When Hamburg residents mention the Nikolaikirche, it is generally to this church that they are referring, and not the new Hauptkirche dedicated to Saint Nicholas in the Harvestehude district.

As the center of one of the four Hamburg parishes, the Church of St. Nicholas was heavily involved in all of the theological debates that were fought out in the city, especially during the Reformation.

However, they could not stop the general wave of elected Lutheran ministers in Hamburg; in the Church of St. Nicholas, Johann Zegenhagen was appointed after Kissenbrügge's final departure.

On 5 May, the noon service held by preacher Wendt, who stood in for the minister Carl Moenckeberg, had to be cut short and ended with an intercessory prayer for the saving of the church.

Despite desperate efforts, it was not possible to contain the fire due to the equipment of the day, which did not allow water to be carried in sufficient quantity to the heights of the tower.

In 1843, a so-called "shilling collection" was started, and in 1844 there was an architectural competition, won by the architect Gottfried Semper (a native of nearby Altona) with the draft of a Romanesque domed structure.

The English architect George Gilbert Scott, who was an expert in the restoration of medieval churches and an advocate of the Gothic architectural style, was commissioned to devise a new design.

The architecture was strongly influenced by French and English Gothic styles, though the pointed spire is typically German.

After the war, the basic structure of the Gothic church remained intact to a large extent and reconstruction was a realistic option.

The loss of a valuable Gothic revival architectural monument was regretted by many, but after the war there were other priorities as far as reconstruction was concerned.

(Rescue St. Nicholas's Church) foundation began to restore the existing fabric of the building and erected a so-called "place of encounters" (a room for events and exhibitions) in the crypt.

[3] The current condition of the Church of St. Nicholas is the result of the bombing of Hamburg in World War II, the removal of its ruinous walls and rubble in 1951 and restoration work to the tower in the 1990s and 2012.

foundation works to restore the tower further and improve its memorial role, supported by the city of Hamburg, the congregation of the Hauptkirche and various corporate sponsors and private contributors.

Since 1 September 2005, an elevator has taken visitors to a 75.3-metre-high (247 ft) platform inside the tower to history panels and a panoramic view over Hamburg and in particular the nearby Speicherstadt (lit.