St. Jürgen, Gothic parish church in Gettorf, Germany

St. Jürgen is a Gothic parish church of brick construction in Gettorf, featuring a 64-meter (210 feet) tower built between 1491 and 1494. The building displays characteristic Gothic elements integrated into its red brick facade.

A church existed here by around 1250, when the nave and choir were built; around 1300 the present choir with its ribbed vault was added slightly offset. A chapel dedicated to St George beside the church became a pilgrimage site after the patronage changed around 1460, funding a building programme recorded in an account book from 1485: a new granary in 1486, the tower completed in 1491, and a life-size silvered equestrian figure of St George installed in 1505. The Reformation arrived in 1542, and the pilgrimage chapel was demolished in 1619, its copper roof reused for the church.

The bronze font, given to the church in 1424 by Wulf von Ahlefeldt, is carried by four youths on a stand ring and shows the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Christ Child, the Flight into Egypt, the Baptism of Jesus and the Coronation of Mary. A Baroque lid hangs above it.

The church stands in the centre of Gettorf, its 64-metre tower visible from afar as a landmark. The interior is entered from the west; the pews line a red-carpeted aisle leading to the choir, where the 1521 carved altar and the 1598 pulpit stand. The tower was renovated in 2012 with support from the Kirchbauverein.

The 64-metre tower rises from the remains of a stone granary built west of the church in the 15th century, probably to store the tithe, which was mostly paid in kind. Traces of this granary are still visible in the church wall.