Copperplate engraving of the southern side of St Nicholas with gothic polygonal spire dating from 1515, drawn by Wörishöfer, engraved by Ludwig Schmidt 1808, Pommersches Landesmuseum Greifswald

The catastrophe of 1515 repeated itself when, during a storm in the afternoon of the 13th February 1650, the spire of the tower only rebuilt again in 1609, collapsed onto the church. This time it smashed through the roof and caused the collapse of almost all the vaults of the main aisle and many on the southern aisle. Soon afterwards the triangular gable on the eastern side also collapsed. The falling masonry and roof timbers damaged the altar, the pulpit, pews and other fixtures. The largest church in Greifswald had become a ruin within the space of a few hours.

The reconstruction was probably carried out at a relatively brisk pace because St. Nikolai was the church of the general superintendent of Western Pomerania. Soon after the tower collapsed, the town council called upon the citizens of Greifswald for donations to finance the restoration work on the house of God in the same way as "as the faithful Jews in the Old Testament were gently encouraged to donate and gave towards the building of the temple in Jerusalem for their divine worship".

Engraving "1650", opposite of the organ

The citizens and those living in Greifswald, but also the Swedish queen too, the neighbouring towns of Stralsund and Anklam as well as various nobles associated with the region, donated money, timbers for construction work, bricks and lime, so that it was already possible to begin restoration work in March 1650. The work was overseen by craftsmen from Stralsund, including the master masons Christoph Thümmel and Hans Adam together with the master carpenter Carsten Gerdes. By the end of 1651 the roofs and vaults of the house of God had been rebuilt. The new Baroque tower spire was probably put up in 1652. Interestingly, charming medieval cross-ribbed vaults were built inside of the church again, and the eastern triangular gable, certainly rebuilt soon after 1653, was Gothic.

Felix Schönrock

The romantic cathedral