The Marienkirche tower rises above the rooflines of the western old town — a tall Gothic spire of red brick that gives no hint, from a distance, of the emptiness behind it. Up close the situation becomes clear: the nave and choir are gone, and the tower stands alone in an open space where the body of one of Mecklenburg's great churches once stood. It is an affecting sight, not least because the surviving tower is itself beautiful, and because the church in its entirety was once comparable in ambition to the Nikolaikirche.
The tower is open to visitors and the climb is rewarded with views over the old town and the harbour. Inside, the base of the tower preserves some original features, and the story of the church's destruction is explained in an exhibition. A carillon installed in the tower plays regularly. The site as a whole — tower, cleared foundations, some remaining fragments — is worth an hour of anyone's time, and the contrast with the intact Nikolaikirche a few streets away is instructive.