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Wang Temple

The history of this small wooden church, which has served the Evangelicals from Karpacz and the surrounding area for over 150 years, resembles a story straight from literature. How did it happen that one of the pearls of Scandinavian sacred architecture found its way to Silesia?

Foto: Flickr/magro_kr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The Wang Temple, built in the 12th century (other sources mention the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries), was auctioned off by the Prussian king Frederick William IV. Originally, the building was to become one of the attractions of the Royal Museum in Berlin, where it was taken to pieces from Vang in southern Norway. The king gave up his idea, but luckily this historic church, made entirely of Norwegian pine wood, without the use of nails, was rebuilt on the slope of Czarna Góra in the Karkonosze Mountains. The decision to move the temple to Karpacz was made by the monarch thanks to the persuasions of the countess Frederica von Reden, a patron of the arts, buried after her death in nearby Bukowiec.

The re-construction, however, required the reconstruction of many elements, which either did not endure the hardships of such a long journey, or – at least as the architect said in charge of the construction – were not brought at all in loads transported from Norway. Despite the problems, it was possible to maintain the characteristic features of the architectural style in which the Vang temple was built – in particular parts of the church one can find not only the characters of runic writing, but also the faces of Vikings and representations of dragons known from Norse mythology. And all in an unusual – both in summer and winter – scenery, in one of the two temples of this type located outside Norway, in the heart of the Giant Mountains.

The possibility of visiting the Wang Temple depends on the liturgical calendar.

For more information about admission and ticket prices, please visit the official website of the parish: http://www.wang.com.pl

Zdjęcie główne: Flickr/Sundays : ) (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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