View towards the west, before 1989

Interior, view towards the east

Not only restoration work to maintain the church has been necessary and urgent since the 1970s. The thing that mattered to a congregation which has in the meantime become smaller was to have a cosy room for worship in a place of worship which had in the meantime acquired the effect of being massive. The St. Nikolai church had to discharge the duties of a parish church for a congregation and had become the place of sermon for the bishops of the regional Pomeranian church. Increasing tourists and visitors and manifold use as a concert church and venue for events were factors which also had to be taken into consideration.

	Christ, cruciefied, detail, Hans Kock, 1989

The planning for the restoration and redesign was handed over to the architect from Hamburg, Friedhelm Grundmann. His plan took made allowance for the preservation of important and historical parts of artistic merit and redesign for modern liturgical use. In the central aisle the setting carried out by Giese in the 19th century was subjected to thorough restoration. The original entrance was changed significantly with the insertion of a stage for 150 musicians under the organ gallery. A second liturgical centre was created in the centre of the fourth span with the new altar, lectern and crucifix at sufficient distance from the main altar, but it had the effect of extending the length of the church along its east – west axis. High quality paintings were exposed in the periapsidial aisle and in the eastern chapels as well as on baroque display walls in the side aisles. They have been left exposed as a token of respect for the historical development of the church.

The sculptor from Kiel, Hans Kock assumed responsibility for the artistic design of the fixtures in the new liturgical centre. Inspired by Croy-Teppich from the university of Greifswald, pulpits and cross have been moved in close proximity to each other, combining old and new.

New altar, Hans Kock, 1989

Next to the historical pulpit with its filigree sounding board, there is an oversized cross with a young-looking Christ. An arch in the arcade leads up to the lectern and looks over a glass window designed by Kock in the baptistery. There is a compact block of Gotlandic limestone in the middle of the new liturgical area. The picture relief of the square altar reflect the subject of creation.

	Interior, view towards the west

The oldest pew made by Christian Friedrich was shortened and grouped for flexible usage around the centre created. As a result just as the present and past are in juxtaposition next to each other in the centre of the new liturgical area, they also symbolize a church which has grown and changed over the centuries.

Birgit Dahlenburg