Gothic church of Saint Lawrence in Gniezno: interwar expansion according to the plans of Lucjan Michałowski and contemporary continuation of the project

Anna Tejszerska

doi:10.37190/arc250404

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the history of transformations of the Gothic church of St. Lawrence in Gniezno, with particular emphasis on the expansion carried out in the 1930s according to the design of architect Lucjan Michałowski. The circumstances of the project’s creation and the course of construction works, which were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, are presented.

The article also discusses the contemporary continuation of the project’s implementation, which allowed for the completion of the architect’s intentions after several decades of interruption. Analysis of preserved design documentation and in situ research enabled detailed reconstruction of the church’s transformation history.

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4(84)

Anna Tejszerska*

Gothic church of Saint Lawrence in Gniezno:

interwar expansion according to the plans

of Lucjan Michałowski

and contemporary continuation of the project

DOI: 10.37190/arc250404

Published in open access. CC BY NC ND license

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of transformations of the Gothic church of St Lawrence in Gniezno. Particular emphasis was given to the

church’s extension carried out in the 1930s following the design by Poznań architect Lucjan Michałowski (1883–1943). The research was based on

historical studies, archival documentation of two versions of the design (1924 and 1935), cost estimates, explanatory notes to the design, and related

correspondence. In order to reconstruct the building’s state before the extension an analysis was carried out of historical studies, plans presenting the

earlier concept of the temple’s enlargement undertaken at the turn of the 19

and 20

centuries, and photographic documentation from that period.

Use was also made of the documentation made available to the author concerning the ongoing renovation of the church in which the unnished

pre-war elements of Michałowski’s interior design are now being completed. An on-site inspection was conducted to check which parts of the com-

prehensive design, including the church’s furnishings, were actually implemented. Additionally, the paper includes fragments of writings explaining

the ideas that guided the architect in developing his concept. The project under discussion is presented in the context of contemporary debates on the

conservation and transformation of historic buildings.

Key words: Lucjan Michałowski, interwar architecture, church expansion, Gniezno, church of Saint Lawrence

Introduction

In the history of architecture, the expansion of historic

religious buildings was a common phenomenon, allowing

at least some of the original structures to survive. In the

Second Polish Republic, signicant population growth, and

thus an increase in the number of parishioners, forced deci-

sions to be made either to build new churches or to expand

existing ones. At the same time, a backlog was cleared that

had arisen due to the diculty of obtaining the necessary

permits during the period of partitions (Kumor 1980, 665,

666; Jabłoński 2002, 7–28; Tejszerska 2019, 30). The ex-

pansion of historic churches became the focus of conser-

vation debates and discussions among architectural theo-

rists and active designers. Attempts were made to give this

practice the right direction, to dene at least general rules

of conduct in line with the emerging conservation doctrine

(Cybichowski 1928; Szyszko-Bohusz 1912/1913; Tomko

wicz 1901, 59; 1912; Muczkowski 1912, 21; Dettlo 2006).

The article is devoted to the interwar extension of the

Gothic church of St Lawrence in Gniezno, designed by

Poznań architect Lucjan Michałowski (1883–1943). The

rst was obtaining access to the project documentation com

piled by Lucjan Michałowski, together with fragments of

correspondence related to this investment

. The second is

the ongoing restoration of the church, with plans to com-

plete the unrealised parts of the pre-war design.

At this point, the author would like to express her sincere grat-

itude to Mr Piotr Michałowski for sharing materials preserved in his

family archive. Unless otherwise stated, all excerpts from Lucjan Mi-

chałowski’s writings quoted in this article come from the private collec-

tion of Piotr Michałowski (le no. 6).

* ORCID:

0000-0001-7872-4496. Faculty of Architecture, Bialy-

stok University of Technology, Poland, e-mail: anna.tejszerska@pb.edu.pl

38 Anna Tejszerska

The author’s aim was to collect, verify, systematise and

share the fullest possible range of information concerning

the history of St Lawrence’s Church, with particular em-

phasis on the changes proposed and implemented as part of

the reconstruction carried out by Michałowski, and to pres-

ent the issue in the light of the conservation debates taking

place at the time.

The research was based on archival materials – project

documentation (drawings, cost estimates, etc.)

, correspon-

dence, as well as old diocesan schematics helpful in recon-

structing unexplored pages of the church’s history. The in

situ research enabled a comparative analysis of the design

drawings with their implementation, both in terms of archi-

tectural form and the temple’s furnishings. The work was

greatly aided by information and materials obtained from

the local heritage conservationist and the architect responsi-

ble for the ongoing renovation of the object.

State of research

The Church of St Lawrence – one of the oldest churches

located around the medieval stronghold of the rst Polish

capital – is mentioned in the Liber beneciorum by Bishop

Jan Łaski (1456–1531), published four hundred years later in

a study by Father Jan Korytkowski (de Lasco 1880, 11–13)

and in Brevis descriptio (Korytkowski 1888, 33, 34),

which

presents basic information about the Catholic churches of

the diocese according to the state of knowledge at the time.

Equally important is the four-volume catalogue of monu-

ments published during the period of partition and compiled

by Julius Kohte (1861–1945), which covers the province of

Poznań at that time. In addition to brief descriptions of the

form and history of the church, it also includes drawings of

its oor plans (Kohte 1897, 129). Subsequent studies on indi-

vidual churches of the metropolis relied heavily on the afore-

mentioned works and often replicated the information they

contain. This is also the case with St Lawrence’s Church.

Individual references to the building appear in publications

cited in the article concerning broader issues, including the

history of architecture in the region (Maluśkiewicz 2008;

Tomala 2007). The beginnings of the temple’s history are

described in the article by Michał Muraszko (2013). A con-

cise presentation of the building and its history, extending

into the 20

century, is provided in the Katalog zabytków

sztuki w Polsce [Catalogue of Art Monuments in Poland]

(Ruszczyńska, Sławska 1963, 68). The matter of the church’s

enlargement in the interwar period, which is the main topic

of the present study, is mentioned in a single sentence.

History of the church building

The Church of St Lawrence is one of the oldest churches

in the rst capital of Poland. In the early Middle Ages, in

the area of present-day Gniezno, apart from the cathedral

The photographs and scans of design drawings included in this

article were taken by the author of this article.

The author of the 16

-century Liber beneciorum is Primate Jan

Łaski, but what is most important in this work are the extensive comments

that Korytkowski added to the reprint of the manuscript published in 1880.

located in the outer bailey and St George’s Church within

the castle walls, both built in the 10

century, there were

four churches serving the faithful living in the settlements

surrounding the castle. These were: Church of the Holy

Cross in the northern settlement on Lake Bielidło (also

called Lake Świętokrzyskie) (see in more detail: Murasz-

ko 2012), the church of St Peter in Piotrów (Zajezierze),

situated to the west of the stronghold, St Michael’s Church

located by the road leading to Kruszwica and the Church of

St Lawrence, belonging to the trading site located in the

south. The temples situated around the stronghold also in -

cluded the Church of St John the Baptist, built outside the

settlement area (Skwierczyński 1996, 9, 10). All these tem-

ples were built between the 11

and mid-13

centuries.

Their exact dating is often uncertain or dicult to determine.

Korytkowski’s schematism states that the ancient church

of St Lawrence was supposedly founded by the courtiers

of Bolesław Chrobry

. This dating can also be based on

information contained in a footnote to the reprint of Liber

beneciorum, stating that […] According to oral tradition,

this church was built and endowed by the courtiers of King

Bolesław Śmiały (de Lasco 1880, 11). Both versions come

from publications by the same author

. Does this suggest

that 19

-century tradition preserved two versions of the

events, or rather that Korytkowski, in one of his publica-

tions, confused the ruler’s epithet? It is dicult to determine

with certainty whether either version corresponds to histor-

ical reality. Some sources repeat it, other authors question

it (cf. Muraszko 2013, 29). In the diocesan schematism of

Father Stanisław Kozierowski, it can be read that the church

[…] was founded and endowed by the owners of Ludziska

(the Symon family, descendants of Degnon of Oćwieka?)

in the 1

half of the 13

century (1934, 49). The rst reli-

able source referring to the church dates back to 1255, when

Prince Bolesław the Pious issued a foundation charter for the

town of Kłecko (de Lasco 1880, 11; Korytkowski 1888, 33)

Father Korytkowski states that the church, originally wood-

en,

was probably rebuilt and erected in brick in the 16

cen-

tury (1888, 33). It is well known that in mid-1331, during

the Teutonic Knights’ invasion, the church and the suburb

to which it belonged were set on re and completely de-

stroyed (Galewski

1929, 43). The construction of the brick

temple is therefore most likely a more or less direct result

of this fact. Originally, it was a single-nave building with

a massive western tower located on the northern side of

the body, covered with a low tented roof. The unplastered

brick walls of the western elevation and the tower, built in

Polish bond, testify to the church’s medieval origins, as do

the north-western buttresses at the junction of the nave and

the tower, which serve to reinforce the structure. Three tall,

clearly visible window openings in the façade, crowned with

Eccl. S. Laurentii M. mur. antiqua, quae ab aulicis Boleslai Chro-

bry, Regis Polon., extructa et dotata esse dicitur (Korytkowski 1888, 33).

The quoted fragment comes not from the original Liber benecio-

rum, but from Korytkowski’s footnote.

It records the tithe belonging to the church from Kraiewo, one of

the town’s four districts (Muraszko 2013, 27).

In the cited edition of the guide, although it is only a supplement-

ed reprint of Józef Galewski’s 1924 publication, the author’s name is

not given.

Gothic St Lawrence Church in Gniezno and its interwar expansion 39

that the church was renovated […] in recent years thanks

to the eorts of parish priest Father [Stanisław] Kubski

(1876–1942)

, who held this position between 1910 and

1917 (Galewski 1929, 43, 44). Thus, the expansion that be-

gan at the end of the 19

century continued for the next

twenty years, until 1917, when the enlarged church was

consecrated by the then suragan bishop of Gniezno, Wil-

helm Kloske (1852–1925) (cf. Rocznik 1929, 56).

When the expansion of the church began in 1893, the

parish of St Lawrence had 3,423 members (Elenchus 1892,

15), while in 1924 it had 8,000 (Elenchus 1924, 19). Such

a substantial increase in the number of parishioners meant

that only seven years after the consecration, a decision was

made to expand the church once again. The plans were

commissioned from Lucjan Michałowski, a Poznań-based

architect educated in Munich (1907).

Lucjan Michałowski – artist profile

Lucjan Michałowski gained professional experience under

various mentors, including Raimund Jeblinger (1853–1937)

during a one-year postgraduate internship (1907–1908)

at the

Archiepiscopal Building Department in Freiburg, which un-

doubtedly inuenced the architect’s later work, dominated

Blessed of the Catholic Church, martyr, murdered in the Hart-

heim concentration camp.

a semicircular arch and now bricked up, bear witness to the

alterations made to the temple.

The church was desecrated and devastated by Napoleon’s

soldiers during their campaign against Moscow in 1812, and

was then used as a granary. On 2 February 1817, follow-

ing restoration work, it was returned to its religious pur

pose

(de Lasco 1880, 11; Korytkowski 1888, 33, Ruszczyńska,

Sławska 1963, 68). In the 19

century – from 1896 onwards

– it was signicantly expanded (Ruszczyńska, Sławska 1963,

68) according to a blueprint dated 1894 (Fig. 1). The

build-

ing then gained three-bay, cross-vaulted side aisles in a hall

layout, a low, round tower with stairs on the south side, and

a sacristy adjacent to the chancel and the side aisle from the

south-east. The central window opening in the façade was

partially bricked up. There were also plans to transform its

gable

. A guidebook to Gniezno from the late

1920s states

The Baroque-style gable visible in photographs taken before the

reconstruction carried out in the 1930s does not correspond to the Gothic

form presented in the 1894 design. It can be assumed that either the re -

construction which started at the end of the 19

century did not go ac-

cording to plan, or that in later years certain changes were made which

were not recorded in the sources, which seems less likely. In the 1840s,

the church still had a simple brick triangular gable, as can be seen in an

illustration from that period (Pasiciel 1989, 167). Therefore, it seems un-

likely that the Neo-Baroque gable was erected before the reconstruction

at the end of the 19

century, and the design of the gable developed in

1894 (clearly marked as a new element in the cross-section) was intend-

ed to regothicise the building, which was not carried out.

Fig. 1. Design for the extension of St Lawrence Church in Gniezno, 1894 (source: private collection of P. Michałowski, photo by A. Tejszerska)

Il. 1. Projekt powiększenia kościoła pw. św. Wawrzyńca w Gnieźnie, 1894 (źródło: zbiory prywatne P. Michałowskiego, fot. A. Tejszerska)

40 Anna Tejszerska

Fig. 2. Design for the extension

of St Lawrence Church

in Gniezno (sketch), 1924

(source: private collection

of P. Michałowski,

photo by A. Tejszerska)

Il. 2. Projekt powiększenia

kościoła pw. św. Wawrzyńca

w Gnieźnie (szkic), 1924

(źródło: zbiory prywatne

P. Michałowskiego,

fot. A. Tejszerska)

Fig. 3. Design for the extension

of St Lawrence Church

in Gniezno (plan), 1924

(source: private collection of

P. Michałowski,

photo by A. Tejszerska)

Il. 3. Projekt powiększenia

kościoła pw. św. Wawrzyńca

w Gnieźnie (rzut), 1924

(źródło: zbiory prywatne

P. Michałowskiego,

fot. A. Tejszerska)

Gothic St Lawrence Church in Gniezno and its interwar expansion 41

by objects of a religious purpose. Upon his return to Poznań,

he spent several years as an assistant to Stanisław Borecki

(1855–1924) before becoming fully independent. It can be

assumed that this collaboration introduced the then novice

architect to the path of national romanticism, to which he

remained faithful throughout his

career. In addition to ar-

chitectural structures, Michałowski designed numerous el-

ements of church furnishings. He

was also an art collector,

draughtsman and painter. The architect was known to the

clergy of Gniezno for his design

work carried out since 1915

for St Michael’s Church and the parish church of the Holy

Trinity (since 1916), as well as for his designs for numer-

ous tombstones in St Peter’s Cemetery.

He also completed

a small commission in the form of a roadside cross design

near St Lawrence’s Church (1915)

At the time of the project’s implementation (1935–1936)

Michałowski already had almost thirty years of design expe-

rience,

mainly in the eld of sacred architecture. His achie-

vements included designs for the construction or extension

of churches in Rogów (1932–1934), Domachowo

(1928–

1931)

, and Ludziska (1932–1935), while at the same

time

working on the reconstruction of the church

in Brześć nad

Gopłem (1935–1936). They are all part of the Neo-Baroque

“national style” trend, characteristic of the period when

these designs were created (cf. Stefański 2000).

Throughout

the decade from 1929 to 1939, Michałowski carried out pro-

jects to enlarge and furnish the church in Kłecko. This pro-

ject is most closely related to St Lawrence’s Church due to

the medieval origins of the Kłecko temple and, as in the case

of the previously mentioned buildings, due to the Neo-Ba-

roque form of the added sections, which is maintained in the

national romanticism spirit.

Extension of the church in the interwar period

The project to enlarge St Lawrence’s Church in Gniez-

no was developed by Michałowski in two stages. The rst

architectural plans were drawn up in 1924 (Figs. 2, 3). Cor-

respondence concerning the development of the concept

also dates from this period. The slightly modied version

that was ultimately implemented (Figs. 4, 5) was created

a decade later. Correspondence concerning the details of the

project dates back to 1935. In March, the architect provided

the parish with a complete set of cost estimates for masonry,

carpentry, roong and tinsmithing works, as well as a list of

timber and other materials. The design plans were approved

by the provincial authorities in May 1935

. An unrealised

detailed design to raise the tower and change its spire to

a Baroque style dates back to 1936. That same year, draw-

ings of the interior furnishings were created.

The project to enlarge St Lawrence’s Church involved

extending the oriented temple towards the east and add-

ing a transept, which increased the oor space from 290

to 580 m

and made it possible to accommodate 1,500

Piotr Michałowski’s collection includes dated design drawings

of altars and other furnishings from the churches mentioned above.

A more detailed discussion is presented in Tejszerska (2023).

Letters from L. Michałowski to the parish priest dated 25 March

1935 and 21 May 1935.

Fig. 4. Design for the extension of St Lawrence Church

in Gniezno (sketch), 1935

(source: private collection of P. Michałowski, photo by A. Tejszerska)

Il. 4. Projekt powiększenia kościoła pw. św. Wawrzyńca

w Gnieźnie (szkic), 1935

(źródło: zbiory prywatne P. Michałowskiego, fot. A. Tejszerska)

people

. The design also included interesting functional

solutions for the interior. During the extension, the eastern

wall of the chancel and the sacristy, added at the turn of

the 19

and 20

centuries, were demolished. A new chan-

cel was built, anked on both sides by the sacristy and the

chapel. A transept with three-sided gable ends was erected.

The oor in the old part of the church was raised, so were

the walls of the nave (Fig. 6), and a barrel vault decorated with

a simple Neo-Renaissance metalwork motif based on a Ra bitz

mesh and a new raised roof were installed

(Fig. 7). A con-

siderably higher Neo-Baroque gable was added to the west-

ern façade, while a vestibule was built in front of the north -

ern side entrance

. A Mahra air heating system was used.

300 seats and 1,190 standing places. Information based on manu-

scripts entitled: Explanation of the design and Calculation of seats and

entrances.

A type of articial vault popular at the beginning of the 20

cen-

tury, based on a proled metal mesh suspended from the ceiling (for

further details see: Pająk 2009).

There are some doubts as to when the north-western porch, con-

sidered to be part of the extension from the turn of the 19

and 20

centuries or from 1936, was built. In the 1924 design, the main entrance

(under the tower) is not preceded by a porch. In the 1935 plans, however,

the porch appears as an existing element. Michałowski devoted an entire

design board (1935) to the shallow vestibule added to the side aisle in

front of the side entrance. If the porch had been his work, he would

certainly have done the same. It can therefore be assumed that either it

was indeed built at the end of the 19

century, even though it was not

included in the plans, and Michałowski, when creating the rst concept

42 Anna Tejszerska

Fig. 6. Design for the extension

of St Lawrence Church ain

Gniezno (section), 1935

(source: private collection

of P. Michałowski,

photo by A. Tejszerska)

Il. 6. Projekt powiększenia

kościoła pw. św. Wawrzyńca

w Gnieźnie (przekrój), 1935

(źródło: zbiory prywatne

P. Michałowskiego,

fot. A. Tejszerska)

In a letter dated 26 August 1936, Father Józef Chilomer

(1885–1942; parish priest of St Lawrence’s Parish from

of the transformations, based his work on an incorrect, unveried oor

plan, or it was built between 1924 and 1936.

1923 to 1942) informed the architect that the extended

church had been inspected by the building police, mention-

ing at the same time that […] it looks wonderful, everyone is

delighted, and the Bishop said that we will have a beautiful

and homely church.

Fig. 5. Design for the extension of St Lawrence Church in Gniezno (plan), 1935 (source: private collection of P. Michałowski, photo by A. Tejszerska)

Il. 5. Projekt powiększenia kościoła pw. św. Wawrzyńca w Gnieźnie (rzut), 1935 (źródło: zbiory prywatne P. Michałowskiego, fot. A. Tejszerska)

Gothic St Lawrence Church in Gniezno and its interwar expansion 43

Architectural form

The expanded church of Gothic origin, signicantly

chang ed its architectural shape. Preserved relics include the

unplastered brick tower and the lower part of the façade with

bricked-up window recesses

. Above them, in the raised

wall of the façade, at the level of the former gable, a large

thermal window was installed, letting [as the author wrote in

the project description] a beam of light into the main nave

of the church. A signicant trace of the past visible from the

street are two buttresses located in the corner of the tower

and in the north-western corner of the nave

Before Michałowski’s renovation, the side openings were glazed,

while the central one – a narrower recess, partially walled up – served

a niche for the statue of St Lawrence.

Absence of the south-western buttress. In the drawings from 1924,

the western elevation is anked on both sides by corner Gothic buttress-

es. In the 1935 design, however, the southern buttress does not appear on

any of the sheets, including the site plan, where the other buttresses are

clearly marked. It is possible that in developing the 1924 concept, Mi-

chałowski relied on unveried plans from 1894, on which both buttresses

are indicated. On one copy of the 1894 design the southern buttress is

crossed out by hand (Fig. 3). A plausible, though undocumented, hypoth-

esis is that it was dismantled during the alterations initiated in 1896, as

its position conicted with the tower added at that time. It is unlikely that

Fig. 7. Design for the extension of St Lawrence Church in Gniezno (longitudinal section), 1935

(source: private collection of P. Michałowski, photo by A. Tejszerska)

Il. 7. Projekt powiększenia kościoła pw. św. Wawrzyńca w Gnieźnie (przekrój podłużny), 1935

(źródło: zbiory prywatne P. Michałowskiego, fot. A. Tejszerska)

Unplastered elements of the object reveal Polish (Gothic)

bond. In accordance with Michałowski’s recommendation,

the rest of the church’s external walls, constructed as part

of the last two expansions, was plastered (Fig. 8)

. The ex-

tensions were given a modernised Baroque outline, typical

of the nal phase in the formation of the Polish “National

Style”. In the local context of the Gniezno citiscape, this

measure aligned the church with a whole series of sacred

structures rooted in the Middle Ages and more or less clad

in a Baroque style. Raising of the nave gave the interi-

or a sense of spaciousness and, in its external perception,

a sense of monumentality. A new Neo-Baroque gable of the

façade served as a compositional link between the historical

and extended parts thus ensuring a sense of cohesion with

the form given to the gable walls of the transept (Fig. 9).

Concern for the compositional unity of the extended objects

is a distinctive trait of Michałowski’s projects.

such work would have been carried out during the 1936 remodeling of

the western façade without being recorded on any of the plans.

A drawing of the church made in the 1840s by Kajetan W. Kieli-

siński, accompanied by a brief description of the materials, indicates that

until the church’s enlargement the entire façade, the tower, and the but-

tresses remained in brick, while the side walls were plastered (Pasiciel

1989, 166, 167, g. 137, 138).

44 Anna Tejszerska

The harmonious integration between the newly added

and the existing parts of the building was also one of the key

general requirements in the enlargement of churches. In his

ecture dedicated to the extension of historical churches,

Stefan Cybichowski, while warning against striving for

stylistic homogeneity, stressed that […] the main empha-

sis should be placed on ensuring complete harmony and

balance between the old structure and the newly added one

(Cybichowski 1928, 21). Michałowski likewise endeav-

oured to keep this balance in the 1924 project, maintained

largely in the medieval spirit, with minor Neo-Baroque ad-

ditions (the gable and the ridge turret).

Attention to compositional unity also inuenced the

de cision to raise the tower in the 1935 design. During the

works on both versions of the project (1924 i 1935), Mi-

chałowski approached it with particular attentiveness stem-

ming from the recognition of the tower’s historical signif-

icance. In the letter dated 4 November 1924, he wrote: In

sketching, constant attention had to be paid to the tower,

ensuring that it did not come into direct contact with the

tall roof of the nave or its gable, as it would otherwise lose

its prominence. In the Explanatory Note to the 1924 design

he likewise emphasized: The walls of the present church re-

main untouched. […] The ridge of the main roof is kept at

the same height as the cornice of the old tower, which is to

be preserved unchanged […]. Beside the tower, on the street

side, a new gable considerably higher than the existing one

[…] yet not so high as to diminish the tower’s signicance

and proportions.

In his concept of 1935, Michałowski decided to raise the

tower and crown it with a Neo-Baroque dome stylistically

integrated with the new gables of the façade and the tran-

sept. Its elevation to a height of 36 m, through the raising

of the belfry storey, was intended to prevent a disruption

of the proportions between it and the heightened nave, and

appeared – as stated in the letter from 27 February 1935

– necessary to harmonize the whole project. The alteration

of the tower, however, was never carried out.

Such an interference with the medieval structure hardly

accords with contemporary conservation principles, yet for

centuries historical buildings were altered to suit the needs

and tastes of their users (Misiorowski 2001, 272). The inter-

war period, by contrast, was a time of gradual abandonment

of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s purist ideas, of ongoing doctrinal

disputes among conservators, and of a shift toward a non-re-

strictive, individualized approach to monuments – particu-

larly those that continued to serve their intended function.

The contemporary position of conservation science,

[as Stanisław Tomkowicz argued], may be summed up in

a short phrase: the principal rule is – as few theoretical,

absolute rules of procedure as possible […] in practice,

everything depends on prudence, sound judgment, and

compromises (1912, 22, 23). No principle can be applied

absolutely in the practice of human works; if anything, the

restoration of historic buildings, with their centuries-long

histories and still in active use today, must consist of a hun-

dred compromises (Tomkowicz 1901, 59). Adolf Szysz ko-

Bohusz, in turn, asserted that every building must above all

correspond to its practical purpose; and if it is to continue

fullling that purpose – if it is not to become a mere mu-

Fig. 9. St Lawrence Church in Gniezno, north transept gable wall,

in the photograph: Father Chilomer and the architect’s wife

(source: private collection of P. Michałowski, photo by L. Michałowski)

Il. 9. Kościół pw. św. Wawrzyńca, ściana szczytowa transeptu

północnego, na fotografii ks. Chilomer i żona architekta

(źródło: zbiory prywatne P. Michałowskiego, fot. L. Michałowski)

Fig. 8. St Lawrence Church in Gniezno, north-west view

(photo by A. Tejszerska, 2024)

Il. 8. Kościół pw. św. Wawrzyńca w Gnieźnie,

widok od strony północno-zachodniej (fot. A. Tejszerska, 2024)

Gothic St Lawrence Church in Gniezno and its interwar expansion 45

seum relic – it must, in many cases, undergo successive

alterations, extensions, and additions (1912/1913, 6). In

the case of enlargement […], of utility buildings requir-

ing expansion, the modern additions should be executed in

such a way as to harmonize artistically with the old struc-

ture – yet without obscuring the distinction between the

new and the old (Muczkowski 1912, 21).

The above instructions were implemented in many proj-

ects. In a broad survey of interwar undertakings, Paweł

Dettlo observed that, indeed, one of the most common

solutions employed in the enlargement of historic church-

es was to stylistically dierentiate the new parts from the

old (2006, 372). For Gothic churches, it was nearly standard

practice to design the extensions in a Baroque idiom (eg.

Kazanice, Jeżewo, Wojnicz). Dettlo also emphasizes that

the choice of architectural style may have been inuenced

by the widespread perception of Baroque as a “Polish”

style, particularly in the territories of the former Prussian

partition (Dettlo 2006, 374). The expansion of St Law-

rence’s Church in Gniezno thus ts into a broader formal

and ideological context

Michałowski valued the historical signicance of the

monument and submitted his design proposals for consul-

tation with the appropriate conservation authorities. After

preparing the full set of design drawings, in a letter of 10

December 1924 he informed the parish priest of Gniezno:

[…] Yesterday I conferred with the Provincial Conserva-

tor, Dr Pajzderski

; he has no objections and accepts the

project, with only one request – that the main entrance to

the tower be simplied. With regard to the planned raising

of the tower, a year before the detailed design was drawn

up – on 27 February 1935 – the architect wrote: […] the

inclusion [of the tower superstructure] is now necessary in

order to secure the conservator’s approval. In the available

sources, there is no information as to why the project to

raise the tower was abandoned. Perhaps the general objec-

tive of conservation was given precedence over the idea

of stylistic coherence and compositional proportionality,

in order to […] preserve monuments in a state as little al-

tered as possible, in the most authentic condition

(Tom-

kowicz 1912, 23). Perhaps to Gniezno came the echoes of

the debate that arose around the words of Father Zygmunt

Baranowski […] For historical reasons, one may preserve

a mixture of styles; yet in the name of what slogans are

Baroque additions imposed today upon Gothic churches?

Is it only the Baroque that is granted the right to exist in

our country? Is pure Gothic truly so intolerable that it

must be curtailed and supplemented with Baroque forms?

(1930, 6). It is also possible that other, e.g., nancial, rea-

sons led to the abandonment of the project. Later dating of

the detailed project of the tower and its spire (1936) and

the omission of the works associated with it from the cost

estimate from 1935 indicate that these plans were supposed

It is worth mentioning here that its “baroquication” (introduced in

the form of a new gable) began before the extension in the 1930s (cf. fn. 7).

Nikodem Pajzderski (1882–1940) heritage conservator of the

Poznań (from 1919) and Pomerania (from 1923) voivodships.

Although, as Ewa Łużyniecka (2013, 43) observes, the unambig-

uous denition of authenticity remains problematic to this day.

to be carried out at a later stage. Given that Michałowski

intended to consult with the conservation ocer regarding

the project with the preliminarily sketched elevated tower

in 1935, and developed detailed solutions toward the end

of 1936, it is dicult to imagine that he did not receive

the conservator’s approval. Moreover, all the boards of the

project approved by the regional authorities in 1935, fea-

turing the tower (view, cross-section, elevations), present

it in its elevated form. It is, therefore, plausible that it was

precisely economic reasons that prevented the project from

being carried out before the outbreak of the World War II

Michałowski approached church design in a comprehen-

sive manner. That is, apart from the architectural cencept,

he prepared drawings of multiple elements of the church

furnishing. The letter of 25 November 1937 concerning,

nota bene, the request for the payment of the architect’s fee,

contains an enumeration of all the design works he executed

for the parish. Besides the projects of the church expansion

and the unrealized elevation of the tower the works also in-

cluded: altar in the upper chapel, the main altar, altar for the

Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, side altar in the tran-

sept, confessional, choir stalls, galleries, throne, the sacristy

doorframe, and pews. Furthermore, the rectory, designed in

the manor-house style, along with the garden, and the fence

surrounding the church and the square.

A considerate number of the objects mentioned above

was produced before the war, albeit not in the full scope.

Currently, a hundred years after the rst version of the proj-

ect was created, Michałowski’s plans are being implement-

ed as part of the renovation of the church.

An unusually interesting functional solution proposed

by Michałowski was the creation of a baptismal chapel lo-

cated in the corner between the chancel and the left side-

nave, linked to both of the aforementioned spaces by open

arcades. During the service, the priest could approach the

baptismal font directly from the chancel, while the candi-

dates for baptism would come up from the nave. Presently

the arcades are bricked up and the space intended for the un-

realized chapel is taken up by a utility room (Fig. 10). Plans

have been drawn up to open the arcades and implement Mi-

chałowski’s concept.

Another unconventional solution proposed by Micha-

łow ski was the arrangement of the area above the baptys-

mal chapel. It was designed as a gallery, open through ar-

cades to the presbytery and the nave, intended to function

as an additional chapel. A two-sided altar was designed for

it, facing the nave on one side and the chapel’s interior on

the other. The altar was created and placed in the previosuly

designated location. The architectural detail, however, was

not executed – namely the metal balustrade securing the

arcades of the gallery, nor the balustrade along the stairs

leading to the chapel, whose course, moreover, was giv-

en a slightly dierent alignment than that foreseen in the

design. At present, the elements of architectural detail are

to be carried out in accordance with the design based on

Michałowski’s concept. It is also planned to complete the

A few years earlier – in 1930 – Michałowski developed a design

for adding a Neo-Baroque tower to the Gothic body of the church in

Kłecko, and this concept was realized.

46 Anna Tejszerska

partially executed altar in the Chapel of the Sacred Heart of

Jesus (Fig. 11). As part of the renovation, the original co-

lour scheme of the walls is also to be restored. In the church

interior, exploratory stratigraphic probes – point-based and,

in some areas, strip-based – were conducted to determine

the original painted decoration.

Fig. 11. St Lawrence Church in Gniezno, interior, current state

(photo by A. Tejszerska, 2024)

Il. 11. Kościół pw. św. Wawrzyńca, wnętrze, stan obecny

(fot. A. Tejszerska, 2024)

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to express her sincere gratitude to Piotr Michałow-

ski – architect Lucjan Michałowski’s grandson – for kindly providing the

materials and all the information that greatly supported this research;

to Bartłomiej Klepiński, the architect of the church restoration project;

to Dariusz Pustelnik, the architect overseeing the implementation of the

project and coordinating the restoration works; and to Father Franciszek

Jabłoński, parish priest of St Lawrence Church for their generous assis

tance and support.

The research was carried out at the Bialystok University of Technolo-

gy as part of research project No. WZ/WA-IA/2/2023 nanced by a grant

from the Minister of Education and Science.

Fig. 10. Design for the Altar of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 1936

(source: private collection of P. Michałowski,

photo by A. Tejszerska)

Il. 10. Projekt ołtarza Najświętszego Serca Pana Jezusa, 1936

(źródło: zbiory prywatne P. Michałowskiego,

fot. A. Tejszerska)

Conclusion

Comparative studies and analyses of archival documents

conducted within the research helped to substantially recon-

struct the history of transformations of the Gniezno church.

Nevertheless, some research gaps and unanswered questions

still remain. The study of the architect’s writings, mainly

his letters and explanatory notes to the project, allowed for

an understanding of the Michałowski’s fundamental idea,

which, following the advice of contemporary theorists, was

aimed at attaining compositional unity in the extension of

the temple. The Neo-Baroque form of the additions, typi-

cal of the author’s projects and harmonized with the slightly

transformed historic part, became a characteristic element of

Gniezno’s cultural landscape. Moreover, it also bears wit-

ness to methods of dealing with the historic structure. Be-

sides providing the expected functional space, the church’s

extension supervised by Michałowski added monumentality

to the body of the temple and shaped its contemporary char-

acter, typical for the interwar-period churches erected in the

so-called “national style”. The ongoing attempt to realize the

unnished elements of the project, if successfully complet-

ed, will make it possible to fully achieve the visual and func-

tional integrity of the interior as originally intended by the

architect. The realization of the nal stage of reconstruction

envisaged by Michałowski, namely the raising of the tower,

is impossible under the present conservation doctrine, which

diverges from that applied in the interwar period.

Translated by

Katarzyna Bednarska-Adamowicz

Gothic St Lawrence Church in Gniezno and its interwar expansion 47

Streszczenie

Gotycki kościół pw. św. Wawrzyńca w Gnieźnie

– międzywojenna rozbudowa według planów Lucjana Michałowskiego i współczesna kontynuacja realizacji projektu

Artykuł poświęcony jest historii przekształceń gotyckiego kościoła pw. św. Wawrzyńca w Gnieźnie, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem rozbudowy

realizowanej w latach 30. XX w. według projektu poznańskiego architekta Lucjana Michałowskiego (1883–1943). Badania prowadzone były w opar-

ciu o historyczne opracowania, archiwalną dokumentację dwu wersji projektu z 1924 i 1935 r., kosztorysy, objaśnienia do projektu i związaną z nim

korespondencję. W celu odtworzenia stanu sprzed rozbudowy przeanalizowano opracowania historyczne, plansze prezentujące wcześniejszą koncepcję

powiększenia świątyni realizowaną na przełomie XIX i XX w. oraz materiał fotograczny z tamtego okresu. Wykorzystano także udostępnioną autorce

dokumentację prowadzonej obecnie renowacji kościoła, w której ramach kontynuowana jest realizacja niewykonanych przed wojną elementów projek-

tu Michałowskiego w zakresie aranżacji wnętrza. W celu werykacji, które elementy kompleksowego projektu, obejmującego również wyposażenie

kościoła, zostały zrealizowane, przeprowadzono wizję in situ. W artykule zaprezentowano też fragmenty pism wyjaśniające idee przyświecające archi-

tektowi podczas tworzenia koncepcji. Tytułową realizację przedstawiono na tle współczesnych jej dyskusji dotyczących konserwacji i przekształceń

obiektów zabytkowych.

Słowa kluczowe: Lucjan Michałowski, architektura międzywojenna, rozbudowa kościoła, Gniezno, kościół św. Wawrzyńca

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