Pasewalk - St.-Marien-Kirche

A castle named "Posduwlc" was mentioned already in the 11th century.

The first mention of Pasewalk as a town dates back to 1276.

Pasewalk was always a pawn in the territorial interests of the Pomeranian Dukes and the Brandenburg margraves, so that the rule changed several times. In 1250 Pasewalk came under Brandenburg rule and was reacquired by the Pomeranians in 1354.

The medieval town consisted of the lower town founded by the Wends with Nikolaikirche and a newer upper town founded by German settlers with Marienkirche. The town was granted extensive trading rights in 1192.

In the Middle Ages, the inhabitants lived primarily from agriculture and brewing. It was a member of the Hanseatic League and converted to Lutheran doctrine in 1535.

During the Thirty Years' War, Pasewalk, which was under the protection of the Swedish army soon, was burned and almost completely destroyed in 1630 by imperial troops. The small Swedish garrison was cut down to the last man by the attackers. Only few inhabitants survived the massacre. With the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the town was assigned to Swedish Pomerania.

The hall church was built between 1325 and 1350 in the style of North German brick Gothic. The oldest parts were the foundation walls of the tower and parts of the west wall from the time after 1250. From 1325 to 1350 the nave was built. At that time the tower was raised by a third floor and decorated with rich ornamentation. At the beginning of the 15th century, a polygonal chapel was added to the north of the building. During the Thirty Years' War the imperial troops burned down the tower. It collapsed into the nave and destroyed the vaults of the nave as well as the roof.
Prussian Frederick William I allowed the reconstruction in 1734. The altar, an organ and confessionals from Marienkirche in Stettin (today Szczecin), which had been destroyed by lightning, were placed in Pasewalk in 1795. In the 19th century the tower was raised by another floor with a gallery.

Unlike Pasewalk, the church survived WWII almost undamaged. Only some windows and the roof were damaged. The roof was covered with a makeshift roof in 1947. In 1958, the tower was secured. The steeple and the clock were repaired in 1983. However, the first damage to the tower became apparent in December 1983, when the narrow masonry pillars of the second floor at the back of the tower collapsed. On December 3, 1984, the northwest corner of the tower collapsed; a day later, another section collapsed. For safety reasons, it was decided to blow up the entire tower on December 8. While plans were still being made to rebuild the steeple from 1985, a hurricane in 1986 caused further damage to the roof of the still unsecured church. In 1987 and 1988, reconstruction of the tower began.

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