Église Saint-Michel

St. MichaelisIn 2010, the Michaelis Church celebrated its 1000th anniversary. In the period from 2005 to 2012, the St. Michael's Church was extensively renovated, the outdoor area was redesigned. Michaelis hill and church are a special gem in the center of a largely newly designed western town of Hildesheim. In 1985, St. Michaelis, together with the Mariendom, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a testimony of unique pre-Romanesque architecture and art.1010 was begun with the construction of the church on behalf of Bishop Bernward (993 to 1022). He had a Benedictine monastery built on a hill outside the former city wall. The crypt and burial ground Bernwards was consecrated by him in 1015, shortly before his death (1022) and the church still under construction. His successor, Bishop Godehard, completed the construction and in 1033 gave the blessing to the finished church. After a fire that required structural changes, the church was re-consecrated in 1186 by Bishop Adelog.St. Michaelis has been altered over the centuries in terms of both construction and furnishings. The Reformation with the associated iconoclastic fell victim to some works of art. In 1542 the church became Protestant. Nevertheless, the monks of the monastery were allowed to continue to use the crypt and part of the adjoining the monastery northwest transept. With the secularization, the monastery was dissolved and closed in 1809, only the crypt remained Catholic. The church was temporarily used as a straw and hay storage. 1827, with the entry of a hospital for mentally handicapped people in the former monastery, a bowling alley was installed. In 1844 the church was returned to the Michaelisgemeinde. The rare form of use by both denominations is called simultaneous church.When large parts of Hildesheim were destroyed by bombs on March 22, 1945, St. Michaelis also fell to rubble. But already on October 4, 1945 Michaelispastor Kurt Degener called for reconstruction. In 1950, the nave was re-consecrated. The reconstruction of the entire church according to Ottonian model was completed with the consecration of the church in 1960.