St. Peter's Church, Gothic church in Rostock, Germany.
St. Peter's Church is a three-nave Brick Gothic basilica with a square west tower topped by a copper-clad polygonal spire reaching 117 metres. The tower has narrow arched windows and a band of small circular openings near the top; the body has tall pointed windows and a bright orange-red tiled roof, with a small conical turret where the roofs meet.
A church existed on this site by 1252, and the present triple-nave Brick Gothic basilica was built in the mid-14th century. Its tower, about 127 m high, was destroyed by lightning in 1543 and rebuilt with a spire by 1578, reaching 117 m. In 1523 Duke Henry V commissioned chaplain Joachim Slüter to preach the Protestant faith here, starting the Reformation in Rostock. British bombing on the night of 26–27 April 1942 burned out the church and its furnishings.
The church has shaped the old town's appearance for centuries and remains a gathering place for religious services and community events. For many Rostock residents, it holds personal meaning as a space where family and neighbors come together.
An elevator takes visitors up to a viewing platform where you can see across the old town and the harbor. It is best to visit on a clear day to enjoy the widest views of the surrounding area.
The spire destroyed in the 1942 air raid was not rebuilt until 1994, when its three sections were prefabricated on the ground south of the church and lifted onto the tower shaft by a 500-tonne mobile crane. The restored weather vane was set back on the tip on 13 November 1994. Inside, near the entrance, a painting by the publican Albrecht Krohn shows the church burning in April 1942.
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