After our brief visits to Schwerin and Wismar, our interest now focused on the city of Rostock, especially the old town, which was already being revitalized in 1218 by settlers from Lower Saxony, Westphalia and Holstein.

Just a few years later, in 1230, construction began on St. Nicholas Church in the brick Gothic style that was common at the time. In 1257, St. Nicholas Church was consecrated and dedicated to the patron saint of fishermen, sailors and brewers, St. Nicholas.

Sure, there is much more to see and visit like the University of Rostock, Rostock City Wall and for sure Hanse Sail Rostock

The University of Rostock was founded in 1419, making it the third oldest university in Germany and the oldest university in the Baltic region.

The Rostock city fortifications have surrounded the city of Rostock since the middle of the 13th century. After the original city centres of the three Rostock sub-cities officially united to form one city in 1265, the common, approximately three-kilometre-long city wall was built, which had more than 20 city gates.

The Hanse Sail Rostock is one of the world's largest gatherings of traditional sailing ships and museum ships. The maritime festival takes place every year on the second weekend in August and attracts numerous visitors every time. The impressive participating ships, together with cruise liners, ferries and naval ships, offer a lively maritime world exhibition.
The 33rd Hanse Sail will take place from August 8th to 11th, 2024.

For architectural reasons, our main interest was initially in this special church and its conversion into a residential building and multi-purpose use, in which numerous events take place, such as the Rostock Bonsai Days 2024 at the time of our visit (we will report on this):

Events in St. Nicholas Church in Rostock

Bombed-out church becomes living space

The church was badly damaged in the Second World War. During the four-night bombing by the British Air Force from April 23 to 27, 1942, the tower and nave were completely burned out, and the vault of the nave, but not that of the choir, collapsed. The organ and the baroque pulpit, unique in Rostock, as well as gravestones and epitaphs were destroyed, as was the medieval pewter baptismal font. The organ and the baroque pulpit also fell victim to the flames.

After the Second World War, the choir was put back into use on September 19, 1948.

At the time of the founding of the GDR in 1949, Christians made up a clear majority of the population, at around 92 percent. Over time, the number of church members decreased, partly due to an atheistic educational and religious policy that propagated a non-religious and materialistic worldview and politically oppressed believers and churches. It is therefore no wonder that in 1974 the two parishes of St. Petri and St. Nikolai merged and the decision was made to end the use of St. Nicholas Church by a separate parish.

First the church tower was built and rebuilt

Just two years later, in 1976, the tower, the church roof and the nave were built and rebuilt according to a rather unusual concept. Offices and other service rooms for the church administration were built into the tower.

This created 10 tower floors for church departments. Another project that was unusual for the time then followed with the installation of three residential floors in the rebuilt Gothic church roof. The hall roof accommodates three residential floors with a total of 13 apartments and 5 guest rooms, several of which are also equipped with internal balconies.

Solar cells were even installed to generate energy. The roof turret at the eastern end of the nave was not rebuilt. However, the destroyed east gable of the nave was reconstructed.

Installation of circulating air heating and laying of limestone slabs

From 1991 onwards, the vault was installed, heating was installed and limestone slabs were laid in the nave. On July 5, 1994, the church hall was ceremoniously reopened with a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor.

Since then, church services have been held again. In 1998, the Petri-Nikolai congregation, the St. Jakobi congregation and the St. Marien congregation merged to form the Evangelical Lutheran inner-city congregation of Rostock. Since then, church services have been held on fixed dates (Christmas, Reformation Day) and at longer intervals on Sundays or for special occasions.

The church is also rented out for various types of events and is managed as the "St. Nicholas Church Centre". Supervision is the responsibility of the board of trustees of the St. Nicholas Church, which belongs to the inner-city congregation.

Events in the Nikolaikirche

As a venue for exhibitions, concerts and podiums, the Nikolaikirche Rostock church centre offers a wide range of possibilities for use thanks to its special spatial features, such as heating, variable seating, simple interior furnishings, handicapped-accessible sanitary facilities and additional usable rooms. In addition to being a meeting place for church, art and culture, the Nikolaikirche Rostock also offers people unique living and working spaces.

St. Nicholas Church Rostock - basic information

Seating: nave and galleries
362 chairs nave / centre
151 chairs nave / south (with obstructed view)
60 chairs nave / north (with obstructed view)
65 chairs gallery / centre
41 chairs gallery / south (with obstructed view)
129 chairs gallery / north (with obstructed view)

Stage

Small stage: area 2.25 mx 6.00 m = 13.50 m2
Large stage: area 5.00 m x 6.00 m = 30.00 m2
Power supply nave / protection with 80A
1 x 63A
2 x 32A
2 x 16A

Equipment

Room lighting, microphone system
Barrier-free access, modern sanitary area with a disabled-friendly toilet
Artists' dressing rooms
Kitchen area with Cold storage room

Guest rooms for rent
Two guest rooms / double rooms with shower, toilet and cooking facilities and refrigerator
One guest room / single room with shower, toilet and refrigerator and kettle
St. Nikolai Rostock Church Centre
At the Nikolaikirche 1
18055 Rostock
Tel.: 0381/4934115
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Bettina Reißig - House Manager

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