Upper Church St. Nikolai

The Oberkirche St. Nikolai stands in the centre of Cottbus, a late-medieval brick hall church on the Oberkirchplatz near the old market. It is the largest medieval church in the Niederlausitz and has been protected as a monument since the 1970s. The congregation still uses the building, though it was once called the German Church in Lower Sorbian records. The church’s earliest written mention dates from 1156, making it the oldest documented church in the Niederlausitz. Fundament remains from a 13th-century aisleless church were uncovered in 1910. The lower part of the west tower was added at the end of the 14th or start of the 15th century, and the main hall was completed only in the 16th century after a 1468 fire. After wartime destruction in 1945, the church was rebuilt and reopened in 1955, with final repairs finished in 2008. Visitors enter through the richly decorated west portal in the tower, which leans slightly north of the nave. The wide three-aisled interior rises unusually high for the region, supported by strong octagonal piers and vaulted in elaborate patterns. Traces of 15th-century wall paintings survive on the choir piers, including figures of saints and the carrying of the cross. The north chapel holds a two-storey sacristy and an octagonal baptismal chapel topped by a steep spire. The tower, now 55 metres tall, can be climbed for views across Cottbus.