St. Nicholas Church (german: Nikolaikirche) is the oldest of the three major

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

es of the

Hanseatic city The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German tow ...

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neub ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was dedicated in 1279 to St. Nicholas of Myra, the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of sailors. Since 1524 it has been an

Evangelical Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

church. It is one of the earliest examples of the introduction of the cathedral pattern of northern France into the

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resourc ...

architecture of the Baltic region. As part of the historic centre of Stralsund, St. Nicholas Church was inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...

in 2002.<

History

The construction of St. Nicholas Church began as a

hall church A hall church is a church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was invented in the mid-19th century by Wilhelm Lübke, a pioneering German art historian. In contrast to an archi ...

with a tower in 1234, after Stralsund acquired city rights. The planning and building in the oldest part of Stralsund continued alongside the planning of the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in the Old Market. This suggests that Nicholas Church was from the beginning intended to be the council church of the city. A council church was not just a place of worship, but was also the location for holding board meetings, receiving ambassadors, announcing laws and regulations, handling legal cases, and preserving city archives. After 1270, the unfinished St. Nicholas Church was rebuilt as a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

, following the design of St. Mary's Church in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

. The just-completed

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

of the church hall had to be demolished to make way for the choir of the new basilica, which consisted of an inner choir and an

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

. Around the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

, which consisted of five sides of an imaginary octagon, five chapels were created. Parts of the walls of the side aisles served as an

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

from then on. In the beginning, the building material of the church building was brick. Over the course of time, at least 65 different types of stone were used. The construction of the western tower began in 1300. By 1314, the tower had reached a height of 13 meters. At that time, the council decided to build two towers. Around 1350, the construction of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

between the two towers was completed. The

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es of the aisles were connected externally to create space in the interior. The buttresses were thus drawn inward and

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

s were built in the space freed up between the towers. Of the two towers, the south tower was first completed, probably in the early 15th century. This was followed by the completion of construction of the north tower. The two

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

towers were equally high. The wealth of the city of Stralsund was reflected in the very large number of

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

s in the church. There were no less than 56 altars in the chancel, nave, and between the buttresses of the aisles. The bulk of the altars were removed from the church after the ''

Bildersturm ''Beeldenstorm'' () in Dutch and ''Bildersturm'' in German (roughly translatable from both languages as 'attack on the images or statues') are terms used for outbreaks of destruction of religious images that occurred in Europe in the 16th centu ...

'' of 1525. Since the introduction of

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the chapels were mainly used as spaces for burying distinguished citizens. A fire in 1662 destroyed the wooden

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

s of the towers. In 1667, the southern tower was provided with a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

, while the northern tower was closed with a temporary roof. During the American bombing of Stralsund on October 6, 1944, the roof and windows of St. Nicholas Church were damaged. Repairs started in 1947.

Reformation

On June 1, 1523, the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

reformer Christian Ketelhot preached for the first time in St. Nicholas Church. The city council turned a blind eye to this, especially because some councillors and the mayor himself had converted to Protestantism. The new doctrine allowed both

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

s and Protestants to worship in the same church, but Catholic priests and monks were increasingly mocked on the streets and Catholic priests were often openly ridiculed or belittled during sermons. The conflict escalated during the autumn of 1524, when the Dominican

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as french: lecteur, en, lector, pl, lektor and russian: лектор. It has various specialized uses. ...

Wilhelm Lowe was dragged from the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

and abused. In 1525, the ''Bildersturm'' broke out in the church, which then spread to other churches in Stralsund. Altars and shrines were destroyed or stolen. A majority of the population and members of the city council then converted to Protestantism. Together with the reformer Johann Kureke, Ketelhot was one of the first Protestant ministers of St. Nicholas Church.

Furnishings

High altar

The high

was made by a Stralsund sculptor around 1480. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the altar was removed from the church and stowed in a safe place, but it was nevertheless partially destroyed. In 1948 the damaged altar returned to the church. In 1997, a new crucifix built by

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...

artist Johann-Peter Hinz was installed. The central part of the 6.70 wide by 4.20 meters high altar shows the

crucifixion of Christ The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...

. The wings and the central part feature numerous carved figures, all depicting the story of the Passion. The

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

is dedicated to Christ's birth. In 1992, the painted wings were taken from the altar and now protrude from the two pillars on the left and right of the altar. These depict scenes from the life of

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

and

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, mother of Jesus.

Other altars and pews

The church once housed 56 altars. Most of the altars were owned by guilds, though some were owned individual families. They were scattered throughout the church, often attached to the pillars. During the ''Bildersturm'' of 1525, many altars were lost. The altar of the tailors' guild, built at the end of the 15th century and placed in a privileged position near the high altar, was preserved. The mayor's altar (1510), the altar of the Junge family (1430), the so-called "altar of the

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

merchants", the altars of the basketmakers and saddlemakers, and the Olav altar were also preserved.

Schlüter altar (main altar)

The Schlüter altar was designed by the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n court architect

Andreas Schlüter Andreas Schlüter (1659 – c. June 1714) was a German baroque sculptor and architect, active in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Tsardom. Biography Andreas Schlüter was bor ...

, best known for designing the

Amber Room The Amber Room ( rus, Янтарная комната, r=Yantarnaya Komnata, german: Bernsteinzimmer, pl, Bursztynowa komnata) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsar ...

. The main altar between the nave and chancel was installed in place of the former

rood loft The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

. The construction work was done by the Stralsund sculptor Thomas Phalert, a student of Schlüter. In 1708 the work was finished, but it took until 1733 for the painting to be finished, and the gilding was introduced only in 1735. In the center the altar, which has been decorated on both sides, is a carved relief of the

Eye of Providence The Eye of Providence (or the All-Seeing Eye of God) is a symbol that depicts an eye, often enclosed in a triangle and surrounded by Ray (optics), rays of light or Glory (optical phenomenon), glory, meant to represent divine providence, whereby ...

surrounded by a cloud wreath with angels praising it and playing musical instruments, and flanked by column pillars with standing angels in front of them. Above it is a representation of the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

. The grand altar is crowned with a crucifix and statues that represent hope and faith. The fences with

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

and garlands on either side of the altar are from 1707-1708.

Statue of Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

In the north ambulatory, there is a statue of ''Anna Selbdritt'' (

Virgin and Child with Saint Anne The Virgin and Child with Saint AnneTinagli, Paola. 1997. ''Women in Italian Renaissance Art: Gender, Representation and Identity.'' Manchester: Manchester University Press, p. 159. or Madonna and Child with Saint Anne is a subject in Christian a ...

) dating back to the late 13th century. The statue shows the remnants of the original paint and is one of the earliest statues of ''Anna Selbdritt'' in the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

region.

Astronomical clock

Behind the high altar is the

astronomical clock An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets. Definition ...

, which was built in 1394 by

Nikolaus Lilienfeld Nikolaus Lilienfeld (also Nicolaus Lillienveld, Nikolaus Lillienfeld) was a German engineer and clockmaker of the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Life and work The circumstances of Lilienfeld's life are largely unknown. It is assumed th ...

. The clock is part of a whole series of monumental clocks, which were installed since the 14th century in churches in different cities of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

. It has a

wheel train In horology, a wheel train (or just train) is the gear train of a mechanical watch or Mechanical clock, clock. Although the term is used for other types of gear trains, the long history of mechanical timepieces has created a traditional terminology ...

with a mechanical

escapement An escapement is a mechanical linkage in mechanical watches and clocks that gives impulses to the timekeeping element and periodically releases the gear train to move forward, advancing the clock's hands. The impulse action transfers energy to ...

. In addition to day and night times, the positions of the sun, moon, and fixed stars can also be read off the clock. It is the oldest almost completely preserved astronomical clock in the Baltic region and also the oldest mechanical clock in the world that still contains its original wheels.

Pewage of Riga merchants

Four

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

reliefs from the altar of the Stralsund merchants who travelled to

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

for conducting trade still remain. The tables were created in 1420. After the demolition of the altar, the reliefs got put into the church benches, until they were rediscovered in 1840. Usually such reliefs contain religious imagery, but the remaining remnants of the pew of the Riga merchants' guild are on purely secular themes. Three of the four reliefs show

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

s, with their characteristic long beards and wearing fur, hunting and harvesting honey and resin (products which were shipped from Riga to Stralsund). The fourth table shows the marketing of these products by Russians to Stralsund merchants.

Organs

St. Nicholas Church has two large and two small organs: * The large organ was built by Carl August Buchholz in 1841 and has 56 stops, three manuals, and a pedal. It is the largest organ built in Germany in the period 1800-1850 which is still functional today. During 2003-2006 the organ was restored by the organ makers Wegscheider of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

and Klais of

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, and restored to its original condition. * The choir organ of the church, located between the southern side of the church and the choir, was built by the organ builder

Alexander Schuke Carl Alexander Schuke (14 August 1870 – 16 November 1933) was a German organ builder and from 1894 to 1933 owner and manager of the . The company still exists today. Life Born in , Kingdom of Prussia, Schuke was the son of the pastor Karl ...

from

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

in 1986. The drag loading tool with mechanical action holds 22 records distributed over two manuals and a pedal. * In addition to the two larger organs, since 2012 there is a smaller organ in the children's church. It is a

positive Positive is a property of positivity and may refer to: Mathematics and science * Positive formula, a logical formula not containing negation * Positive number, a number that is greater than 0 * Plus sign, the sign "+" used to indicate a posit ...

from 1965 built by the company Reinhard Schmeißer from Rochlitz.

Painting

The first attempts to renew the church's medieval colour scheme were made in 1891. Remains found near the organ were used as an example. The

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

painter August Grimmer painted the leaf decorations in the arcades of the choir. The nave, the aisles, and tower chapels were painted by the Linnemann brothers from

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. From 1980, after thorough research, the restoration of the medieval color patterns was performed.

Gallery

File:Stralsund_St_Nikolai.jpg, View from St. Mary's Church File:Nikolaikirche_(Stralsund)_mittig.jpg, Towers and choir, seen from the harbor File:Stralsunder Rathaus mit Schaufassade, dahinter die Nikolaikirche-2630.jpg, View from the

in the Old Market File:Stralsund,_Germany,_Nikolaikirche_von_den_Weißen_Brücken_aus_gesehen_(2006-09-12).JPG, View from the west, ''Knieperteich'' in the foreground File:Western portal of St Nikolai in Stralsund-2612.jpg, West portal File:2006-07-xx_Stralsund,_Nikolaikirche,_Kapelle_C.E._Charisi.jpg, Charisius chapel File:St_Nicolai_Stralsund_Kreuzrippen.jpg, The painted vault File:Stralsund,_Nikolaikirche,_Hochaltar_(2013-05-11),_by_Klugschnacker_in_Wikipedia_(2).JPG, The high altar File:Stralsund,_Nikolaikirche,_Hauptaltar_von_Westen_(2012-12-29),_by_Klugschnacker_in_Wikipedia.jpg, The main altar from the west File:Der_Bergenfahreraltar_in_er_Stralsunder_Nikolaikirche_(2008-07-24).JPG, The altar of the Bergen traders File:Stralsund,_Nikolaikirche,_Bürgermeisteraltar_(2007-01-11).JPG, The mayor's altar File:Stralsund,_Nikolaikirche,_Junge-Altar_(2007-01-11).JPG, The altar of the Junge family File:Nikolaikirche_Stralsund,_Anna_selbdritt_(2007-06-11).JPG, Sculpture of Virgin and Child with Saint Anne File:Nikolaikirche_Stralsund,_Astronomische_Uhr_(2007-06-11).JPG, The astronomical clock of Nicholas Lilienfeld File:2006-07-xx_Stralsund,_Nikolaikirche,_Russlandfahrergestühl,_Tafel_D.jpg, Right panel of the Riga traders' pew File:Buchholz-Orgel_Stralsund_(2007-06-11).JPG, Buchholz organ File:Stralsund,_Nikolaikirche,_Schuke-Orgel_(2012-12-29),_by_Klugschnacker_in_Wikipedia.jpg, The Schuke organ next to the high altar File:HST Schwegerle – Krieger-Ehrenmal.jpg, Memorial, Hans Schwegerle (1931)

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas Church, Stralsund Stralsund Nicholas Stralsund Stralsund Nicholas Stralsund Nicholas Stralsund Nicholas Stralsund Nicholas