The Marienkirche is the prototype of Backsteingotik, the brick-Gothic style that spread along the Baltic coast from here to Tallinn and Riga. Built between 1265 and 1351, it set the architectural template for every great Hanseatic church that followed. Inside, the central nave rises 38 metres under one of the highest brick vaults in the world, lit by enormous tracery windows.
The 1942 firestorm destroyed the original interior and the famous painted Totentanz (Dance of Death) cycle. The smashed bells in the south tower chapel are left as the war memorial. The Astronomical Clock, replaced after the war with a working modern copy, runs through its noon performance every day at 12:00 to a small crowd.