Kirche Hollingstedt

St. Nikolai stands in Hollingstedt, a small village in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig-Holstein. The church is a protected cultural monument built largely of tuff stone. Its origins go back to the 12th century, when a simple nave was first raised. In the late 18th century the old choir was removed and the nave extended with brickwork. A new roof of plain tiles was then added. A wooden bell tower, square in plan and dating from about 1550, stands beside the church. The interior is simple and bright, its wooden ceiling supported by plain beams. The altar sits at the east end beneath the organ loft. The present organ was installed in 1870 by the firm Marcussen & Søn, who reused the case of the earlier instrument from 1799. Nikolaus von Myra, the saint whose name the church bears, is remembered in the dedication. Visitors enter through the west door and find themselves under the wide wooden ceiling. The organ above the altar fills the east wall with its pipes. Outside, the brick nave meets the older tuff walls, and the leaning bell tower stands on its square base. The village around the church is quiet, with fields and low hedges stretching away.