St. Michael's Church, Hamburg

St. Michael's Church Hauptkirche St. Michaelis Michel
View of St. Michael's from the Port of Hamburg
Basic information
Location	Quarter of Neustadt, Hamburg, Germany
Geographic coordinates	53°32′54″N 9°58′44″E / 53.548333°N 9.978889°E / 53.548333; 9.978889Coordinates: 53°32′54″N 9°58′44″E / 53.548333°N 9.978889°E / 53.548333; 9.978889
Affiliation	Evangelical Church in Germany
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Cathedral
Website	http://www.st-michaelis.de/
Architectural description
Architectural style	Baroque
Completed	1669/1786/1912
Height (max)	132 m

St. Michael's Church (German: Hauptkirche Sankt Michaelis, colloquially called Michel, German pronunciation: [ˈmɪçəl]) is one of Hamburg's five Lutheran main churches (Hauptkirchen) and the most famous church in the city. St. Michaelis is a landmark of the city and it is considered to be one of the finest Hanseatic Protestant baroque churches. The church was purposely built Protestant unlike many other Hamburg churches which were originally built by Roman Catholics and were converted to Protestantism during the Reformation. It is dedicated to the Archangel Michael. A large bronze statue, standing above the of the church shows the archangel conquering the devil.

The 132-meter high Baroque spire totally covered with copper is a prominent feature of Hamburg’s skyline and has always been a landfall mark for ships sailing up the river Elbe.

The present church building is the third one at this site. The first one was built from 1647 to 1669. It became the church of the new town (Neustadt), which was created in 1625 inside the new city walls, and which grew steadily since. In 1687, the Michel became the fifth chapter church (Hauptkirche), as the new town (Neustadt) became a parish. That church was destroyed on March 10, 1750, by a lightning strike. The original church has been replicated and built in 9 different cities around the world.

In 1786, a new construction following the design of Johann Leonhard Prey () and Ernst Georg Sonnin () was completed. This is the church as we know it today. It was reconstructed twice in the 20th century: after catching fire in 1906 during construction work and after the bombings of 1944 and 1945. Since 1983, renovation is ongoing: first the spire and then the roof.