|
The congregation of St. James the Greater was founded in 1209 by Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV. In the German transliteration James the Greater is called Jakob (based on the Latin name Jacobus), hence the name Jakobskirche or St. Jakob Church.
The original small chapel - built in 1209 - was replaced by a much larger church about 80 years later. The exact date got lost in history, but we know that the bricks from the original chapel were used to build the new church. Although severely damaged in World War II, this church is still standing today, about 770 years later.
Almost from the beginning, the church was a property of the Order of the Teutonic Knights. In 1531, when the Reformation swept through Europe, St. Jakob's church became one of the first Protestant churches, but legally, it was still a property of the Order, creating a Catholic/Protestant co-ownership that lasted until the Thirty Years' War, when Sweden's King Gustav Adolf expropriated the Order. However, the ownership was restored as part of the peace treaty that ended the war. |
|
|