Pirna's late Gothic, three-aisled hall church of St. Marien
The Evangelical Lutheran, late Gothic three-nave hall church of St. Mary in Pirna was built between 1502 and 1546. The roof has a ridge height of 40 metres and a truss height of 25 metres, the largest church roof in Saxony, and was renewed in 2004. The church tower is 60 metres high. The roof truss is self-supporting and therefore does not bear on the vaulted ceiling below. This gave the church its unique net vault, which does not have to support the roof but only serves as decoration. Since 1994, it has once again housed the only (since 2003, along with the Dresden Frauenkirche) seven-part peal of bells in the Saxon regional church. Until the early 20th century, the bell-ringer/doorman lived above the ringing to operate the bells. In addition to the ten-metre-high sandstone altar retable and the baptismal font (1561) with 26 small child figures, already admired by Goethe, the figural vault paintings (1544-46) with their many biblical scenes represent a unique gem of sacred painting in the age of the Reformation. Since the introduction of the Reformation in the 16th century, Pirna's Marienkirche has been Evangelical Lutheran.
