Greifswald - Dom St. Nikolai

Greifswald's foundation can be traced back to Cistercian Kloster Eldena (Eldena Monastery), to whose estate it initially belonged. Salt was produced here and so it may have been a settlement of salt workers. In June 1249, the local prince Wartislaw III received a fiefdom from the monastery over the town, which was granted the "Lübische Stadtrecht" (city rights) in 1250. In 1264 the city was allowed to build a protective wall and fortifications.

In 1278, Greifswald was first mentioned in a document as a member of the Hanseatic League. However, as early as the 14th and then in the 15th century, Greifswald's harbour no longer met the requirements of shipping traffic, as it silted up. As a result, Greifswald fell behind the other Hanseatic towns.

In 1456, Duke Wartislaw IX founded the university as the Pomeranian State University. The still existing university is the second oldest university in the Baltic region after Rostock.

The Thirty Years' War brought horrible times. The imperial troops led by notorious Wallenstein entered Greifswald in 1627 and set up a regime of terror in which the population was plundered. To repel the Swedish troops, Wallenstein had the fortifications reinforced and used the population for forced labour. A plague epidemic decimated the population to such an extent that by the end of the war only half the houses were inhabited. In 1631, King Gustav Adolf II's troops captured Greifswald after a short battle.

Pomerania was now swedish until the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
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The first sources referring to a church dedicated to St. Nicholas in Greifswald are from 1263. The oldest extant parts of the church have been dated to the end of the 13th century. The building of todays church started with the erection of a single-nave choir, which was later incorporated in a hall church with two aisles and a nave. The foundations of the western tower were laid at the same time. In 1385 work was begun on a new choir with a straight eastern wall, which was finished already 10 years later.

In connection to the founding of the University of Greifswald, the church was raised to the status of collegiate church. The new status wealth, and in the same year construction began to make the tower higher. In the years 1480–1500, the octagonal upper part of the tower was built and with the addition of the also octagonal, c. 60 metres high Gothic spire at the beginning of the 16th century, the construction was finished. It reached a height of 120 metres.

The church lost its spire twice during severe storms. The first time was in 1515, when the top collapsed, without causing any severe damage to the church building. It was replaced in 1609. The second collapse in February 1650 destroyed the roof of the church, causing several of the vaults of the nave and southern aisle to collapse. A few days later, the eastern wall of the church also collapsed.

Immediately after the collapse, the council of the city called for donations for the reconstruction of the church. The citizens of Greifswald, as well as Queen Christina, ruler of Swedish Pomerania, donated so much money, that reconstruction of the church could start only a month after the accident.

All major Hanseatic cities have an important church dedicated to St. Nicholas. Saint Nicholas was the most important patron saint of seafarers and merchants, of the people who had organised themselves into the Hanseatic League.

It is no surprise to find a votive ship in a Nikolauskirche.