Sanitz Village Church

Sanitz Village Church – Romanesque and Gothic in Fieldstone Construction

The Sanitz Village Church is one of the most remarkable historic religious buildings in the hinterland of Mecklenburg’s Baltic Sea coast. Built in the transitional style from Romanesque to Gothic, the structure consists of characteristic fieldstones, whose corners and edges were shaped from carefully hewn stones. Sanitz is first mentioned in a document as a church village as early as 1256—a testament to the long history of this region between Rostock and the Baltic Sea.

History of the Sanitz Church from the Middle Ages to the Reformation

A contract dated June 2, 1291, documents that Heinrich von Werle secured the right of patronage over the Sanitz church in favor of his ward, Nikolaus von Rostock. In the 14th century, various vassal families succeeded one another as feudal lords. Through inheritance, the village eventually came into the possession of Doberan Abbey—that important Cistercian monastery in Bad Doberan near the Baltic Sea coast—to which it belonged until the Reformation.

Classical altar and Baroque pulpit – art treasures inside

The interior of Sanitz Church houses remarkable furnishings. The altar, dating from 1811, is a work in the Classicist style featuring paintings by the Mecklenburg court painter Rudolph Suhrlandt: the base depicts the Last Supper, while the upper section portrays Christ’s Passion on the Mount of Olives. The altar is flanked by two columns each with Corinthian capitals, as well as wooden carved figures embodying faith, love, hope, and patience. The altar was donated by Captain von Koppelow of Reppelin. The pulpit, dating from 1694, complements the interior with a fine example of Mecklenburg Baroque carving.