Sankt Mariengemeinde Stralsund

St. Marien von Stralsund is the youngest brick Gothic basilica in the Nordic region after the St. Nicholas Church in Lüneburg. The simple but original execution of the chancel, with its partially half-windows in the ambulatory, the monumental transept and, last but not least, the unusual west building create a little more distance to the model in Lübeck than is the case with the more conservative successor buildings of that church.

The Marienkirche is one of the few churches with a three-nave transept in Germany. The characteristic architectural features of the Marienkirche were adopted in smaller buildings in the area, such as in the Marienkirche in Kenz and in the church in Voigdehagen. When the church tower collapsed in 1382, the choir and parts of the nave of the original church were destroyed; The reason for this was the insufficiently paved subsoil. In 1416 the foundation stone for the west building was laid, which consists of a towering central tower flanked by four smaller stair towers, as well as two side halls, and rests on 14 meter high pillars.

According to the inventory of the first post-Reformation mayor and church leader, Franz Wessel, there were 44 other richly decorated altar sites and chapels in St. Marien in addition to the high altar. From 1475 to 1478 the tower was built, which was covered with copper in 1485. The very tall Gothic spire fell down during a strong storm in 1495 but was put back on top of the tower and is said to have given the church a height of 151 metres.

The additions to the north and south of this west tower act like a transept and give the church a massive and defensive effect. The building was mainly built of red brick. The western buttress towers are faced with limestone up to a height of 36 meters. Little of the original rich interior can be seen today, as almost all of the inventory was destroyed during the iconoclasm during the Reformation, the church being broken down, and a great town fire in 1647.

There is a military cemetery and a monument to Soviet soldiers and members of the Red Army in front of the church facing the New Market.

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