The Große Marienkirche is the dominant landmark of Lippstadt's old town, its three towers rising above the flat Lippe plain. Construction began around 1200, shortly after the town's founding by Bernhard II zur Lippe, and the eastern portions were consecrated in 1222. What started as a late-Romanesque stepped hall evolved during construction into one of the earliest Gothic hall churches in Westphalia, with ribbed vaulting borrowed from the new style arriving from France.
The western tower, finished around 1250, stands 65 metres tall. It received its distinctive Baroque curved dome in 1684, which gives the skyline its recognisable silhouette. The choir was rebuilt between 1478 and 1506 as a remarkable octagonal ambulatory — considered the most impressive of its kind in Westphalia. Inside, the spacious rendered nave is austere, as befits a church that became Lutheran in 1524; the building has been evangelical ever since.