St. Bartholomäi, Church building in Zerbst, Germany.

St. Bartholomäi is a former collegiate and court church in Zerbst, largely preserved as a partial ruin. Its core is a late Romanesque cross-shaped basilica of rubble stone; the nave was rebuilt in the early 15th century as a four-bay hall church, and a rectangular west porch was added in 1517. A wall built in 1950 separates the ruined nave from the transept and choir, which remain in use as a church.

The church was founded in 1215 and became a collegiate church in 1300, triggering major architectural expansions. These changes shaped the building's structure as it stands today.

Inside the church hangs Lucas Cranach the Younger's large 1568 painting of the Baptism of Jesus, which survived the 1945 destruction. Epitaphs for Dorothea Hedwig of Anhalt-Zerbst show the Massacre of the Innocents and the Finding of Moses, and a 14th- or 15th-century gravestone carries an incised drawing. In the former princely vault, now the sacristy, decorated tin coffins are preserved.

The transept and choir still function as a church space, while the nave stands as a separate ruin. Visitors should know that only certain areas may be accessible and the building shows traces of war damage.

Next to the main church stands the Dicke Turm, a freestanding bell tower that originally served as a defensive watchtower. This separate tower shows a different use than the main building.