Until the High Middle Ages, and even longer in the countryside, most churches in northern Europe were built of wood. As prosperity grew in the 12th and 13th centuries, and with it the demands of the northern Germans, they wanted to build churches in stone. However, there were no natural stone deposits worth mentioning in this country.

What was available was clayey loam from which bricks could be made. With this material, the master builders attempted to construct something similar to the well-known monumental churches, which were mostly made of sandstone - initially in the Romanesque style, as in Ratzeburg or Jerichow, but soon in the Gothic style. However, the Gothic architecture had to be adapted to the possibilities of brick: less ornamentation, but more structural variation in the masonry.

St Marien is not one of the very first buildings in this style. However, it is considered the "mother church of North German Brick Gothic" because it was the model for churches throughout the entire area of the medieval Hanseatic League - from Haderslev in Denmark to Tartu in Estonia.