Did you know that in the place where the playground of Primary School No. 2 in Nowy Dwor Gdanski is currently located at Boleslawa Chrobrego Street, there were two buildings of great importance from the point of view of the history of the capital of the Low Lands? We are talking about the castle visible on the city's coat of arms, and after its destruction, the Evangelical church.
The Loitz family and their castle
In the mid-XVIth century, many of the Low Land villages in the vicinity of Nowy Dwor Gdanski were in the hands of the Loitz merchant-banker family. It was them who decided to build a castle on the island, in the fork of the Tuga River. That was the beginning of the history of today’s capital of the Low Lands.
The castle was in the hands of the Loitz family for only few years. After their bankruptcy, it was transferred successively to representatives of the Wejher, Jacobsen, Gembicki and Sobieski families. Frequent changes did not help the condition of the building. A dozen or so years after the city took over, the castle was already so damaged that it was decided to dismantle it. Although the building disappeared from the city space, it did not mean that it did not function in the minds of the residents. In the 1890s, when the city received its coat of arms, the image of the Loitz castle was placed on the shield. It is the same today.
Nowy Dwór Gdański, photo: Ł. Kępski
It should be noted, however, that both the pre-war coat of arms and the current one differ significantly from the appearance of the original building. The Loitz family most likely built their castle in the pallazo in fortezza style. Next to the castle there were farm buildings. Inside, there was supposed to be a small chapel.
Nowy Dwór Gdański, Chrobrego Street, photo: Archive of the Nowodworski Club
Church
Most likely, it was this one that could have been used as an Evangelical church after the city was incorporated by Prussia. The poor condition and growing needs of the Protestant community prompted the authorities of the then Tiegenhof to build a church. It was erected on the foundations of the former castle in the years 1831-1833. The building was initially designed by one of the most outstanding architects of the time, Karl Friedrich Schinkel. His design turned out to be too expensive and the solution proposed by Cal Ferdinand von Busse was adopted.
The first church in the city was made in a half-timbered construction, and its characteristic tower was an important element of the cultural landscape of the city on the Tuga for many years.
The church was demolished after World War II, and in its place there is now a school playground.
Nowy Dwór Gdański, a playing field in the place of the castle, photo: Ł. Kępski
