It is a rare beauty - the only pure baroque brick church in the West Mecklenburg region. An architectural cousin of the Michel in Hamburg. The crypt of the Dukes of Mecklenburg is well worth a visit. The church is open daily and can be visited.
The Schelfkirche is enthroned directly on the Schelfmarkt. The half-timbered houses surrounding the church seem almost crouched before so much grandeur. Only the tall lime trees do not seem to shy away from comparison with the church tower.
A church probably already stood on this site in the Middle Ages. When the previous building was badly damaged in a storm, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm ordered a new church to be built. Construction began in 1708 under the direction of the captain of engineers Jacob Reutz. The first significant new church building in Mecklenburg after the turmoil of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War is constructed as a Baroque central building with a Greek cross floor plan - a rarity. Reutz did not live to see the consecration of his building in 1713; he had already died three years earlier.
His client Friedrich Wilhelm also followed his master builder Reutz and died before the Schelfkirche was completed. He is buried in the new ducal crypt under the altar. Until the beginning of the 19th century, the Schelfkirche served as the princely burial place for 17 members of the Mecklenburg ducal family. Even a Prussian queen (Sophie Louise) was laid to rest here. However, mistakes made during the remodeling in the middle of the 19th century have taken their toll on the magnificent coffins. Sponge and mold infested the crypt. They were successfully rescued: in 2008, the crypt was reopened to the public on the 300th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone. Today, the restored coffins can once again be viewed in their place in the church.
Reutz's successor as master builder has the interior of the church rebuilt in such a way that the special cross shape of the room is lost. In 1858, shortly after the royal family moved back into the new fairytale-like Schwerin Palace, the church was redesigned and furnished according to the plans of the engineering captain Reutz. The result is a tasteful combination of baroque splendor and Nordic sobriety. From this time onwards, a striking organ by the famous Mecklenburg organ builder Friedrich Friese III also resounds in its rooms. Today, the Schelfkirche with its beautiful atmosphere, stained glass windows, carved stalls and altarpieces is also a popular venue for concerts.
