The gates in Iwięcino

Among West-Pomeranian historical graveyard gates (mostly late-Gothic), three objects from Iwięcino are of unique value. They are the only surviving examples of wooden ones, which used to be popular in the Pomeranian countryside. They are also important for the intangible cultural heritage of the region because of the symbolic content of the inscriptions, related to the folk funeral rites. They are precious examples of modern carpentry as well.

The object has been recorded in the Registry of Cultural Property, No.: A-293 /1960 r.

Keywords: post structure, wood, carpentry, inscriptions

Location

Iwięcino, No. 17, commune and district: gmina Sianów, powiat koszaliński

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The gates are located in the centre of the village (in the village green), within an oval run of a graveyard fence. The fence is a low wall of granite and field stone, built without the use of mortar. The wooden gates lead to a centrally-located church: the Iwięcino Gate – from north-east; the Wierciszewo Gate – from south-west and the Bielkowo Gate from south-east.

History

The Wierciszewo Gate and the Iwięcino Gate were built in the first half of the 18th century, and the Bielkowo Gate is dated to the early 19th century. The exact date of construction, 1725, is carved in the Iwięcino Gate only. At that time, the temple in Iwięcino was a Lutheran parish church. The parish included also neighbouring villages of Bielkowo and Wierciszewo. The residents followed the habit of using a particular gate assigned to their village. At the Bielkowo Gate and the Wierciszewo Gate, funeral rites were practised for the dead from those two villages. Only as late as at the turn of the 19th and the 20th centuries, all the funeral practices were moved into the church. The church graveyard functioned until early 20th century, when a new burial ground was marked out in the western part of the village.

Photo 1. The Iwięcino Gate, drawing, 1892.
Photo 2. The church and the Iwięcino Gate, 1931 .
Photo 3. The Iwięcino Gate, 1936.
Photo 4. The Wierciszewo Gate, before 1945.
Photo 5. The Wierciszewo Gate, 1958.
Photo 6. The Iwięcino Gate, 1958.
Photo 7. The Iwięcino Gate, 1974.
Photo 8. The Bielkowo Gate, 1984.

Description

The gates are characterised by simple carpentry construction composed of four (the Iwięcino and Bielkowo Gates) or two (the Wierciszewo Gate) posts joined by crosswise beams and crowned with small gable, rafter roofs, covered with oak shingles. The lintels are supported by angle braces and woodworking joints are stabilised with treenails. The outer sides of the gates are of a more decorative character and have carved inscriptions.

The Iwięcino gate

The construction of the gate consists of four posts set on stone foundation. At the top, the posts are connected by beams supported with dovetail-joined angle braces. The gable roof is covered with wood shingles. The construction elements are roughly shaped with an axe.

Arch-shaped cut-outs in the lower edges of the angle braces compose the front wall with the line of the lintel. On the face of the lintel, a four-verse inscription was carved (a Bible quotation in Latin and German) together with a date: MDCCXXV (1725). Above, there is an additional slat of a curved profile, which makes the roof eave.

A double, plank door is suspended with strap hinges hooked into the inside parts of the front posts. The obverse is herringbone-planked. On the face of the front posts there are carved decorations of double, intersecting lines limited by similar, horizontal ones at the top and at the bottom.

The side walls of the gate are connected by beams at the bottom and covered with boards in the upper parts, along with the gables.

Inscription:

/TU MORS FIDELIBUS VERA ET PORTA COELI/
/MDCCXXV …. fragment nieczytelny/
/Gehet zu seinen Thoren ein mit Danken Psalm/
/C(E?)UR(?)A NE WITTENS (?)/

Translation of the Latin inscription: “O, death, you shall be the gate of Heaven”; translation of the German inscription: “Step through His gates with thanksgiving” (Psalm 100, verse 4).

Photo 9. The Iwięcino Gate, front side.
Photo 10. The Iwięcino Gate, back side.
Photo 11. The Iwięcino Gate, inscription.
Photo 12. The Iwięcino Gate, construction detail.

The Wierciszewo gate

A gate of a wide clearance, presently doorless. It is composed of two posts supporting a top beam, a lintel and a small gable roof. In the upper corners there are angle braces stabilised with double treenails. The lower edge of the lintel is arch-shaped and its face has a worn-away inscription (a single verse, German Gothic miniscule, most probably a quotation from the Gospel of John). Damaged lower parts of the posts have been bolstered by contemporary iron staples.

Photo 13. The Wierciszewo Gate, front side.

The Bielkowo gate

A four-post gate of a rectangular layout, similar to the Iwięcino Gate in form and structure. Particular elements of the wooden construction are mechanically cut. The profiled-ended lintel has a worn-away German inscription, presently illegible (a single verse, German Gothic miniscule).

Photo 14. The Bielkowo Gate, front side.
Photo 15. The Bielkowo Gate, back side.

Photogrammetry

The Iwięcino Gate

The following Virtual and Augmented Reality "Model 3D - The Iwięcino gate in Iwięcino" presentation uses external Sketchfab portal and is approximately 255MB in size.

"Model 3D - The Iwięcino gate in Iwięcino" presentation.

An alternative description of "Model 3D - The Iwięcino gate in Iwięcino" presentation: A wooden gate in a damaged, stone wall, with a gabled roof. Closed wooden doors.

The Wierciszewo Gate

The following Virtual and Augmented Reality "Model 3D - The Wierciszewo gate in Iwięcino" presentation uses external Sketchfab portal and is approximately 240MB in size.

"Model 3D - The Wierciszewo gate in Iwięcino" presentation.

"Model 3D - The Wierciszewo gate in Iwięcino" presentation: A wooden gate in a damaged, stone wall, with a gabled roof. Both wooden pillars seriously damaged.

The Bielkowo Gate

The following Virtual and Augmented Reality "Model 3D - The Bielkowo gate in Iwięcino" presentation uses external Sketchfab portal and use approximately 265MB.

"Model 3D - The Bielkowo gate in Iwięcino" presentation.

An alternative description of "Model 3D - The Bielkowo gate in Iwięcino" presentation: A wooden gate in a damaged, stone wall, with a gabled roof. Closed wooden doors.

Figure 16. The Wierciszewo Gate – Digital model rendering – road-side view.
Figure 17. The Wierciszewo Gate – Digital model rendering – view from the church.
Figure 18. The Wierciszewo Gate – Digital model rendering (no textures) – view of the upper part.
Figure 19. The Wierciszewo Gate – Digital model point cloud – view of the upper part.
Figure 20. The Wierciszewo Gate – Digital model rendering – view of the upper part.
Figure 21. The Wierciszewo Gate – Digital model rendering – view of damages in the lower part.
Figure 22. The Wierciszewo Gate – Digital model rendering – view of damages in the lower part.
Figure 23. The Wierciszewo Gate – The gate plan rendering.
Figure 24. The Wierciszewo Gate – South elevation rendering.
Figure 25. The Wierciszewo Gate – East elevation rendering.
Figure 26. The Wierciszewo Gate – North elevation rendering.
Figure 27. The Wierciszewo Gate – West elevation rendering.
Figure 28. The Wierciszewo Gate – Roof rendering.
Figure 29. The Bielkowo Gate – Digital model point cloud – overall view.
Figure 30. The Bielkowo Gate – Digital model rendering – overall view.
Figure 31. The Bielkowo Gate – Digital model rendering (no textures) – overall view.
Figure 32. The Bielkowo Gate – Digital model rendering – overall view.
Figure 33. The Bielkowo Gate – Digital model rendering – road-side view.
Figure 34. Bramka The Bielkowo Gate – Digital model rendering – road-side view.
Figure 35. The Bielkowo Gate – Digital model rendering – view from the church.
Figure 36. The Bielkowo Gate – Digital model rendering – view from the church.
Figure 37. The Bielkowo Gate – East elevation rendering.
Figure 38. The Bielkowo Gate – South elevation rendering.
Figure 39. The Bielkowo Gate – West elevation rendering.
Figure 40. The Bielkowo Gate – North elevation rendering.
Figure 41. The Bielkowo Gate – Gate plan rendering.
Figure 42. The Bielkowo Gate – Roof rendering.
Figure 43. The Iwięcino Gate – Digital model point cloud – view from the church.
Figure 44. The Iwięcino Gate – Digital model rendering (no textures) – view from the church.
Figure 45. The Iwięcino Gate – Digital model rendering – view from the church.
Figure 46. The Iwięcino Gate – Digital model rendering – view from the church.
Figure 47. The Iwięcino Gate – Digital model rendering – road-side view.
Figure 48. The Iwięcino Gate – West elevation rendering.
Figure 49. The Iwięcino Gate – North elevation rendering.
Figure 50. The Iwięcino Gate – East elevation rendering.
Figure 51. The Iwięcino Gate – South elevation rendering.
Figure 52. The Iwięcino Gate – Rendering of the inscription above the entrance.
Figure 53. The Iwięcino Gate – Gate plan rendering.
Figure 54. The Iwięcino Gate – Roof rendering.

Sources

    Bibliography:
  • L. Böttger, Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Regierungs – Bezirks Kösslin, Bd. I, H. 3, Stettin 1892, s. 26 – 30;
  • M. Bonowska, Przemijanie. Śmierć, pogrzeb i życie pozagrobowe w wyobrażeniach mieszkańców Pomorza Zachodniego na przełomie XIX i XX w., Poznań 2004, s. 117 – 118;
  • M. Ober, Zabytkowe bramki cmentarne na Pomorzu Zachodnim, w: Nekropolie, kirkuty, cmentarze. Materiały konferencyjne, Szczecin 2002, s. 233 – 248;
  • Karta ewidencyjna zabytku architektury i budownictwa, Trzy bramki. Iwięcino, oprac. D. Horoszko, 2005, archiwum WUOZ Delegatura w Koszalinie;

    Photographs and illustrations by:
  • Drawing reproduction (No. 1) from: L. Böttger, Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Regierungs – Bezirks Kösslin, Bd. I, H. 3, Stettin 1892, p. 30;
  • Photograph (No. 2) from: Bilder aus Ostpommern, Berlin 1931 (reproduction: Archiwum WUOZ o. Koszalin);
  • Photograph (No. 3) from: O. von Zaborsky-Wahlstätten, Urnäter Erbe in deutscher volkskunst, Lipsk 1939, p. 115 (reproduction: Archiwum WUOZ o. Koszalin);
  • Photograph (No. 4) from: A. Dębowski (ed.), Iwięcinskie rodziny osadnicze. 65 rocznica osadnictwa na Ziemiach Odzyskanych, Iwięcino 2010, p. 196;
  • Archiwum WUOZ [Wojewódzki Urząd Ochrony Zabytków / the archive of the Voivodeship Office for the Protection of Monuments] o. [branch in] Koszalin – A. Lipka (photographs No. 5 and 6), D. Ptaszyńska (photograph No. 7), F. J. Lachowicz (photograph No. 8);
  • W. Witek (photographs No. 9 - 15);
  • Biuro Dokumentacji Zabytków – K. Tymbarski (figures No. 16 - 54);