St. Martin's Church

St. Martin's Church is one of the oldest churches in Wrocław. It was already mentioned in 1149 and built as a castle church for the castle on Wrocław's Cathedral Island. Later it came into the possession of the Elbing Monastery, whose founder is considered to be Henry IV. Henry IV wanted to design the church as a mausoleum for his family, but this did not happen because he died before the renovation was completed. The monastery church was expanded in the 13th century by Wiland. The expansion was interrupted in 1287 when construction of the nearby Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross began. In 1368, the church belonged to the Premonstratensian Abbey of St. Vincent | Elbing Monastery. In the interwar period (1921–1939), St. Martin's Church served the Polish minority in Wrocław as a place for Polish-language services. The last Polish Holy Mass was held by Father Józef Sikora from Opole on September 17, 1939. Afterwards, he entered the following words into the church register:

I nie ustaniemy w walce, siłę słuszności mamy. I mocą tej słuszności wytrwamy i wygramy! (And we will not cease to fight, we have the strength of justice. And with the power of this justice we will endure and win!) The church was largely destroyed during the Second World War. It was reconstructed in the years 1957 to 1960. In 1968, the interior was designed and later a monument to Pope John XXIII was erected in front of the church.