Kościół pw. Chrystusa Króla, Gdańsk

This is the Church of Christ the King, a Roman Catholic parish church on Father Rogaczewski Street in the Siedlce district of Gdańsk. It was created for Polish Catholics living in the Free City of Gdańsk, with Father Franciszek Rogaczewski leading the society that raised the money. The building went up during nineteen thirty-one and nineteen thirty-two, to a design by architect Czesław Świałkowski.

Take in its broad, hall-like form: this church was deliberately made as a large rectangular space, without towers or the usual churchlike architectural signals. That plainness has a reason. It was intended only as an interim home for worship, before a grander church was built nearby; later, this structure was meant to become a venue for gatherings.

War ended that plan, and the larger church never came. The dedication took place in late October of nineteen thirty-two, attended by Poland’s General Commissioner and delegations from Polish organisations in the Free City. The pressure surrounding this parish soon became harsh: national socialist pressure halted its planned status as a Polish personal parish.

At the outbreak of war, Rogaczewski and his fellow priest Alfons Muzalewski were arrested at the presbytery. After the war, destruction of Saint Joseph’s Church made this building the parish church. The parish has carried the name Christ the King since late November of nineteen eighty-nine.