Sankt Nikolaus, Langeoog

St. Nicholas is the Roman Catholic church on the East Frisian island of Langeoog.

There had been no Catholics on Langeoog since the Reformation. Only the emerging bathing tourism brought Catholic spa guests to the island from the end of the 19th century. Since the summer of 1910, Holy Mass was celebrated in the tourist season in temporary premises by priests from outside the island.

The needs of the Nazi armaments factories on the coast and, after the end of the war, the influx of East German displaced persons gave rise to a small Catholic community, to which 250 people belong today. For them, but even more for the vacationers, the church was built, whose cornerstone was laid on January 15, 1962. It was given the name of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors, and was consecrated on June 4, 1964 by Osnabrück Bishop Helmut Wittler. The plans came from the Göttingen architect Lucy Hillebrand.

Initial remodeling and expansion work was completed in 1973. After extensive reconstruction, the church was rededicated by Bishop Franz-Josef Bode on June 23, 2002. Today it belongs to the parish community of Küste.

The design idea of the church is a ship's bow rising up from the ground. The tower has the shape of a stem. This earned it the nicknames "Möwenrutschbahn" and "Nonnenrutsche" among the people of Langeoog. Since the last renovations, the interior has been wide and bright, with clear glass windows offering a view of the island landscape. The cross is designed as a steering wheel.