The building was first mentioned in the city register in 1276 and is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors. The church was probably originally a simple hall with a single tower. Due to Stralsund's rapid rise to become an important maritime trading city, it was converted into a basilica with an imposing twin tower complex in the 14th century. Built as a three-aisled basilica with an ambulatory, it has a total length of 87 meters. The mere choice of this elaborate cathedral building type in a region where hall churches were common testifies to the claim to power that the city council, as the client, wanted to express.