St. Peter's Church (

Deutsch Deutsch ( , ) or Deutsche ( , ) may refer to: * or : the German language or in particular Standard German, spoken in central European countries and other places *Old High German language refers to Deutsch as a way to define the primary characteris ...

: St. Petri zu Lübeck) is a

place of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is s ...

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, that was first mentioned in 1170. Over the centuries, it was rebuilt several times until construction of the church was completed in the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, St. Petri suffered severe damage and the restoration was not completed until 1987. Since the furnishings could not be restored, only special services take place in the church. As a city church without a

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

, it is mainly used for cultural and religious events as well as

art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is occasionally true, it is stated to be a "permanen ...

s. The effect of the simple space of the five-aisled hall church is very well emphasized by the special

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. Modern works of art such as the altar cross by the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n artist

Arnulf Rainer Arnulf Rainer (born 8 December 1929) is an Austrian painter noted for his abstract informal art. Rainer was born in Baden, Austria. During his early years, Rainer was influenced by Surrealism. In 1950, he founded the ''Hundsgruppe'' (''dog gr ...

and the illuminated neon cross by Hanna Jäger invite visitors to think.

History

The church was first mentioned together with the Marienkirche in as early as 1170. A late Romanesque, three-aisled church hall with four bays and three

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

s was built between 1227 and 1250. It was 29.80 m + 3 m long and 21 m wide. A three-aisled, Gothic hall choir was built around 1290. St. Petri was the

imperial church An imperial church is a church associated with an empire. The first such church was the state church of the Roman Empire, as patronized and largely controlled by the Roman Emperors from the time of the transfer of the seat of government to Constan ...

of Lübeck. At the same time, the Petrikirche was Lübeck's second market church alongside the Marienkirche. In the 15th century it was expanded to its current appearance: a Gothic, five-aisled hall brick church with five bays. This made St. Peter's Church one of the few five-aisled churches in existence. There are three

s in the east and a single tower on a wide

substructure Substructure may refer to: * Substructure (engineering) * Substructure (mathematics) In mathematical logic, an (induced) substructure or (induced) subalgebra is a structure whose domain is a subset of that of a bigger structure, and whose funct ...

in the west. The

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

came to Lübeck in 1529/30, and St. Peter's Church became

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

. During the air raid on Lübeck on

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

1942, the Petrikirche burned down completely. The roof, the

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. Spire ...

and the rich interior decoration were destroyed. This also included the organ front, created by the carver Tönnies Evers the Younger, and the important brass

gravestone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

of the

councilor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or regio ...

John Kliingenberg. The

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

baptismal font A baptismal font is an Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

of the church, donated by the councilor Johann Philipp Lefèvre, was preserved.

Reconstruction after 1945

The church initially served as a

lapidarium A lapidarium is a place where stone (Latin: ) monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited. They can include stone epigraphy, epigraphs; statues; architectural elements such as columns, cornices, and acroterions; bas relief ...

for the Lübeck Kirchbauhütte, in which salvaged sculptural fragments from all of Lübeck's war-damaged churches were temporarily stored. The exterior of St. Peter's was renovated in the 1960s. The tower was reerected in 1961. The interior of the church was restored in 1987. Given the complete destruction of the historical inventory, it was not reconstructed. Instead a simple, whitewashed room was created, including some modern artworks, such as the altar cross by the Austrian artist

and the illuminated neon cross by Hanna Jäger.

Organ

In 1992, the Petrikirche received a new

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, financed through donations from the foundation. The instrument is situated in the north aisle and was constructed by the organ building company, Hinrich Otto Paschen, based in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

. It features 19 registers (stops) across two manuals and a pedal. Both the playing action and the register action are mechanical. The organ console is connected to the positiv. The organist sits with his or her back to the Hauptwerk and looks over the positiv to see the conductor and the congregation.Nähere Informationen zu
''Orgel in St. Petri''.
Auf den Seiten des Ev.-Luth. Kirchenkreises. Retrieved 7 August 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St Peter's Church, Lübeck Churches in Lübeck Rebuilt churches in Germany Former churches in Germany 12th-century churches in Germany