Basilica of St. Louis and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Katowice-Panewniki, Poland

In the 19th century, the Franciscans from Góra Świętej Anny frequently arrived in the industrially and demographically developing eastern fringe of Upper Silesia. Panewniki (today’s district of Katowice), like its neighboring settlements, was then within the German Empire.  The decision to permanently settle the Franciscans in Panewniki was based on pastoral considerations the population of both Panewniki and nearby Ligota was growing. The parish church was the church in Mikołów, located 7 km as the crow flies. The land for the construction of the church and monastery in Panewniki was purchased from Johann Kopiniok for 12,500 German marks.  The purchase of the 8 hectares on the Kodnica River where the monastery complex and the adjacent Calvary now stand was led by Father Ludwik Skowronek of Bogucice. A down payment of 1,300 marks was made by him. The Wrocław diocesan curia paid the remaining amount from money left for the Franciscan mission by Father Józef Raszek of Lipiny. Cardinal Georg Kopp, the Ordinary of Wrocław , gave permission for the construction of the monastery and the settlement of the monks, as confirmed in a letter addressed to Father Augustyn Schumann, parish priest in Mikołów, dated February 16, 1901.  That same year, an additional 1.75 hectares of land was purchased from Franciszek Kempski of Ligota.  The Franciscans decided to relinquish ownership of the land to the Wrocław Curia.  It was not until 1984, through the efforts of the then-provincial, Father Damian Szojda OFM , that the land on the border of Ligota and Panewniki, where the basilica and convent stand, became the property of the monastic community.  The Franciscans, who arrived in Stare Panewniki in 1902, adapted the purchased house at 439 Panewnicka Street for their worship needs .  In 1905, a replica of the Lourdes Grotto on the Kodnica River was built, which is now on the grounds of Kalwaria Panewnicka. During the summer, Masses could be held there. Johann Bialetzki of Murcek, a district governor associated with Richard Holtz, a co-founder of Katowice, opposed this religious establishment. Bialetzki’s charges were eventually dropped as a result of a decision made by Count von Heyking, the starost of Pszczyna. After the grotto was completed in 1905, construction of a monastery and church began, designed by Franciscan Brother Mansuetus Fromm, OFM.  That same year, permission was received from the authorities in Berlin. 

Construction work began on October 4th with a Mass celebrated by the superior of the Custody of St.  Jadwiga , Father Krystian Kozubek OFM.  Monks from Upper Silesia were included in this administrative unit. Father Ryszard Stehr, the dean of Mokre, laid the church’s cornerstone on July 1, 1906. The work was supervised by Franciszek Neumann from Bytom. Every day before construction began, a short service was held, and Mass was celebrated in the grotto.  There were around 200 employees, many of whom were local volunteers. Many women and girls also came to help.  Farmers from Panewniki, Piotrowice, Ochojec, and Kostuchna also volunteered to work with their carts .  No injuries or occupational accidents were reported during construction.  The church and monastery’s outer shell was finished in the spring of 1907, and by the end of the year, the roof had been installed. At the same time, the towers and dome were finished, and the dome was covered with Moselle stone slate. On September 29, 1907, Father Ludwik Skowronek consecrated five new bells for the monastery, and the monks also moved in.  The carpentry, joinery, and blacksmithing work was performed by the monks in workshops built adjacent to the monastery. In 1908, stained glass windows, made by the workshop of Victor Anton and Victor Johann Forst in Münster , Westphalia , were installed , and the flooring was laid.  The 1.5-ton St. Patrick statue had to be put in place in a month and a half. Francis of Assisi on the dome.

The entire monastery complex was built at a cost of 1,166,215 marks, which did not include the unpaid labor of the population or the material contributions of donors (wood, sand, stone, and other materials). Among the most distinguished donors, monastery chronicles list: Lazarus IV Henkel von Donnersmarck of the Bytom-Siemianowice line and his wife Maria von Schweinitz; Francis II Xaver Graf von Ballester of Pławniowice and his wife Jadwiga von Sauerma-Jeltsch; and the married couple Count Hans Ulrich von Schaffgotsch of Kopice near Grodków and Joanna Schaffgotsch. The church was consecrated on July 19, 1908, by Cardinal Georg Kopp. The ceremony attracted 80,000 faithful. Over 50 special trains were dispatched to the station in Ligota.  Members of the Prussian Parliament from Upper Silesia arrived in Panewniki that day.  In the initial period of the Franciscans’ activity in Panewniki, they faced harsh press attacks: the German press accused the monks of being a hotbed of Polishness, while the Polish press accused them of Germanization.  Services and masses were celebrated in Latin, and attacks targeted sermons preached in both Polish and German.  The main altar of the church was completed in July 1909.  The Stations of the Cross were consecrated on February 13, 1910. The church was intended to be equipped with electric lighting, but this became possible only in the interwar years.  After the Second Vatican Council, the chancel was rebuilt, following the principles of liturgical reform.  Since November 12, 1974, Pope Paul VI gave the church the status of minor basilica. Since 1908 (or 1913) a nativity scene has been built in the basilica, which is currently the largest altar nativity scene in Europe.