WATCH: St. Nicholas Church
Construction of this Catholic church began in 1325. A lot less wide back then, about 11 metres. Dedicated to Peter and Paul. But from 1540 it is St Nicholas, who among other things protects people at sea.
In the hundreds of years that followed, the church expanded more and more into the church it is today. 82.5 metres long, 28.5 metres wide and almost 25 metres high! If you look closely, you can see that the wooden vault rests on carved figures, chalk statues. It's a good thing they sit so high, because that's probably why they survived the iconoclasm.
St Nicholas Church has had to endure more, thoug…
Construction of this Catholic church began in 1325. A lot less wide back then, about 11 metres. Dedicated to Peter and Paul. But from 1540 it is St Nicholas, who among other things protects people at sea.
In the hundreds of years that followed, the church expanded more and more into the church it is today. 82.5 metres long, 28.5 metres wide and almost 25 metres high! If you look closely, you can see that the wooden vault rests on carved figures, chalk statues. It's a good thing they sit so high, because that's probably why they survived the iconoclasm.
St Nicholas Church has had to endure more, though. The two largest glass windows next to the organ were destroyed by a storm in the early 1800s. They were subsequently bricked up. And the 1953 flood disaster also caused a lot of damage. And if that wasn't enough, some 40 years after that came the death watch beetle. They love wood and there is plenty of it in this church. Fortunately, the church has been well restored several times, so we can enjoy this beautiful church where history is there for the taking.