St. Nicolai

St. Nicolai stands on a 58-metre hill in Groß-Quern, part of the Steinbergkirche parish in Angeln. It is the highest church in the region and one of the cultural monuments of Groß-Quern. The churchyard and parts of the furnishings are also protected. Built around 1200 in the Romanesque style, it began with a short nave and small choir in granite before switching to fieldstone. The north wall still shows the original small windows and a blocked-up door. In the 13th century the church was extended westwards, and by the 15th century a brick tower had been added.

The interior has seen many changes. A flat ceiling gave way to a late-Gothic vault in 1521, and in 1780 a north gallery was installed. A 1904 neo-Gothic remodelling enlarged the south windows and added coloured glass. During the 1956–58 renovation the original Romanesque north windows were uncovered, and traces of ornamental painting were partly restored by Ernst Günter Hansing. The north gallery was removed, modern pews replaced old box pews, and the old altar was replaced by a late-medieval rood cross.

Inside, a 1220s gilt copper antependium shows the Maiestas Domini and apostles. The rood cross, carved around 1480 in a Schleswig workshop, hangs above the altar. A 15th-century sacrament house in the choir bears a fine oil painting of the Man of Sorrows. The pulpit, made about 1620 by Heinrich Ringerink’s workshop, shows scenes from the Passion. The wooden font, probably from the same period, depicts the Baptism of Christ. A late-Gothic statue of St Nicholas, carved in 1993, stands near the entrance. The north wall holds a 1678 oil painting of Christ in Gethsemane.