Martinskirche, Kassel

St. Martin or the Martinskirche is a Protestant parish church in the German town of Kassel. It is also the preaching-church of the bishop of the Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck. It is in the Gothic style and was begun in 1364 and completed in 1462. It became a Protestant church in 1524, when Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse converted to Protestantism. From the 16th century until the end of the 18th century it was the burial place for the landgraves of Hesse.

It was rebuilt to a slightly modified plan after the Second World War. It is a three-aisle six-bayed hall church with two towers at the west end. Its '5/8-Schluss' choir dates to the Gothic period - this style is named after the eight segments to the vaults in the five east-end arches. From 1960 until his death in 1993 the organist Klaus Martin Ziegler was the church's cantor.

In 1330, with the construction of the new district of 'Freiheit', it was decided that Kassel needed another city-centre church. In 1343 the Bishop of Mainz proclaimed an indulgence to pay for it. This led to the construction of the choir of the present church, now used as the parish church. The church was dedicated the Virgin Mary, St Martin of Tours and Elizabeth of Hungary.

A stift was settled on the new church to pay for a choir run (like that at the Kloster Ahnaberg) was run by the Premonstratensians. The stift was set up in 1366-67 and pope Urban V confirmed a new construction phase to provide a parish church whilst the choir was handed over to the canons. Several of the Martinskirche's canons took offices at the Hessian court in the period running up to the Reformation. In 1437 Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse brought a relic of the True Cross back to Kassel, meaning the Martinskirche was also sometimes known as the Stift zum Heiligen Kreuz (Stift of the Holy Cross).

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