St. John's Church, or St. Johannis, stands in the center of Lüneburg. It is a Lutheran church, previously Catholic, and the oldest Lutheran church in the city. It is a five-naved hall church of northern German Brick Gothic, built from 1300 to 1370 and consecrated in 1370. Its spire is 108 meters tall and slightly sloping. A legend says a master builder fell from the tower after noticing the error.
In the early fifteenth century Conrad of Soltau, the Prince-Bishop of Verden, tried to make it his new cathedral, but the city council and the Prince of Lüneburg resisted. The outer structure was rebuilt in 1765.
The organ was finished in 1553, and Georg Böhm was the organist from 1698 to 1733. J. S. Bach lived nearby from 1700 to 1702 and may have taken organ lessons from him.
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