Interior view

The town of Lübeck was the most powerful town in the Baltic area in the 13th-15th centuries. It was built on a peninsula; its skyline is dominated by six east-facing churches through their seven large spires.

The construction of the Marienkirche began in about 1277 and was completed in 1351. In its ground plan and elevation it is a French Gothic cathedral, yet these elements were transformed into a completely new style. Certain shapes on the design were enforced by the use of as building material.

The body of the Marienkirche is a wide basilica without transepts, but with an ambulatory and radiating chapels. What is distinctive in the ground plan is that the aisles are wider than the ambulatory and the five-sided polygonal apse was provided with only three chapels.

The photo shows the choir from 1277.

View the ground plan of the Marienkirche, Lübeck.