Church of Peace

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The Churches of Peace in Jawor, Glogow and Świdnica, localised in Poland, Dolnośląskie voivodship, are the largest timber-framed religious buildings in Europe.

The Evangelical churches, named Friedenskirchen were built in Jauer, Schweidnitz and Glogau in Silesia, since 1945 Poland. The church in Jawor is under the invocation of the Holy Ghost, the Świdnica's one under the invocation of the Holy Trinity. They were built in Silesia in the mid-17th century, at a time of religious strife following the Peace of Westphalia, therefore named Friedenskirche (translation peace church). Constrained by the physical and political conditions, the Churches of Peace bear testimony to the quest for religious freedom and are a rare expression of Lutheran ideology in an idiom generally associated with the imperial Habsburg Catholic Church. With the Peace of Westphalia the Protestants in Silesia were allowed to build three churches, but they had to be of wood and no nails. The Churches of Peace are entered on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. In 2005 the 350 year aniversary was observed and they are being restored by German-Polish cooperation.