St. Nicholas Church in Wolin. History of the building in the years 1945-1988

Abstract

WWII brought great devastations to Poland. The so-called Recovered Lands  were particularly destroyed. Monuments taken over after the war on Western and  Northern Lands were destroyed the most in the Szczecińskie province. A detailed  estimation of losses was impossible due to the situation after the liberation.  Among ruined buildings there were about 200 sacral buildings. One of the examples  is St. Nicholas Church in Wolin. The post-war history of the church shows  a complicated situation of sacral buildings in a new post-war reality. Initially, the  church administration took over churches that were not destroyed or were devastated  to a small extent. In the following years state religious authorities stopped  transferring unused ruined churches. By the mid-50s no securing works were performed,  authorities did not foresee a reconstruction of the St. Nicholas Church.  For several dozens of years restoring authorities did not have a concept –  what to do with St. Nicholas Church. The absence of any decision resulted in  a bigger and bigger devastation of the building. Under the pretence of a liquidation  of war destructions, legally, a slow but regular demolition of the building  started. In the end of the 1960s works were started in order to secure the building  as a permanent ruin. The church administration many times tried to take over the  building. However the situation did not change even after a treaty between Poland  and the Federal Republic of Germany was signed. State faith authorities tried to  maintain their possessions at all costs – even if sacral buildings were the case. Big  ‘social movements’ in the early 1980s changed this situation. A slow and difficult  process of taking over the building was started. The church was regained in the  late 1980s. The church and society could start the reconstruction of the church.