Germany · Lower Saxony, St. Michaeliskirche zu Hildesheim

Michaeliskirche was built at the beginning of the 11th century as the church of a Benedictine monastery. Its construction was commissioned by Bernward, the Bishop of Hildesheim. Bernward belonged to the circle of the Ottonian rulers and served for a time as tutor and adviser to Emperor Otto III. In Hildesheim, he promoted architecture, metalwork and book illumination. After his death in 1022, he was buried in the church’s crypt.

The building follows a strictly structured, symmetrical ground plan with two choirs, two transepts and several towers. Characteristic is the alternation of piers and columns in the nave, known as the “Lower Saxon alternation of supports”. The complex illustrates church architecture of the Ottonian period and influenced later Romanesque buildings. The interior contains a painted wooden ceiling from the 13th century. It depicts the genealogy of Christ and is one of the few surviving monumental wooden ceilings from the Middle Ages.

With the Reformation, the church became Protestant Lutheran, while the monastery initially continued to exist. The building was severely damaged in an air raid on Hildesheim in March 1945. The reconstruction consciously followed the medieval form and was completed by 1960. Previously relocated structural elements and works of art were also reused.

The German federal states series presented the federal states in the order of their presidencies of the Bundesrat. Niedersachsen held the presidency in 2013 and 2014 and was therefore featured in 2014. For each federal state, a building or landmark was selected to represent its history and cultural heritage. In this context, Michaeliskirche refers both to medieval Hildesheim as a religious and artistic centre and to the treatment of war-damaged cultural heritage in the 20th century.