Hamburg's main churches
Churches are dusty, cold and boring – I don’t think so! Churches have been at the centre of every cityscape for ages and attract visitors almost magically. In this tour, I will take you into the world of the Protestant North Church, which maintains Hamburg’s four/five main churches.
We start our tour at the Hamburg pilgrimage church of St Jacobi, which still attracts organ fans from all over Germany with its Arp Schnitger organ. After inspecting the altars and the church interior, we head to the “City Church” of St. Peter, which is just a few metres away and still houses objects from the former St. Mary’s Cathedral of the City of Hamburg. After taking a look at the important “Apostle of the North” St Ansgar and hearing about his life story and, above all, his work, we stroll along the waterfront to take a look at the “university” and now also “HafenCity church” St Katharinen. With its golden crown, it is recognisable as St. Katharinen from afar. The tower of St Catherine’s Church is the oldest upright building in the city of Hamburg – isn’t it?
Once we have clarified this question, we walk through one of Hamburg’s oldest remaining streets to the former main church of St. Nikolai, which is now just a ruin with a preserved tower after the heavy destruction of the Second World War and therefore serves as a memorial. The tower provides a great overview of the city and is also home to one of the largest carillons in Germany. Our final route then takes us to the jewel of Hamburg’s churches, the symbol of the city, St Michael’s Church. St Michael’s Church, also affectionately known as “Michel”, was Hamburg’s first Protestant church to be built, but is in no way inferior to many Catholic churches in terms of its lavish decoration. The four organs are just one of the many reasons to stop by.
