St. Jacobi, Gothic church in Old Town, Göttingen, Germany
St. Jacobi is a Gothic church in Göttingen's Old Town rising 72 meters with a three-nave hall church structure and detailed stone traceries on its exterior. The building displays typical Gothic architectural elements with pointed roof form and tall, slender walls.
An original chapel stood at this site from 1186, but construction of the present Gothic church began in 1361 following Duke Ernst I of Braunschweig-Göttingen's approval for city expansion. The tower received a Baroque cap in 1697 after lightning damage in 1642, which later became a permanent feature.
The Gothic winged altar in the chancel displays intricate carvings from 1402, while five modern stained glass windows by Johannes Schreiter from the late 1990s fill the interior with colored light. These windows connect the medieval history of the place with contemporary artistic expression.
Access to the building is available during regular opening hours, and the interior is easily reached on foot from the surrounding streets. The flat terrain in the Old Town makes exploration comfortable without steep inclines.
The Baroque cap on the tower was originally only a temporary repair after lightning damage, but eventually became a permanent feature and now defines part of the skyline. This accidental architectural element has connected two different building styles across centuries.
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