The town church of St. Mary with its massive tower is visible from afar and dominates the townscape. It is a brick building from the 13th century.
. It was immediately rebuilt and furnished in the Baroque style (altar and pulpit). At the beginning of the 80's of the 20th century the interior of the church underwent further changes: a winter church was built in and the half-timbering in the nave was exposed. The tower (49 meters high, 214 steps) is accessible, from the observation deck you have a beautiful view over the town of Ribnitz and its surroundings. With good visibility, the towers of Rostock can be seen with the naked eye. Organ concerts and exhibitions are held regularly during the summer months.
The construction of the three-nave hall church was started in the founding period of the city. Remains of the late Romanesque architectural decoration of the first church are preserved in the form of a round-arched frieze on the west side of the nave and in the paired lancet windows.
Later reconstructions and extensions of different architectural styles characterize the image of the church. The great town fire of 1759 destroyed the vaults and medieval interior as well as the then 100m high tower. Under the direction of the Ludwigslust court architect Johann Joachim Busch, the baroque remodeling of the roof and the interior of the church took place. The central nave was given a wooden semi-circular roof on brick-lined half-timbered supports, the side aisles a flat wooden roofing. The tower lantern was added as late as 1841/43 according to designs by Georg Adolph Demmler. After 1980, the interior was again remodeled with the addition of a winter church and parish rooms. In 1994 the organ from the workshop of the Dresden organ builder Jehmlich was inaugurated. Today, in addition to church services and community events, concerts, exhibitions and guided tours are held regularly. The tower (49 meters high, 214 steps) is accessible, and from the observation deck there is a beautiful view over the town of Ribnitz and its surroundings. With good visibility, the towers of Rostock can be seen with the naked eye.
