Störtebeker Tower Marienhafe (Marienkirche Tower)

The Protestant-Lutheran Mary's Church in Marienhafe was until its partial demolition in 1829, the largest and most important sacred building in East Frisia. It was built in the 13th century in Marienhafe Marienhafe, which had about 500 inhabitants at that time, in the style of early Gothic and reached then the dimensions of the Osnabrück Cathedral and was considered the largest church between Groningen and Bremen. For a long time, the church was a significant landmark. The Leybucht, which owes its name to the old name of today's Norder lows, [2] reached right up to the building. Later the church was connected to the North Sea via Störtebeker Tief. At the end of the 14th century, the pirate Klaus Störtebeker was said to have lived in the church, but this has not been proven to date. After the Reformation in Marienhafe 1593 was a last attempt to establish a common church order for the religiously divided into a Lutheran East and a Reformed West county Ostfriesland. This was decided, but never implemented. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the church decayed more and more, so that in 1829 it was mostly canceled. In the subsequent conversion, she received her present form. prehistoryThe Brookmerland was first settled in the 12th century, when heavy storm surges and the collapse of the Leybucht pushed many people from the coast to the interior of East Frisia. The Leybucht reached at that time to today's place Marienhafe. The church is first mentioned in documents on February 16, 1250 as curia sancte Marie (= Court of St. Mary). In this document, the detachment of the Brookmerlandes from the Propstei Hinte and the formation of its own, the episcopal official in Munster directly subordinated provost "Brokmannia" was agreed.Marienhafe was probably planned as a market place created, but initially was probably not a separate place. The oldest preserved church seal contains the inscription sigillum ecclesie S. Marie de Uppagent. This suggests that the church area belonged to the municipality of Upgant. [4]
Source: Wikipedia

In view of the clever words about the building and history by Andi from Bonn, Seahunter and others, all I can say is: “Go there; look at enjoy atmosphere; it's worth it; is a highlight.”

The imposing building has had an eventful history, which was significantly influenced by the changing extent of the Leybucht. After the North Sea fell through medieval storm surges, the bay reached as far as Marienhafe and the high tower of the church served as a navigation mark. Large parts of the bay were drained through silting up and embankment, so that the city was now several kilometers away from the open sea and maritime trade was no longer possible. As a result, the importance of the place declined and the population could no longer finance the maintenance of the church, which led to a partial collapse and caused the church to be reduced in size and the tower to be shortened by two stories.