Geneza i erygowanie parafii katolickiej w Ełku na początku XX wieku

In 1852, a meeting of Catholics from Lyck/Ełk and the surrounding areas was convened. The representatives of the Bishop of Warmia and of the St. Adalbert Association also participated in it. A decision was made to tax the local community in order to create a pastoral institution in the town. The first priest of Ełk was Nikolaus Rochon, who was nominated on 22 May 1853. Then a property in the suburbs of Ełk was bought, where a presbytery was organised and a chapel was built. It was consecrated on 15 October 1854. In mid 1880s, it was decided that a new plot of land should be bought in order to build a church. The construction work on the plot of land was commenced in 1892. Finally, a Neogothic church was constructed. It was dedicated to St. Adalbert and the Transfiguration of Jesus by Edward Herrmann, the suffragan bishop of the Warmia Diocese. A catholic parish with full rights was founded on 31 March 1903. The priest of Ełk, Josef Langkau, celebrated Catholic services in Prawdziska and other places. In 1905 a priest, Konrad Majewski, was nominated in the village. The functioning of the pastoral institution in Ełk depended on the financial help of Church associations and organisations, particularly the St. Adalbert Association and the St. Boniface Association, which operated in the Warmia Diocese area under the name of the Saint Boniface and Adalbert Association.