page_title: St. Mary's Church, Rostock
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: St. Mary's Church, Rostock / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Egon Tschirch - Destroyed city - 1942 Deutsch: Egon Tschirch - Die zerstörte Stadt - 1942
context_page_description: St. Mary's Church, Rostock, in German Marienkirche, is the biggest of three town churches found in the Hanseatic city of Rostock, in northern Germany. The other two are St. Peter's and St. Nicholas. A fourth, St. James', was heavily damaged during the Second World War and subsequently demolished. St. Mary's was designated in 1265 as the main parish church. Since the Protestant Reformation in 1531, it houses a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg.
context_section_description: During the heavy air raids by the Royal Air Force in 1942, which lasted three days, much of Rostock was destroyed. The sexton of St. Mary's, Mr. Bombowski, saved the church by decisive action. Although three incendiary bombs smashed through the roof of the tower, he extinguished the fire with the help from his daughter and a German auxiliary airforce commando. Former "NSDAP Kreisleiter" (the local Nazi party leader) and then Lord Mayor of Rostock, Walter Volgmann, said, "The old hut should have burned down". Inside the church is a famous picture by the painter Egon Tschirch from 1942, which depicts St. Mary's Church surrounded by ruins.
caption: Egon Tschirch ″Die zerstörte Stadt″ (″The destroyed town″, 1942)
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