Rostock - Marienkirche

With more than 200.000 inhabitants Rostock is the largest city in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Small Slavic settlements existed already in the 8th century. A settlement named Roztok was founded in the 11th century by Polabian Slavs. This town was burnt down by troops of the Danish king Valdemar I in 1161. Afterwards the place was settled by German traders.

After 1226 Rostock became the seat of the Lordship of Rostock.

In the 1250s the city became a member of the Hanseatic League. In the 14th century it was a powerful seaport town with 12,000 inhabitants and the largest city in Mecklenburg. Ships for cruising the Baltic Sea were constructed in Rostock. Until the last Hansa Convention in 1669, Rostock took a leading role in the Baltic Sea behind Lübeck.
-

Marienkirche is a large Brick Gothic church. Built in the 13th century, it was enlarged and modified at the end of the 14th century into the present basilica. The first reference to a church on this site is in 1232, which is thought to be the predecessor of the current building. The triple-nave cross-shaped basilica is in Brick Gothic, a building style typical of the Hanseatic port cities. The huge tower with a baroque lantern at the top was not completed until the end of the 18th century.

In 1419, the University of Rostock was founded, the oldest university in the Baltic Sea area. It was ceremoniously opened in the Marienkirche. The parish priest of the church, Nikolaus Türkow, was personally involved in the founding of the university and the church remained closely associated with it for a long time. Even today, the "professors' pews" indicate that St. Mary's Church had the function of a university and council church until the turn of the century around 1900.

The baptismal font was probably cast by Lower Saxon artists in Rostock because there are strong similarities with the baptismal font in Hildesheim Cathedral, which is 40 years older. The bowl and lid are stylistically differentiated and were made by different masters. An inscription dates the casting or consecration of the font to Easter 1290.

The round font is supported by four bearded male figures holding jugs from which water flows. They bear the inscriptions Aer (air), Aqua (water), Ignis (fire), Terra (earth).

Unlike the reliefs on the font, the figures on the lid were not cast as well but riveted on afterwards.

The central part of the basin depicts the life of Jesus. The story, consisting of 21 pictures, begins with the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary and ends with the Resurrection of Jesus and his meeting with Mary Magdalene.

The baptism and ascension of Jesus are the depictions on the lid. Next to them are women and men (saints ?) bishops and martyrs. The parable of the wise and foolish virgins has also found its place on the lid.

During WWII, the font was stored in a village church for protection against air raids, buried in 1945 before the Red Army arrived, and returned ( pretty damaged) to Marienkirche in 1951.