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The medieval town of Stralsund, on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, was a major trading centre of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries. Characteristic of the Marienkirche in Stralsund is the austerity of form. The pier buttresses are absent from the fortified exterior, and in order to rescue the clarity of its complex structure, the flying buttresses have been hidden under the transept roofs, to the great advantage of the clerestory. The west end rises like a fortress, its bulk increased by the pseudo-transept, the latter merely the narthex of the church extended to the sides. From the pseudo-transept a huge octagonal tower rises, flanked by four corner towers, real fortifications with battlement parapets and crenellations.
The outside of the polygonal apse must be considered the masterpiece of the church. There are three windows on each side of the polygon which can be read either as an open triptych or as half-windows divided by the corners of the wall.
The photo shows the apse from the northeast.
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