As Stanisław Moniuszko displayed a genuine music talent already in his early childhood, while living with his family in Warsaw and attending the famous Piarist Middle School, he also took lessons in the organ from a young organist of the Lutheran Holy Trinity Church. August Freyer (1801–1883) hailed from the small German town of Oberschaar near Annaberg. He came to Warsaw in 1827 to continue his studies under excellent composer Józef Elsner, who was also of German origin. Through Elsner, Freyer got to know his other student, Fryderyk Chopin, who counted him among his closest friends. Freyer stayed in Poland for the rest of his life, working mainly as a teacher. He was considered the best organist in the city. He did most of his teaching and composing in connection with his job as the organist of the Holy Trinity Church.

In the 18th century the church was the highest building in Warsaw. The decision to build a church for the members of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland was taken in 1773. The first design was made by Efraim Schroeger, however, King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who reserved the right to have the final say in the matter, chose Szymon Bogumił Zug to be the architect. The construction started in April 1777 and officially ended as soon as on 2 July 1779. The shrine is the only central-plan church in Warsaw. Reminiscent of the Roman Pantheon, it is a rotunda based on a plan in the form of a Greek cross, with a dome of 34-metre diameter topped with a characteristic lantern tower.

In 1861, as the director of the Teatr Wielki, Stanisław Moniuszko supported the Lutheran community by holding a fundraiser for an old people’s home and orphanage. The charity concert was performed twice, on 19 and 21 June, attracting a big audience. The programme, which Moniuszko set himself, mainly included music by Polish composers. The newspaper Kurier Warszawski later reported that ‘The professional artists and amateurs spared no effort. Mr Dobrski […] sang a dazzling rendition of Modlitwa [Prayer] by Stradella. [The concert] was led by the tireless Director Moniuszko, to whom the Society owns the concept of the whole event’. Moniuszko staged more concerts in partnership with the Lutheran community in the subsequent years.

Apart from a few renovations and minor alternations, the church survived in its original form until the outbreak of the Second World War, becoming one of the city’s landmarks. Unfortunately, it burnt down almost completely in early September 1939. It was reconstructed between 1949 and 1957 according to a design by Teodor Bursche. In 1951 the church was taken over by the Ministry of Culture and the Arts and was to be used by the Warsaw Philharmonic as a representative concert hall, meeting place and exhibition space. That did not happen and the building was returned to the Lutheran parish in 1956.

Continuing the music tradition of the place, the church hosts the International Festival of Organ and Chamber Music and other concerts.

Holy Trinity Church in Warsaw in 1781

Holy Trinity Church in Warsaw today