h0 scale model gothic romanesque brick church northern germany kirche backsteingothik proseken mecklenburg

Gothic-style brick churches from the 13th/14th century are quite a common sight in the north of Germany, large cathedrals in cities like Lübeck or Wismar, but also many smaller churches in small towns all along the German Baltic coast. Strongly built and with a heavyset look, they often resemble a castle stronghold, and they may well have been used as strongholds by the local population in times of local unrest.

You will find the original of this model in Proseken, a small town just west of Wismar. The original was built probably in the 13th century, with a style mix of Gothic and Romanesque, typical for that period. The tall and heavy tower is landmark visible from afar, the brick construction is decorated with bright white inlays and elements, you will find this pattern on many churches in Mecklenburg along the Baltic.

The original building has been modified and extended over the centuries, it does not follow any clean symmetrical building plan but looks like grown organically. No two sides of the tower or the nave look identical, each wall is unique.

I tried to model the current appearance and I used information and images available on the Internet. I found a floor plan that seems to be rather current, but without scale. I had to make rough estimates of dimensions and size of all features, so not everything will be 100% accurate. But I think the overall appearance of the model is close to the original and will bring across the typical style and look of these churches.

The model is in H0 model railway scale (1:87). It is a fairly large model, 50cm high and 45cm long, and will certainly be an eyecatcher when on display on your model railway. I designed it in Tinkercad and have printed my copies on a Bambu Lab X1C printer using PLA filament. I wanted the model to be realistic and detailed yet easy to print without support, so I had to add some stabilizer structures and had to make some compromises, especially in minor details and small parts.

The joints and part fittings are designed with tolerances of 0,25mm, so they should fit well together with some margins. It is not a tight fit, which means you will have to glue the parts together – like in most plastic model kits.

Enjoy.