St. John's Church, or Jaani kirik, is an Estonian Evangelical Lutheran parish church on the eastern edge of Freedom Square in Tallinn, where it dominates the square. The neighboring Holy Spirit church had over 14,000 members by the mid-nineteenth century, so the expanding suburbs needed a new parish church. Fundraising began in 1851, groundbreaking was on September 8, 1862, and the church was consecrated on December 17, 1867.
Christoph August Gabler, a Tallinn native, designed it in the Neo-Gothic style, and Carl Sensenberg was the master mason and supervisor. It has lancet arches, three principal aisles, a tall west tower with a decorative spire, and a small semicircular apse.
Plans to demolish it were proposed in the 1930s and 1950s, but local opposition prevented both. It holds a Crucifixion altarpiece by Karl Gottlieb Wenig and remains an active parish church.
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