St. Johannis

St. Johannis stands in Neubrandenburg, a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district. The church began as a Franciscan friary church in the 14th century, built from brick in the Gothic style. Its two-aisled hall church has a main nave and a narrower northern aisle, with a tall choir that once reached 17 metres to the eaves.

The building reflects major moments in regional history. The choir was raised in the 1330s under Prince Henry II of Mecklenburg, and after the Reformation it became the city’s main Protestant church in 1567. A fire in 1614 damaged the east end, which was later walled off and used as a granary. After the Second World War it replaced the ruined St Marien as the town’s principal church.

Inside, the nave shows Gothic ribbed vaults with plant motifs in the spandrels. The baroque high altar displays scenes from Christ’s Passion, while the 16th-century pulpit is carved with alabaster reliefs. A Gothic winged altarpiece from the former St George’s Chapel shows the Crucifixion and four saints. The present organ by Schuke dates from 1990, and concerts often fill the space beneath the clear glass windows of the rectangular choir.