St. Nikolai Pritzwalk, Gothic church in Pritzwalk, Germany

St. Nikolai is a late Gothic hall church in Pritzwalk with three aisles of equal height, a polygonal ambulatory choir to the east and a 72-metre tower to the west. The tower's lower storey, with its stepped west portal and round window above, is 13th-century fieldstone masonry; the neo-Gothic brick upper stages follow Friedrich Adler's 1880/82 plans. Inside, unplastered brick round piers carry the vaults, and the nave's buttresses are drawn inward.

The original structure of St. Nikolai dates to 1256, when Pritzwalk received its town rights and the church was built as a basilica. The choir was completed and consecrated in 1441, showing how the building was expanded and renewed over several centuries.

The church was dedicated to Saint Nicholas and, until the Reformation, also to the Virgin Mary, which is why it was long called St. Marien. Since 1539 it has served the Lutheran congregation. Today concerts of classical music are held in the building alongside services.

The south window of the nave was bricked up for decades after the 1945 munitions train explosion at Pritzwalk station damaged the church glazing. After about ten years of roof and shell repairs, a new window by artist Dana Meyer was inaugurated in 2024. From inside it shows a lime tree growing out of broken timbers and fire; from outside, lines drawing the eye into the church interior.

The late Gothic winged altar has six carved panels centred on the Holy Kinship, with Saint Anne as the central figure, flanked by Saints George and Christopher; above, Andrew and John the Baptist frame the Coronation of Mary. It came from Alt Krüssow, about 5 km away, and has stood in St. Nikolai since 1976.