/ Polessk – Labiau

Labiau Church

Labiau Church

After the Second World War Labiau was renamed Polessk. The 14th-century church was dedicated to Saint Jodocus. Coordinates of the site where it stood: 54.863409, 21.109415.

It was built of fieldstone, originally without buttresses. The tower stood to the west; its upper storeys were of brick, and the tower spire was covered with zinc. The main building was of boulders; buttresses were added later.


Labiau Church

The entrances, on the north and south, were pointed-arched. There was no chancel. The sacristy was to the east, with a small porch added to it on the north.

Interior of Labiau Church


Inside, the building had three aisles, with six octagonal columns and four half-columns. A modest altar and pulpit. The organ, by W. Sauer of Frankfurt, was built in 1870. Two bells of 1837.

The church may have been damaged during the fighting of the Second World War. By 1960 it had been completely destroyed.



Photos: Bildarchiv Ostpreußen, bildarchiv-ostpreussen.de


Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.