St Nicolai-Kirche

St. Nikolai is an 18th-century Lutheran church in Kappeln, Schleswig-Holstein. It stands on a small hill west of the Schlei inlet, overlooking the town. Built between 1789 and 1793 in late Baroque style, it replaced a smaller 12th-century church. The patron was Hans Adolf von Rumohr of Gut Roest, and the architect was Johann Adam Richter. The church is protected as a cultural monument. The building is a rectangular hall with three-sided ends and a tiled hipped roof topped by a small tower. Inside, a wooden vaulted ceiling and a two-storeyed west gallery frame the space. The altar, carved by Hans Gudewerdt in 1641, was altered in 1792–93 by Lehmeyer and Wolff. A wooden crucifix from the 13th century and a 1780s Bohemian glass chandelier hang in the nave. The pulpit-altar ensemble, topped by the organ, dominates the interior. Outside, a linden-lined graveyard holds a monument to the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War dead and a memorial to two German emperors. The rebuilt organ, completed in 2014 by Reinalt Johannes Klein, uses historic pipework and now has 40 registers across two manuals and pedal. The church’s setting on the hill and its late Baroque furnishings give it a quiet presence in the town’s skyline.