of Casimir III the Great's, but falling apart at the end of the 19th century. The author of the project was Berlin architect Heinrich Seeling, famous in Bydgoszcz for other realisations such as the Municipal Theatre, the Church of the Savior, and houses (tenement at 4 Jagiellońska Street or Villa Heinrich Dietz). The dedication of the unfinished edifice took place on October 22, 1903. On December 16, 1903, the finished church was dedicated. In 1945, the church, occupied by communist authorities, was handed over to the Catholic community. In autumn 1946, the church, still damaged from World War II battles, returned to the ownership of the city and then entrusted to the religious order of the Society of Jesus. After an exhaustive reconstruction, the building was placed under the patronage of Polish Jesuit St. Andrew Bobola. Two Jesuits (the first ones to enter post-war Bydgoszcz) from Vilnius – Władysław Wantuchowski and Jan Kurdziel – installed at the main altar a copy of the icon Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn. In 1967, St. Andrew Bobola church became a parish. From 1977 on, the building became the first center in the city of the Catholic Intelligentsia Club (), following the Light-Life movement and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, both a part of the renewal in the Catholic Church following Vatican II. In 1989, Trade Union "Solidarność" made the church a prominent activist centre of the Bydgoszcz region. Architecture Exteriors The church has a Neo-Gothic style, distinctive of German Protestant churches at the beginning of the 20th century. To the north-eastern corner of the church stands an adorned chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. On the western frontage, the high spire-topped tower rises above the neighborhood, with its turrets and finials. The main facade boasts a richly adorned portal, flanked by small triangular gables. The facades show various type of openings, with gables topped by pinnacles. Originally, the main entrance to the temple was flanked by a pair of stone statues of kneeling angels. In 1978 the tower was covered with copper sheet in place of ceramic tiles, and in 1996 the building received external lighting. The spire is 75 m high, making the church the highest buildings in Bydgoszcz: the cross on the dome of St. Vincent de Paul Basilica stands at 65m, and the brand new residence Nordic Haven, in Grottgera street 4, is 55m high The tower clock mechanism