St. Mary’s Church, Lübeck

St. Mary's Church, Lübeck tickets: which one to buy

St Mary's Church, the Marienkirche, stands on the highest point of the old town island of Lübeck, in northern Germany, beside the Town Hall and the market square, and a small ticket is required for tourist visits, while services are free. It is the mother church of brick Gothic architecture, which spread across the Baltic region, and it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck. Lübeck is about forty-five minutes from Hamburg by train, and the church is a short walk from the station through the Holsten Gate.

Visitors often combine the church with the Town Hall, the Holsten Gate, the European Hansemuseum, the Buddenbrooks House, where Thomas Mann's family lived, the Günter Grass House, Lübeck Cathedral and the marzipan shop and café of Niederegger. The church is Lutheran and active, with services, concerts and organ recitals. Guided tours explain its history, including the destruction of the Second World War. The church's two towers, about 125 metres high, dominate the skyline, and the square outside is lined with gabled houses.

Visiting St. Mary's Church, Lübeck: what to see

The rich merchants of Lübeck, the leading city of the Hanseatic League, built the church between about 1277 and 1351 as a symbol of their power, and they deliberately made it larger and taller than the bishop's cathedral. They adapted the French Gothic cathedral style to brick, and the church has the highest brick vault in the world, rising about thirty-eight metres above the nave. It became the model for many churches around the Baltic Sea. The composer Dieterich Buxtehude was organist here from 1668 to 1707, and his evening concerts, the Abendmusiken, were famous; the young Johann Sebastian Bach walked from Arnstadt to Lübeck in 1705 to hear him.

On Palm Sunday 1942 a British air raid set the church on fire, destroying the interior, the organs and a famous Danse Macabre painting, and the church's bells fell from the south tower and shattered on the floor, where their broken pieces have been left as a memorial. The church was rebuilt after the war. Inside, it holds a large astronomical clock, reconstructed after the war, a bronze baptismal font from 1337, a Gothic tabernacle and a Danse Macabre chapel with modern windows recalling the lost painting. Outside, beside the church, a small bronze devil sits on a stone, recalling a local legend.

St. Mary's Church, Lübeck opening hours and the best time to go

The church is open daily, with shorter hours in winter and restricted visiting during services. Summer and the Advent season are the busiest times in Lübeck, when the Christmas market fills the square beside the church. Organ concerts are held regularly, especially in summer. The Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival brings concerts to the church in July and August. Spring and autumn are quieter. Allow about forty-five minutes for the church, and combine it with the Town Hall and the Buddenbrooks House.