St Michael's Church Hamburg

The Michel, as Hamburg calls it, has been destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly: lightning burned it in 1750, a roofer's blowtorch set it alight in 1906 and it burned out completely, and bombing wrecked it again in 1945. The present building follows the eighteenth-century design. Its tower, 132 metres, carries the largest tower clock in Germany with faces of eight metres across and was long used as a landmark by ships coming up the Elbe. A platform at 106 metres is reached by lift or stairs. Johannes Brahms and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach are connected with the church, and Bach is buried in the crypt.

What you actually see

• The tower platform - a viewing level at 106 metres over the harbour.
• The tower clock - the largest in Germany, with eight-metre faces.
• The white interior - a baroque preaching church rebuilt after 1906 and 1945.
• The crypt - burials including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

When to go

Year-round; the tower closes in storms and during services, and there is a daily trumpet call from the platform. The crypt has separate opening.

Honest expectations

The church closes to visitors during services and concerts. Tower and crypt are separately ticketed. It is a reconstruction, not original fabric.

Nearby

The harbour lies south; the Speicherstadt is east.