Lommis is a small town located in the canton of Turgovia, in the northern part of Switzerland. On the contemporary map of the town, one can find many works by the sculptor and Polish soldier interned in Switzerland between 1940 and 1945, Pawel Polachowski (1917-1991). One of the most interesting compositions is the 'Teaching of the Apostles' in the interior of the intimate Reformed church.

Lommis - a city of two religions

Since the 16th century, Protestantism has been one of the two dominant religions in Lommis, alongside Catholicism. Between 1648 and 1966, the medieval church of St James the Elder, located in the town centre, was shared by both faiths. After the Second World War, however, the Protestant community decided to build its own building.

Architecture and decoration of the Reformed Church

The Reformed Church building in Lommis was built in 1966 to the design of Turgau architects Willy Kräher and Karl Jenni, in the north-western part of the town. The monumental, modernist church stands amidst spreading trees, slightly set back from the Matzingerstrasse street frontage. The massing, reminiscent of a modern outdoor sculpture, consists of an elongated nave and a tall bell tower, distinguished by a sloping roof that runs from the gable to the ground floor of the building. The decoration of the interior of the church, in accordance with the principles of the Swiss Reformed Church, was limited to just a few elements.

Relief "Teaching of the Apostles" by Paweł Polachowski

One of these is an elongated, rectangular bronze relief entitled 'Teaching of the Apostles', located on the side wall of the church nave. Dating from around 1966, the relief shows the twelve apostles listening to Jesus' teachings in a hieratic manner. Jesus occupies the central position in the composition, depicted with a radiant nimbus and a book in his hands, symbolising his divinity and wisdom. Grouped around him are the disciples, six on each side, depicted with their characteristic long hair and beards, dressed in tunics. Executed in the convention of naive art, the casting is distinguished by the varied textures and linearity of the image. The austere relief stands out against the minimalist interior of the church. The composition is signed in the upper right corner 'POLACHOWSKI AADORF', indicating the author, Paweł Polachowski, and the place where the work was created.

Forbidden love, military service and the chisel - the story of the forgotten artist Pawel Polachowski

Paweł Polachowski, born in 1917, enlisted in the Polish army when he was just 22 years old. Back in 1939, he was captured by the Russians and taken to a prisoner of war camp in Siberia, from where he managed to escape. Having joined the English forces, he made his way through the Balkans to France, where he joined the 2nd Infantry Rifle Division. On 22 June 1940, he found himself in Switzerland and was interned. In the country of Wilhelm Tell, he was first sent to an internment camp for Polish soldiers in Büren.

His stay in Matzingen, where Polachowski was posted on 12 February 1941, changed his life forever. There he served his apprenticeship as a sculptor. While still in the Second World War, he opened a workshop in Lommis, specialising in wood carvings and tombstones and commemorative panels for comrades-in-arms.

Moreover, it was there that, despite being forbidden to have contact with the local population, Polachowski established a relationship with Agatha Schwager, who came from a local farming family. They met at the airfield in Lommis, where Polachowski was doing land reclamation work. Over the following years they met in secret. In May 1945, on the eve of the end of the war, the couple married in the local St James' Catholic Church. This decision cost Schwager with the loss of his Swiss passport, prompting the couple to leave in 1947.

After a brief stay in France, where their daughter was born, they went to the sculptor's homeland. There, their second child, a son Romuald, was born. However, discrimination against his wife and children prompted them to return to Switzerland. After the thaw in 1956, the family settled in Aadorf, where Polachowski opened a sculpture workshop.