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| 2015 Church of Peace in Jawor |
Posted on 07.11.2015, 24.12.2015
The Churches of Peace in Jawor (German: Jauer) and Świdnica (German: Schweidnitz) in Silesia were named after the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, that ratified, among others, that Protestants and Catholics are equal before the law. It permitted the Lutherans in the Roman Catholic parts of Silesia to build three churches from wood, loam and straw outside the city walls, without steeples and bells. The construction time was limited to one year.
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| 2146 Church of Peace in Świdnica |
The result was the erection of the largest timber-framed religious buildings in Europe, were built in the former Silesia in the mid-17th century. Constrained by the physical and political conditions, the Churches of Peace bear testimony to the quest for religious freedom and are a rare expression of Lutheran ideology in an idiom generally associated with the Catholic. In addition to the two was also built such a church in Głogów (then German Glogau) which burned down in 1758.
The church in Jawor, under the invocation of the Holy Ghost is 43.5m long, 14m wide and 15.7m high and has capacity of 5,500. It was constructed by architect Albrecht von Saebisch from Wroclaw (then German Breslau) and was finished in 1655. The 200 paintings inside by were done by Georg Flegel in 1671-1681. The altar, by Martin Schneider, dates to 1672, the original organ of J. Hoferichter from Legnica (then German Liegnitz) of 1664 was replaced in 1855-1856 by Adolf Alexander Lummert.
The church in Świdnica (30 km from Jawor) is located on the old Protestant cemetery, away from the oldest part of the city. The paintings covering the walls and ceiling depict visions of St John the Evangelist described in the Apocalypse. They also represent coats-of-arms of the most prominent members of the church community as well as views of the local towns and residences.
About the stamps
On the postcard 2015
The first stamp, depicting All Saints Collegiate Church in Sieradz, is part of the series Polish Cities, about which I wrote here. The second is part of the series Signs of the Zodiac, about which I wrote here.
On the postcard 2146
The stamp is part of the series Christmas 2015 (Boże Narodzenie 2015), about which I wrote here.
References
Churches of Peace - Wikipedia
Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica - UNESCO official website
Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica - Poland Travel
Sender 2015, 2146: Krystyna Betiuk (direct swap)
2015: Sent from Słupsk (Pomerania / Poland), on 02.11.2015
Photo: Jerzy Goryszewsky
2146: Sent from Słupsk (Pomerania / Poland), on 12.12.2015
Photo: Bozena Pytel
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