The church, dedicated to John the Baptist, is considered an important example of northern German Brick Gothic architecture.

[1] The church's organ was finished in 1553 by Hendrik Niehoff and Jasper Johansen and rebuilt in 1714 by Arp Schnitger student, Matthias Dropa and in the later 20th century by Rudolf von Beckerath.

As a young man, Johann Sebastian Bach was resident (1700–1702) at a school attached to the nearby Michaeliskirche, where he appears to have been a kind of organ scholar.

The 108-meter-high spire of the church looks as though it is sloping from each side: the truss on the upper part is twisted into a corkscrew shape.

A legend states that when the master builder noticed the mistake, he fell from an upper window in the church tower; however, he landed on a passing haywagon, so he lived.