One thing just leads to another . . . and another. Take, for instance, the World Heritage “Peace Churches” of Swidnica and Jawor in the part of Poland known as Silesia.
The Thirty Years' War in Europe ended in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia, which upheld the principle that the faith professed by the ruler was obligatory for his subjects. At that time Silesia was part of the Catholic Habsburg monarchy and in most of the province Protestants were persecuted and deprived of the right and possibility to practise their faith. Through the agency of the Lutheran king of Sweden, the emperor finally allowed the erection of three churches, the Churches of Peace, of which two survive today.
However, there were strings attached. The churches must be built “more than a rifle shot” from the town center and could have neither a bell tower nor bells. They had to be completed within one year and could be built of only clay, straw and wood. This was quite a contrast to many Catholic churches that took a century or two to complete. But all three were built “on schedule and under budget,” as the saying goes.
The Church of Peace in Swidnica was locked tighter than a bank vault on Christmas Day. We were disappointed that we couldn’t see the interior of this mid-17th Century Lutheran Church, a rarity in Catholic Poland. As we were leaving I asked an old guy, “Ist es geschlossen?” and he withdrew a ring of keys from his pocket and ushered us to the door. It seems his German is worse than mine – we are in Silesia, a part of Poland that was German until 1945 – and he was late getting to the ‘office.’ The interior of the church was nothing less than amazing, especially considering the building restraints. The Peace Church in Jawor was equally fascinating and only a bit easier to access. And we had both completely to ourselves with the history of each being played in English just for us.
Peace Church in Jawor, built of clay, straw and wood
Oh, in case you’ve forgotten (as I did) what the Thirty Years War was about, that's when the learning comes in. It was fought between Catholics and Protestants, a reaction to the Reformation and ended with the Treaty of Westphalia. The intercession of the Swedish king is understandable since Sweden at one time ruled most of modern-day Poland.
And that’s how we learn!
