greifswald-infoweb: St Nicholas´ Church

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places of interest

St. Nicholas´

St Nicholas´ Church whose tower rises 100 metres up in the air is the biggest of the town´s three brick gothic churches. Between 1250 and 1410 the people of Greifswald erected this monumental building consecrated to the patron saint of the seafarers and merchants.

St Nicholas´ soon became the scene of the most important event in Greifswald´s history: In 1456 the inaugural ceremony of the university took place in this triple-naved basilica. The Rubenow panel showing the first professors of the university indirectly reminds us of this event: You can find the painting dating from about 1460 in a side chapel.

In 1515 and once again in 1650 the tall pointed gothic spire collapsed during a storm damaging the naves of the churches and the surrounding houses. Rebuilding the spire soon after 1650 the architects took dutch baroque spires as an example: They are much more stream-lined and solid than gothic ones, because their lanterns and rounded cupolas do not lay the spire open to attacks from a strong blowing wind. It must be true: You can still see today this baroque spire of St. Nicholas´ which rises above the octagonal end of the tower shaft. At the beginning of the 19th century another reconstruction was carried out: The nave was rebuilt in neo-gothic style.

Reformation window

In 1774 the Romantic painter and most famous son of Greifswald Caspar David Friedrich was baptized in St Nicholas´ Church. Apart from the inauguration ceronomy this was certainly another important event in the history of Greifswald´s biggest church which has been promoted to a cathedral after the Second World War: In 1947 the protestant bishopric was moved from Stettin to Greifswald.

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