St. Michaelis, Gothic parish church in Lüneburg, Germany.
St. Michaelis is a brick Gothic hall church of six bays, 52.58 m long and 26.29 m wide, with an interior height of 20.45 m. Its 79 m west tower carries a green copper clock section and slender spire. Because the church stands on the edge of a salt dome, the massive round piers lean up to 70 cm out of plumb.
The monastery on the Kalkberg is first documented in 956, when Otto I granted it salt revenues; it was dissolved after townspeople destroyed the Billung castle in 1371. The present brick Gothic church was begun on 14 July 1376, its lower church consecrated in 1379, the upper church finished in 1412 and the tower in 1434. The monastery turned Protestant from 1532 and was dissolved in 1850, while a storm damaged the spire in 1746 and a new top followed in 1761–1767.
The church is called the "Bach Church" because Johann Sebastian Bach boarded at the monastery school and sang in the choir from 1700 to 1702. The pulpit carved from Elbe sandstone by Daniel Schwencke dates from 1602, and the organ case by Matthias Dropa from 1708. Concerts, including Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival events, are held here.
The church stands on a slope above the former salt dome, so the east end rests on a lower church; steps and the Hanglage make the entrance area uneven. The nave is 52.58 metres long and the tower 79 metres high, with the main body reached from the west tower hall. Visitors enter through the tower hall, where a late-15th-century crucifix hangs on the north side opposite the entrance.
The organ case dates from 1708, built by Matthias Dropa, a pupil of Arp Schnitger; the pipes were largely replaced in 1871 and a new organ was installed in 1931, with restoration in 1999 keeping parts from both eras. The church still hosts sacred music and concerts, including Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival events.
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