The church was built between 1742 and 1578 after a design by J.K. Dorn and for the needs of the local German congregation.  The 55 metre steeple was completed only in 1866.  The façade and interior of the church are in the style of late Baroque and Classicism (with elegant Rococo elements inside the church).  The church is known for the organ that was built by H.A. Koncius between 1773 and 1780.  Since a reconstruction in 1885, the instrument has more than 7,000 pipes, 131 registers and four manuals.  It is suggested that it is the largest mechanical organ in the world, and its sound is just wonderful.  Visitors can visit the church, examine the organ and climb the steeple.

Name of Litene is associated with one of the most tragic pages of Latvian history. In twenties and thirties of the 20th century a Latvian Army summer camp was located nearby, where in the summer of 1941 Latvian officers faced the communist terror: Nearly five hundred officers of Latvian army were sent to Norilsk in Siberia, part of them was shot and secretly buried in the nearby forest. At the end of the summer of 1941 about 300 civilians, mostly Jews, were shot there by the army of Nazi Germany. Today, honouring the memory of people killed, memorial and memorial sites are created.