The first information about the church appeared in documents in 1269 and pertain to the church’s chaplain, Herman, mentioned by Mestwin (Mściwój) II, the Duke of Gdańsk Pomerania. The church was wooden, typical for the Pomerania of those times. It was probably built by Duke Świętopełk II, as he was the one reigning in the Słupsk land, and it was of private church status.
Its furnishings and the Patron Saint’s name indicate that the church was located in the merchant-trade environment. Near the church hill, to the south, there was the first settlement of German colonists who came here from the area of Lubeck and established a town commune here, with the Duke’s permission.
The oldest seat of the Słupsk monastery was located just near St. Nicholas’ Church. Today it is unclear what it looked like, but we can suspect that, similar to the church, it was made of wood with a thatched roof. The monastery buildings were erected simultaneously with the church, whose eastern gable faced the Słupia and western front faced the present-day Grodzka Street. On the northern side of the church, there was a monastery separated from the church walls with a narrow street, currently known as Kręta. Both the monastery buildings and the church had basements and stone foundations. The monastery building was 1 floor high. In 1665, a great fire in the town burned down the church and the monastery. In 1679, the monastery was rebuilt but the burnt-down church was only covered with a roof, due to the lack of funds. It was rebuilt only in 1737, owing to the efforts of Colonel Stendig and consecrated as a garrison church.
In 1740, however, when the Colonel left to fight in the Silesian War, the Evangelical church was converted into a warehouse and a coach house. In 1760, with the permission of the town council, the Russian army (the Seven Years War) stationing in Słupsk were using St. Nicholas’ Church as an Orthodox Church. Later, it was used as a warehouse and a firehouse, slowly falling into ruin. Around 1770, the town council decided to assign the building for education and, since 1772, the former church became the boarding school for poor students.
Other modifications to the construction of the former church were made in 1819 and they were intended to make the building meet the conditions necessary for establishing a primary school. In 1834, the first female high school in Słupsk was brought to life. Since 1926, St.Nicholas’ Church was a place where a school for backward children was located. The former Premonstratensian convent was turned into a foundation of ladies from the Froulenstift family. Despite the fact that the Order underwent many changes, it was kept in the same place for over 600 years. In March 1945, during a fire started by the Red Army in the Old Town, St. Nicholas’ Church burned down. The nearby convent, devastated and abandoned, was finally pulled down in order to get the bricks back. In 1961, the Poznan Workshop for Conservation of Monuments drew up historical documentation in order to completely rebuild St. Nicholas’ Church and adapt it for use as a municipal library. On 10 September 1971, the formal opening of the library took place. It was named after Maria Dąbrowska
