Hey guys,

Today I would like to tell you more about the history of Rostock.
More precisely, about one of the churches in Rostock. Namely the oldest one, the Petrikirche. It is one of the four former city churches of Rostock. Just like the four gates, there were also four city churches. That made it easier for me to remember ;)
The Petrikirche is not only the oldest, but also the highest of Rostock's four churches. The other three city churches are, or rather were, the Marienkirche, the Nikolaikirche and the Jakoikirche. I would like to show you the Marienkirche and the Nikolaikirche in further posts. Unfortunately, the Jakobikirche was destroyed in the Second World War and demolished in 1960. So I thought I'd start with the oldest church ;)

First of all, I would like to tell you something about the history behind St Peter's Church.
The Reformation in Rostock started from this church. In the early 16th century, the duke of the time commissioned the chaplain to preach the Protestant sermon.
But the Jakobikirche was not the only church to fall victim to the Second World War. During the Second World War, the church suffered a severe fire. As a result, it also lost its characteristic spire. But not only was the pointed spire very characteristic of the church, it was Gothic in style and had a three-nave basilica. Fortunately, only the interior was otherwise destroyed by the fire.

Two churches

What we see in front of us today as the church is not the first church built on this exact spot.
As early as around 1300, a church building was erected on this very spot. At that time, this building had three naves and the stones were dark red to purple. What I find very interesting (I always think it's great when you can tell the history of a building from its architecture): You can still see some of these stones on the church today. You can still see them up to the cornice of the two side aisles.
Where one is not quite sure today is whether the church had a transverse or double tower at that time. That it had one of the two towers, however, can be seen from the design of the wall on the south side of the tower, where a few remains are still visible.

The "second church" on exactly the same spot was then built in the middle of the 14th century. Do you also notice that when I make posts about German churches, especially in Rostock, they are mostly built with bricks in the typical style of northern Europe in the Baltic region, the brick Gothic?

Around 1500, the church was given a 127 m high tower. This did not even last half a century, then it was struck by lightning. This lightning strike was interpreted as a punishment from God.
The tower was then rebuilt. I could tell you more about the history and the architecture, but I'd rather show you the square around the church. From there, you also have a beautiful view over the city wall.

I hope you enjoyed the post, even if it was only about one building today. Feel free to write in the comments, what do you think about me introducing you to churches? Are you interested in the topic? See you next time!