Nowofarny Cemetery in Bydgoszcz

The Nowofarny cemetery in Bydgoszcz is one of the largest Roman Catholic cemeteries in this Polish city. One of its oldest area has been registered on the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage List. Location The cemetery is located in the northern part of Bydgoszcz, between the following streets: Artyleryjska, Zaświat, Powstańców Warszawy, and Skromna. To the east, it is adjacent to the military and municipal cemetery, where stand a monument and tombstones of Red Army fallen soldiers, and graves of state activists from the PRL. To the north, the site borders with an Evangelical-Augsburg Cemetery, registered on the Voivodeship Heritage List. History Prussian period The cemetery was founded in 1905, as the second cemetery of the Catholic parish in Bydgoszcz (then called Bromberg). It intended to be a substitute for the initial downtown cemetery, then called "Starofarny" (English: Pld parish) which had reached its full capacity. The initiators of the project were Ryszard Markwart, the Bromberg parish priest, and Władysław Gogoliński, an architect who founded with Emil Warmiński the Polish House (Polish: Dom Polski), an institution promoting Polishness during Prussian occupation. The cemetery was designed by Ernst Larass (1866–1942), who belonged to a famous family of Bydgoszcz green designers. In the central point of the cemetery, a chapel was built according to the design by Roger Sławski. The cemetery was rectangular, with a funeral chapel in its center: the 26 sections were delineated by the crossing of circular and perpendicular alleys. Until the establishment of later Catholic parish cemeteries in the 1920s, the Nowofarny cemetery served as the main urban necropolis for Catholics. In its center are located the graves of WWI soldiers, Greater Poland uprising insurgents (1918–1919) and Polish–Soviet War soldiers (1920). During the Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919), the house of the cemetery inspector Andrzej Sikorski was a meeting place for the Bydgoszcz Polish community and a collection point for weapons for the insurgents. Interwar period In 1930, for the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Insurgents section of the cemetery, the sculptor Jakub Job realized a monument to the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of Poland, depicting St Mary with Child. The sculpture was restored in 2018. Furthermore, a commemorative plaque was unveiled at the same time as the statue to "Honor and homage [to] the fallen and deceased Polish soldiers on the tenth anniversary of the Miracle of the Vistula. Below are the words of prayer: Queen of the Polish Crown, pray for us!" WWII years During the German occupation, the cemetery served as a gathering beacon of Polish patriotism. Valuable works of art and books were stored in old tombs, which were returned to museum collections and private hands after the conflict. The hostages murdered at the Old Market Square were buried in the cemetery. In their graves were placed objects or "distinguishing marks" in special boxes, thanks to which, after the war, the exhumed bodies could be identified. During the war, the administrator's house of the Nowofarny cemetery became, like in 1919-1920, a place of conspiracy of the Home Army and a shelter for the underground. In particular, the place hid Major Józef Gruss (aka "Stanisław"), the head of intelligence of the Pomeranian District of the Home Army, till his arrest in May 1944. In 1945, a municipal cemetery was established in an adjacent plot, east to Nowofarny: it comprised a military cemetery and an honorific area. In the military premises were buried nearly 1,200 Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Bydgoszcz (January 1945) and more than 200 prisoners of war. In later years, an obelisk was unveiled in honor of the fallen soldiers together with a commemorative plaque. In the other part of the municipal graveyard, an "Alley of the Distinguished" was established. It houses the burials of deceased party activists and officials of the state administration of Polish People's Republic in Bydgoszcz. Polish People's Republic (1945–1989) After the Second World War, the land parcel to the north, belonging to the Evangelical-Augsburg Parish of Bydgoszcz, became the main urban Evangelical cemetery, due to the transformation of the large, historic cemetery on Jagiellońska Street Street into an urban park. In 1971, a new Catholic pastoral center was established, with the Nowofarny cemetery chapel as its seat. On December 1, 1979, the Parish of the Holy Cross in Bydgoszcz was created: following dragging troubles to consent on the location of the new church, it was decided to rebuild the cemetery chapel between 1982 and 1986. The project led by Father Prelate Eugeniusz Barełkowski was carried out following the design of Bydgoszcz engineers Jerzy Tomaszewski (main building) and Zbigniew Lewiński (towers). The new church was consecrated on 16 December 1990, by Father Cardinal Józef Glemp then Primate of Poland. It has an area of 970 m2 and hosts catechetical rooms and a rectory in a side edifice. Recent period After 1989, an area was designated for the burial of civilians in the municipal cemetery. Six years later, it was integrated into the Nowofarny cemetery and transferred to the responsibility of the Bydgoszcz Cathedral Parish. The military section of Red Army soldiers, separated by a strip of greenery, is still maintained by municipal services. A renovation of the ancient tombstones of the distinguished Bydgoszcz notables started in the 1990s. The works are supported by funds collected by the Bydgoszcz community during All Souls' Day. In 2018, this money additionally financed, among others, the renovation of one of a brick cemetery gate with wrought iron doors and 2 wicket gates, which were listed on the Heritage Register of monuments. The Evangelical-Augsburg Cemetery to the north has been entered into the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Heritage List of monuments in 1994, under the number A/820/1-3. Characteristics This catholic cemetery is rectangular (330 metres (1,080 ft)×245 metres (804 ft)) and covers an area of 7.94 hectares (19.6 acres); with the municipal cemetery the ensemble extends over 11.9 hectares (29 acres). The graveyard itself is partitioned into 28 divisions. The central point of the site is occupied by the Church of the Holy Cross, from which radiates alleys. The necropolis contains: 76 standing tombstones, 88 graves and 6 tombstone chapels from the first half of the 20th century; 2,480 standing tombstones from the second half of the 20th century. The oldest tomb dates back to 1906. World War I Soldiers' Quarters The section is located along Artyleryjska Street. It is lawn-laid and houses a commemorative plaque with the following: Grave of soldiers who died during World War I 1914-1918. 1919–1920 wars section This plot is located south of the Church of the Holy Cross. It comprises: 6 insurgents from the Greater Poland uprising (1918–1919). Close to the latter stands a monument to the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen of Poland; 220 soldiers of the Polish–Soviet War (1920), with an explanatory board. Polish Army Soldiers' section (1945) The division is located next to the grave of WWI soldiers, along Artyleryjska Street. There are 35 common graves, containing 129 soldiers who died during WWII battles in Bydgoszcz. Soviet Army Soldiers' Quarters The section lies in the eastern part of the cemetery, originally on the civilian municipal area, from which it is separated by a strip of greenery. In the centre of the plot stands an obelisk in honor of the fallen ones, along with a commemorative plaque with inscriptions in Polish and Russian, mentioning Eternal Glory to the Heroes of the Red Army, who died in the fight for the liberation of our city. The inhabitants of Bydgoszcz. The division was established on 13 March 1946 and it has been receiving sepultures from various locations in the vicinity until 1947. The site houses 1,545 graves of Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Bydgoszcz and the fighting in the vicinity. The tombstones are marked with obelisks carrying a red star; some of them (552) have plaques with the name and the origin of the exhumed soldier's. Municipal area In January 1969, the municipal division was opened to bury distinguished political activists and members of the Polish United Workers' Party (Polish: Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza - PZPR). Since 1970, several dozen people have been interred here: members of the PZPR (e.g. Józef Rakoczy, Józef Majchrzak); employees of the Voivodeship and City National Council (e.g. Kazimierz Maludziński, Józef Powalisz); military commanders; officers of the Citizens' Militia (e.g. general Józef Kozdra, provincial commander of the Citizens' Militia); Security Service members; ordinary citizens who did not want a religious burial. Currently, this section has a separate entrance from Artyleryjska Street. Famous burials The Nowofarny Cemetery is the largest burial place of distinguished Bydgoszcz residents. It hosts the graves of social activists, patriotic fighters, Honorary Citizens of the City of Bydgoszcz, Presidents of Bydgoszcz, doctors, teachers, writers, and artists. Among all these famous people buried in the Nowofarny Cemetery, one can cite the following: Tombstones gallery See also Starofarny Cemetery in Bydgoszcz Wincenty Witos Park, Bydgoszcz References Bibliography (in Polish) Zbigniew, Woźniak (1996). Bydgoskie cmentarze. Bydgoska Gospodarka Komunalna [Bydgoszcz cemeteries. Bydgoszcz Municipal Economy]. Bydgoszcz: Instytut Wydawniczy „Świadectwo”. pp. 87–88. ISBN 83-85860-37-1. (in Polish) Grzybowski, Przemysław (1993). Cmentarz Starofarny i jego rola w świetle historii pozostałych cmentarzy bydgoskich. Kronika Bydgoska XIII [The Starofarny Cemetery and its role in the light of the history of other cemeteries in Bydgoszcz. Kronika Bydgoska XIII] (in Polish). Bydgoszcz: Towarzystwo Miłośników Miasta Bydgoszczy. ISBN 83-85860-37-1. (in Polish) Piechocka, Ewa (1979). O czym mówią cmentarze. Kalendarz Bydgoski [What do cemeteries talk about. Bydgoszcz Calendar] (in Polish). Bydgoszcz: Towarzystwo Miłośników Miasta Bydgoszczy. pp. 146–151. (in Polish) Gliwiński, Eugeniusz (2000). Kwatery żołnierskie na bydgoskich cmentarzach. Kalendarz Bydgoski [Soldiers' plots in Bydgoszcz cemeteries. Bydgoszcz Calendar] (in Polish). Bydgoszcz: Towarzystwo Miłośników Miasta Bydgoszczy. pp. 289–296. External links YouTube documentary on Nowofarny Cemetery (in Polish) List of distinguished Bydgoszcz residents buries at Nowofarny Cemetery (in Polish)