1914. At the eve of WWI, Evangelical Germans constituted the majority of the population of Fordon and the surrounding area, reaching approximately 3,000 people. After the conflict, the community shrank to 900 people and counted only 300 souls before the start of World War II.

In the interwar period, the Evangelical-Union Church played an important role in the life of the German minority in Fordon. The parish encompassed the following towns and villages: Strzelce Dolne, Strzelce Górne, Jarużyn, Miedzyń, Mariampol, Zofin, Łoskoń, Pałcz, Czarnówko, Siernieczek and Brdyujście. In 1929, on the 50th anniversary of the church's erection, the edifice was renovated, thanks to the support of the Gustav-Adolf-Werk in Wrocław. The works included, among others:

- a new large altar carpet made of pure wool ;

- the painting of the chancel in blue color;

- two steel bells from the Schelling foundry in Apolda, replacing the original ones lost during WWI. In 1933, the Evangelical Church in Fordon was granted the same privileges and rights as the neighbouring Catholic Church.

The temple operated for Evangelical people until 1945, when the last members of the German parish left Poland.

The church was then taken over by the Bydgoszcz starosta and given to Catholic authorities, like 16 other Evangelical churches in Bydgoszcz and its vicinity. However, the clergy took several years to enforce this decision, leading to a 30 years delay for effectively taking over the church.