Town church of St. Nikolai in Forst.
Photo: Matthias Donath
Town church of St. Nikolai in Forst.
Photo: Rico Hofmann
Crypt in Forst
Photo: Matthias Donath
In 1746, Count Heinrich von Brühl bought the town and office of Forst in Lower Lusatia and combined this property with the Pförten estate on the right-hand bank of the Lusatian Neisse. He used the palace in Pförten as his residence, while a cloth and linen manufactory was established in the Forst palace. He designated the Protestant town church of St. Nikolai in Forst as the main church of his Lower Lusatian domain.
Brühl was interested in the economic well-being of his town of Forst. A distinctive textile trade developed in the town, beginning in the cloth factory in the palace. When the small town was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1748, Count Heinrich von Brühl organised the reconstruction. The town was rebuilt according to a general development plan. The house owners were able to draw on state subsidies, but had to comply with rules of baroque design and fire protection. The reconstruction of the town church began in 1750.
In his will, the Saxon Prime Minister decreed that he should be buried in the church of St. Nikolai in Forst. On 4 November 1763, one week after his death, he was buried in one of the crypts under the Protestant town church. He still rests there today in a zinc coffin. In 2013, the crypt was renovated and the walled-up entrance from the nave was opened. It is possible to descend to the Brühl crypt and view the coffins through a glass wall when the church is open.
