Saint James church in Znamensk, Ruined Brick Gothic church in Znamensk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia

Saint James church is a Gothic brick structure with pointed arch windows, tall vertical walls, and decorative stone details across its exterior. The construction displays typical features of Northern European brick Gothic style with its characteristic red masonry throughout.

The church's foundations date from 1260–1280, making it the only three-aisled hall church in the region. After Lithuanian destruction in 1347 it was rebuilt from 1351; the choir and sacristy followed in 1360–1380, the nave and west tower around 1370–1400. Lightning struck the tower in 1537 and it was rebuilt lower; in 1820 it received a Welsh dome and lantern. The 1945 East Prussian operation left only the outer walls, and the vaults were blown up in the 1960s.

The church was the parish church of Wehlau, where Lutheranism arrived at Pentecost 1524; until 1945 it belonged to the church province of East Prussia. The parish counted 7,076 members in the 1925 census and had three pastor positions. A stone plaque in the wall today carries a German and Russian inscription calling it the Teutonic Order church St. Jacobi, built 1260–1280, a ruin since 1945.

The ruin stands east of the Lawa (Alle) and north of the railway line, on the northbound R 514; the A 229 bypasses the town to the north. Only the outer walls, buttresses and tower arches remain, so there is no interior to enter. A steel structure placed by helicopter in 1995 tops the tower stump, whose 58 m platform can be climbed for a wide view.

The vaults survived the 1945 fighting but were blown up in the 1960s, so only the outer walls, the supporting piers and the arcades between nave and tower remain. In 1995 a helicopter lifted a steel structure onto the tower stump, and a platform at 58 m can be climbed for a wide view.