The beautiful Neo-Gothic tower of the church by Zamkowy Square stands out in the city panorama today. But in the 1830s, the Prussian authorities also placed the work of Friedrich Engelhardt Gansel, the author of the railway viaduct, on the list of the best buildings in the country. It was praised by residents and members of the city council.

Thanks to it, the otherwise unremarkable building of the single-space Protestant church, with two levels of wooden galleries, suddenly gained significance. The 73-metre Neo-Gothic tower, built of light sandstone, stood out with its sophisticated form: the lower part of the tower was square in plan, while the upper part had an octagonal plan. Its openwork section, housing the bells, was topped with a pyramidal spire surrounded by a balustrade. Balanced proportions and modest, elegant decoration, such as arcaded friezes and pinnacles, completed the whole.

Unfortunately, its architectural beauty and considerable size—73 metres in height—became the cause of a dispute between the designer and the authorities. What was the dispute about? As mentioned: size. There were fears of rivalry between the Evangelicals and Catholics. The Catholic church tower was small, measuring only 55.2 metres, and was considerably lower than the newly built bell tower. To save his work, Gansel convinced the authorities that although the Catholic church tower was almost 18 metres lower, it stood on a rise, meaning it was 23 feet—approximately 7 metres—higher than the Protestants’ bell tower. And so the dispute was settled.

It is possible that adding the tower to the church building prompted further changes to Bolesławiec’s urban development plan, connected with the construction of a promenade on the site of the defensive walls. Let us recall that Bolesławiec’s fortifications were destroyed by Napoleonic troops, as we wrote in the article: The defensive walls of Bolesławiec were irreversibly destroyed.

The text was based on: Agata Kozioł. Promenada w Bolesławcu. Rozwój architektoniczny i urbanistyczny 1813-1945. Muzeum Ceramiki 2010.