Sacred places of the Hanseatic League

From the 12th to the 17th century, an association of northern trading towns known as the Hanseatic League governed trade in Europe. From Belgium to Estonia, these wealthy cities created a distinctive architectural style: brick Gothic, which inspired the construction of the following 12 religious buildings.

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Pelplin Cathedral

Pelplin Cathedral is a Gothic building, originally the church of a 13th-century Cistercian monastery. The cathedral is one of the largest brick Gothic churches in Poland (the second in Poland after the Basilica of St. Mary at Gdańsk). Its interior is rich in altars dating from the 17th to the 20th century.

Pelplin Cathedral
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St. Mary's Church, Gdańsk

St. Mary's Basilica served as a Catholic and Protestant church (between 1572 and 1945). Built from 1346 to 1361, the church is an example of brick Gothic (typical of the Baltic basin) and is one of the largest brick churches in the world. During the liberation battles of Gdańsk in March 1945, the wooden roof, vaults and bells of the church were heavily damaged. After being restored, the church was rebuilt in 1955.

St. Mary's Church
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Marienkirche, Lübeck

The Marienkirche (officially St. Marien zu Lübeck) was built from 1277 to 1351. The building was a symbol of the economic and political power of this city then at the head of the powerful Hanseatic League. As part of the old town of Lübeck, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Mary is widely considered as the "mother church of brick Gothic".

Marienkirche
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St. Mary's Church, Stralsund

St. Mary's Church, built in the 13th century, is considered a late Gothic masterpiece in Central Europe. Built on the model of the Marienkirche in Lübeck, it was from 1549 to 1647 (the date on which its gothic spire fell) supposedly the highest structure in the world. Very little of the original interior remains due to the iconoclastic period of the Reformation and a great city fire in 1647 that destroyed almost all inventory.

St. Mary's Church
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St. Anne's Church, Vilnius

The Church of St. Anne, commonly known as the Bernardine Church of Vilnius, belongs to the Bernardine monks. A first small wooden church burned in 1475, giving way to a brick church built in the early sixteenth century. It is now the largest gothic religious building in Vilnius.

St. Anne's Church
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Our Lady's Church, Bruges

The Church of Our Lady, built in 1270-1280, is one of the oldest religious building in Bruges, and a tourist attraction. Begun with blue stone, later parts of the Gothic scaldian church were built entirely of brick, such as the 115.6-metre high tower, added in the 15th century.

Our Lady's Church
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Riga Cathedral

Riga Dome is the cathedral of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Built in the 13th century, it is the largest medieval church in the Baltic states and a national architectural monument. The former Dome Monastery now houses the Riga History and Navigation Museum (founded in 1773).

Riga Cathedral
Wikimedia Commons

Church of St. James, Toruń

The Church of St. James was built from 1309 to the 15th century and is one of the most important examples of the brick architecture of the Baltic Sea basin. Managed by Cistercians and then Benedictines, it became a Protestant church in the years 1557-1667, and only became a Catholic parish church in the 19th century.

Church of St. James
Wikimedia Commons

St. John's Church, Lüneburg

The church of St. Johannis, built between 1289 and 1470, is the oldest church in the city of Lüneburg. It is considered an important North German Gothic brick building. The interior of the church includes a 15th century carved altar, two large historical organs and eight bells of historical and sonorous value.

St. John's Church
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The Old Synagogue, Kraków

The Old Synagogue, founded in the 15th century, is one of the oldest preserved synagogues in Poland. Until 1939 it played the role of a central synagogue and was the main religious, cultural, social and organisational centre of the Krakow Jewish community. Since its restoration in the 1950s, it is part of the Historical Museum of Kraków.

The Old Synagogue
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Tartu Cathedral

The Tartu Cathedral is a brick Gothic style church founded between the 13th and 16th centuries. Devastated during the Livonia War (1558 - 1583), it was left in a state of ruin and in the 1760s and the twin towers of the church were demolished. As part of the reconstruction by the University of Tartu in 1804-1807, rooms for the university library were built in the cathedral choir. After the completion of the new university library building in 1981, the University of Tartu Museum moved in.

Tartu Cathedral
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Gertrudis church, Workum

The Gertrudis church in the Frisian town of Workum is a late Gothic brick church, founded in 1480 and resumed in 1523. The free-standing church tower was built after 1523 but remained unfinished. However, in 1613, an onion dome was applied to the second section of the tower.

Gertrudis church