Village church Schmargendorf, Uckermark, Medieval village church in Angermünde, Germany

The Dorfkirche Schmargendorf is a rectangular hall church of fieldstone masonry measuring 21.2 by 11.8 metres, with a slightly skewed east wall and a recessed square west tower, giving a total length of 26.65 metres. The exposed fieldstone core dates from the second half of the 13th century, while the plastered tower with its curved helm, the hipped roof and the four large flat-arched windows on each long side come from the 1740s rebuild. Blocked medieval lancet windows in the east wall and pointed-arch portals on the long sides remain visible.

This church was built in the 13th century and received its present form through major baroque modifications around 1745, which added a new tower and renovated the interior. These changes reflect the transition from the medieval period to early modern times.

Schmargendorf was long a daughter church of Herzsprung and has been served from Brodowin-Chorin in recent times. From 1691 the building was also used by the French Reformed congregation, and the medieval village belonged to the Sedes Angermünde in the Bishopric of Brandenburg. The patronage lay with the sovereign, exercised until 1577 by the castle and office of Angermünde, then by the Chorin office.

The church stands slightly raised on the triangular village green, ringed by a fieldstone wall with renewed brick-post gates to the north, west and south. The war memorial by Gustav Borsdorf, unveiled in 1920, faces the west side. A 2004/05 renovation added a toilet and tea kitchen in the tower's ground floor and removed the winter church under the gallery.

The medieval core is fieldstone, but the west corners were rebuilt in brick during the 1740s baroque work. Look for the three blocked lancet windows in the east wall, their arches removed, and the two pointed-arch portals on the long sides, each with a keystone and an outer arch ring.