Lorenz Church

St. Lorenz Church is a Catholic church in Salzwedel. The originally three-aisled basilica, built during the transition from Romanesque to Gothic, belongs to the Romanesque Road. Due to its eventful history, the church building exhibits a great variety of forms and materials used.

The Laurentius patronage suggests an early foundation and a possibly pre-Romanesque predecessor building, of which, however, no traces have been found. From its location on the southern edge of the freedom of Salzwedel Castle, it can be concluded that it was originally the parish church of the castlemen.

The construction of the present St. Lorenz Church took place in the middle of the 13th century. It was built as a three-aisled brick basilica without a transept in late Romanesque transitional forms. The initially flat-roofed nave was provided with a Gothic vault around 1400. In the second half of the 15th century, the choir was also vaulted. At the end of the 15th century, the vaults of the main nave were already renewed.

Due to the proximity of St. Marien Church, St. Lorenz lost its function as a parish church early on. However, the butchers and spiritual brotherhoods maintained altars and celebrated services in the church.

From 1541, after the introduction of the Reformation, St. Lorenz Church was no longer used for services. By order of the Elector of Brandenburg, it was used as a salt magazine (Royal Salt Factorey) from 1692. In the early 18th century, the side aisles were then demolished and the arcades bricked up. In 1794, the tower located on the west side of the nave was also demolished. Only a rectangular entrance room remained, in which, however, the original groin vault, the oldest in Salzwedel, is still located. In 1859, the Catholic Diocese of Paderborn acquired the building, which had been severely damaged in its substance by the long period of salt storage. Due to the severe building damage, there had previously been plans for a complete demolition. After a renovation, St. Lorenz Church has been used by the Catholic community of Salzwedel since November 4, 1860.

From 1962 to 1964, an extensive renovation took place. This had also become necessary because materials used in the renovation carried out 100 years earlier proved to be unsuitable. The northern side aisle was rebuilt on the Romanesque foundations more than 200 years after its demolition. According to the requirements of the Halle monument authority, the side aisle was built in a contemporary style. Another renovation (design of the choir area and plastering work) took place between 1983 and 1990.

Since 1973, the parish and parish church of St. Lorenz belonged to the then established Apostolic Administration of Magdeburg, from which the Diocese of Magdeburg emerged in 1994.