It is located directly in the city centre, has a 125 m tall tower and features a famous organ by Arp Schnitger from 1693.

The history of the church goes back to 1255 when St. James' was a small Roman Catholic chapel located outside the Hamburg city walls.

The sacristy in the northeast also comes from this time (1438) and is today Hamburg's only example of secular gothic architecture.

The second tower, erected in 1826/27 after the previous one had become dilapidated, was destroyed in 1944, along with the rest of the church building, by bombing during World War II.

The ceiling murals, with their civic virtues, show the importance of maintaining parish to the city regiment.

Coats of arms on the walls name the pastors, vicars, and jurors who have served the parish since the sixteenth century.