/ Ludwigswalde – Lesnoye

Ludwigswalde Church

Ludwigswalde Church

The church was founded after 1332, when Komtur Rüdiger von Talheim mentions a church built in Ludwigswalde. After the Second World War the village received a new name, Lesnoye (Guryevsk District). Coordinates of the church: 54.632469, 20.548509.

The tower was added in the 15th century. The west side of the tower is in Gothic bond. A red frieze ran around the building on the south and north sides. Four diagonal buttresses stood at the corners of the nave. The lower storey of the tower was built of granite fieldstones.


The Ludwigswalde angel

The church was entered through a Gothic portal in the tower, and also from the south and north through similar portals. The sacristy was added on the north-east.

Altar of Ludwigswalde Church


Pulpit of 1713. Confessional of 1691. Organ of 1714 (1820 according to W. Hubatsch). Large bell of 1684. In all, the church had two bells.

In 1945 there was fighting in this area. In the absence of reliable facts, one may assume that the church was damaged. The ruins were taken apart later. In 1990 a fragment of the north wall of the tower could be made out and, with great difficulty, the foundation.



Photos: Bildarchiv Ostpreußen, Anton Ulbrich «Geschichte der Bildhauerkunst in Ostpreussen».


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