Schelf Church St. Nikolai

1.
Simply a church worth seeing in the Schelfstadt. St. Nikolai is the first large church building in Mecklenburg after the Reformation in the early 18th century and one of the few baroque brick churches in northern Germany. The central building is built on a Greek cross. According to plans by the engineer captain Jacob Reutz and completed after his death by Leonhard Christoph Sturm, the church building St. Nikolai with a prince's box and burial place in the Schelfstadt was built between 1708 and 1713.
In 1853, Friedrich Franz II commissioned the reconstruction of the interior of the church. Source: welterbe-schwerin.de/residenzensemble/schelfkirche-st-nicolai

2. The elaborate 18th century columns, which had been damaged by storms, were removed and the church was given its neo-Gothic character. By moving the burial place to St. Nikolai and the crypt of the ducal family, which can be reached via the nave, the Mecklenburg dukes of that time confirmed the change to an enlightened reign. Below the organ and accessible via the tower, the prince's box is opposite the altar. The side galleries were reserved for the military. Source:
welterbe-schwerin.de/residenzensemble/schelfkirche-st-nicolai

Today's St. Nikolai Church had several previous buildings. In its current form, it is a baroque gem in the Schelfstadt.

The earliest evidence of a church or chapel on the shelf [4] dates from 1217 and is in a document that names a clergyman from St. Nikolai.

Count Heinrich I von Schwerin donated a new church in 1228, probably as thanks for the victory over the Danes in the Battle of Bornhöved. This late Romanesque church was consecrated in 1238 at the latest.
In the 16th century, the St. Nikolai Church fell into disrepair. In 1586 there was a makeshift renovation. In the 17th century it became a branch church of the Schwerin Cathedral.

In 1621 the church building received a new tower. But soon afterwards (1626) the tower and the church roof had to be repaired again, as a storm caused parts of the bell tower to fall onto the roof. In 1670 a broken bell, the belfry and the roof of the church had to be replaced. To finance this work, Duke Christian Ludwig I ordered a collection to raise the necessary funds.

On December 8, 1703, a hurricane caused the spire to fall on the church and severely damaged it. Due to the overall condition of the building, reconstruction was out of the question. The church was canceled.

At the behest of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm, the foundation stone of today's Schelfkirche was laid on May 15, 1708 according to plans by "Engineer Captain" Jacob Reutz († October 13, 1710). This date was chosen deliberately, as it was Sophia Day, the name day of the Duke's wife, Sophie Charlotte.

Source:
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schelfkirche