The Predigerkirche is one of the four main churches of the old town of Zürich, Switzerland, besides Fraumünster, Grossmünster and St. Peter. First built in 1231 AD as a Romanesque church of the then Dominican Predigerkloster, the Basilica was converted in the first half of the 14th century, the choir between 1308 and 1350 rebuilt, and a for that time unusual high bell tower was built, regarded as the highest Gothic edifice in Zürich.

Located nearby the medieval Neumarkt quarter, the church that commonly is named Predigerkirche was mentioned for the first time in 1234 AD as the Predigerkloster monastery of the Dominican Order. The first Dominican friars settled, according to the chronicler Heinrich Brennwald, outside of the city walls of medieval Zürich at Stadelhofen in 1230, and the construction of a new convent in Zürich was first mentioned in 1231. Initially, against the resistance of the Grossmünster canons, the Dominican's inclusion in Zürich was granted in 1233/1235, because they tirelessly drove the little foxes in the vineyard of the Lord. The monastery consisted of a Romanesque church at the same place as today, and the monastic buildings built around the adjointed cloister to its west. In 1254 the establishment of a cemetery at Zähringerstrasse was allowed to the so-called "prayer" (used for Dominican friars, the 'blackfriars') abbey, and repealed in 1843. The order purchased 28 houses in the 13th and early 14th century. The convent was in close connection to the city nobility and landed gentry in Zürich and the surrounding area, among them the Bilgeri family (Grimmenturm) and the House of Rapperswil, where they received asylum in Rapperswil after their expulsion by 1348. Memorial measurements had to be held at Grossmünster until the 14th century, because thus the most income was achieved. Until the Reformation in Zürich all income obtained with the funerals had also to be delivered to the Grossmünster abbey. Within the late medieval city, as the other "mendicant" orders, the Dominicans have been reduced to the function of area pastors.

The convent was abolished on 3 December 1524, the worship in the church was discontinued, and the buildings and income of the monastery were assigned to the Heilig-Geist-Spital, then an hospital of the city of Zürich. The pastor of the "preachers" was initially subordinated to the parish of the Grossmünster, in 1571 raised to the rank of a Grossmünster Canon Regular, and in 1575 he was allowed to share the Lord's Supper according to the Reformed liturgy, the so-called Abendmahlsgottesdienst. In 1614 the church was raised to a separate parish for the Neumarkt and Niederdorf districts within the city, as well as the then independent municipalities of Oberstrass and Unterstrass–Fluntern were assigned to the parish. The French revolutionary troops allowed again the Catholic worship, but after only two years, the parish was reverted into a Reformed church on 17 October 1801. The church is since 1897 property of the Kirchgemeinde Predigern parish. In the 1960s it has been renovated, and re-opened in 1967. As of today Predigern is used as the "open town church with Ecumenical profile", in fact built as a parish church, but as a place of encounter and of the church community from the inner city, as well as of the suburban region.

According to the building-historical research of the years 1990/96, the first church of the Dominicans was built in 1231 as a distinct Romanesque Basilica including a transept and two small apses in the spiral arms of the transept. The closed choir was fairly spacious, with an area of 10 x 10 metres (33 ft), being a reminiscent of the still existing choir of the former Fraumünster basilica, that only a few years before was built. Archaeological finds show that the church had been planned to be originally shorter in the length than it is today. During the construction period, the building was extended on the today's west facade. The first church was very long, measuring 61 metres (200 ft) in the interior of the central nave, but its height of around 12 metres (39 ft) and width of 10 metres (33 ft) rather low. The Romanesque church seems to have caught fire, possibly several times. The fire in the Romanesque choir was arguably even occasion for its new building, as the wall in the western facade had several traces of fire. Probably the original Romanesque western facade had smaller windows then shown in the Murerplan, three narrow, high arched windows, similar to the still extant windows in the choir of the Fraumünster church. The entire church had a flat wooden ceiling.

The low height and stressed simplicity of the architectural details were according to the restrictive rules in the early days of the Dominicans. This first church building belongs to the few ones that are known from the early days of the order at all, what also explains the unusual transept. Different than from those in the south of the Alps, where transepts in the churches of the mendicant orders were common, in the north that kind of architecture was largely not used after 1250. The model for the shape of the Zürich church might be the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna; it is slightly older, and was at that time probably the most important church of the Dominicans, where their founder Saint Dominic was buried in 1221. Both, the Zürich and Bolognese churches, show that the early Dominicans were still strongly influenced by older orders like the Cistercians. The first Predigerkirche in Zürich also shows that the "Preachers" in this early period were no more a poor itinerant order, which had built small churches for their own needs, the needs of just monks. At the time the Zürich church was built, it was the largest church in the city.

Probably after a fire, the Romanesque choir was replaced in the first half of the 14th century by a Gothic architecture construction. At the same time, the two easternmost arcades in the nave were replaced by a bigger pair of bow, to make room for a rood screen, and a wooden vault instead of the flat ceiling covering the nave. The towering Gothic choir shows that the "mendicant" had abandoned all restraint in relation to the architecture of their churches. The construction of the choir begun soon after 1325. First, the Romanesque chancel was dismantled, followed by the construction on its foundations. The extremely ambitious dimensions of the building were designed in that phase. But already in the 1330s, the construction was set, and remained unfinished for years. The second phase of the building as it was planned, ended in a much more honest construction, and it was saved much substance of the Romanesque building, for example, almost the entire Romanesque transept remained. Historical events explain that change: the revolution of 1336 that Rudolf Brun and his entourage brought to power, was followed by a period of economic uncertainty reaching its peak with the plague of 1348/49, the persecution and killing of the Jewish citizens of the so-called Synagogengasse in 1349, as well as the "Zürich night of murder" (Mordnacht) in 1350, a failed counter coup of Brun's opposition under the son of Johann I (Habsburg-Laufenburg), Johann II. Unlike the Franciscan and the Augustinian orders, the Dominicans in Zürich pleaded to the Pope, another opponent of the political situation in Zürich, and therefore, the convent was forced to leave the city for several years. His exile led to Winterthur and Kaiserstuhl and finally to Rapperswil, those counts were the most prominent opponents of Brun's regime. This development represents the beginning of the general decline of the Zürich Dominican convent.

The roof work of the choir was built in two phases between 1317 and 1323 from east to west, as a rafter roof with collar beam position and cross strut. The approximately 28 metres (92 ft) long roof has a roof pitch of 57°, consists of 24 rafters and includes the polygonal upper fixation of the choir. The roof turret design was developed in 1496, and the belfry in 1475. Due to the strong inclination of the rafter container of about 97 centimetres (38.19 in), a pursuit of spruce and fir was set up in the 17th century. The roof structure was two times repaired what easily is recognizable. The first repair contained, among other things, the installation of the supporting struts, which stabilized the rafter container. Towards to the end of the 17th century, the second repair was implemented, which concentrated on the eastern chancel. The inclination of the entire roof work is originated by the pressure of the polygonal choir construction.

The 27.1 metres (88.9 ft) high, hexagonal ridge turret is made of oak, and a masterpiece of carpenter technology, towering above the roof ridge, at the same height as the walls of the choir. The dendrochronological analysis show that the belfry construction was done in 1475, which has arisen in the supporting structure of the choir, that was added in 1496. The roof shingles of the open belfry and the hexagonal pointed helmet have been applied in several layers on the wooden formwork. The latest dendrochronological provisions on wooden spire show that this wood was hit in 1628, and the roof turret was built in 1629, followed by several repairs. The bracing cross pieces of the lower frame structure are applied, while there are at the top of the cross pieces of wood mortise and tenon joints. The pediments over the open belfry are crowned with golden knobs, and the roof spouts are decorated with Gargoyles from painted copper sheets. The subsequent installation of two tie rods was done in 1778, and included the removal of the shingle at the bottom of the screen for the installation of tie rods, in order to stabilize the pointed helmet. These were anchored to the belfry and thus passed the bells vibrations directly to the construction of the turret's vault.