Polscy ewangelicy w Grudziądzu w okresie międzywojennym

• Authors: Domasłowski Jerzy

Title variants

DE

Evangelische Polen in Grudziądz/Graudenz während der Zwischenkriegszeit

EN

Polish Lutherans in Grudziądz in the interwar period

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The Lutheran parish in Grudziądz was founded in 1563 after several years of preparations. Apart from the German- -speaking majority of city residents, it also included Poles, for whom a special clergyman was appointed in 1568. Polish services were celebrated even some time after the city was annexed by Prussia in 1772. Under the Prussian rule, the parish developed impressively, gaining the great church and parish house, several charitable institutions and religious associations; there was also a military pastoral ministry with a separate church. After Grudziądz and the whole region were regained by the reborn Polish state in 1920, as a result of the changes associated with this process, the number of parishioners of the United Church (Unierte Evangelische Kirche) decreased. The Church retained its German character. Along with the Polish population coming from other territories, there came also Polish Protestants, including Lutherans, who were the members of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession. The first service was celebrated for the army by chaplain Józef Mamica from Poznań. The service was celebrated in the United Church’s building in 1923. Unfortunately, the presence of the Polish civilians meant that subsequent services could only take place in the barracks and were often not accessible to outsiders. It was only in 1931 that the Evangelical Augsburg parish was founded. It gathered several dozen people of Polish nationality, and from that time it was allowed to use the United Church’s building. Rev. Jerz Kahané from Bydgoszcz was its administrator. In the years 1933–1935, the local pastor was Rev. Ryszard Danielczyk, who also celebrated services in Tczew, Starogard and Wąbrzeźno. In 1934, the first issue of the magazine “Przegląd Ewangelicki” was published. One year later, the editorial office was moved to Bydgoszcz. At the same time, there was a separate military congregation, cared for by chaplains of Evangelical Reformed Church from Toruń. The parish didn’t survived Hitler’s attack on Poland in September 1939, when all activities of Polish organizations were banned. The history of the German Protestant parish ended after Grudziądz returned to Poland in 1945. The Polish parish has existed ever since it was re-established in the destroyed city in 1946.

• Publisher: Muzeum w Grudziądzu
• Journal: Rocznik Grudziądzki
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 27
• Pages: 141-163

Dates

published

2019

Contributors

author

Domasłowski Jerzy