St. Michael's Church

St Michael’s Church stands on a low hill just north of Hildesheim’s old walls. Built in the early Romanesque style, it is a double-choir basilica with tall crossing towers and four slender corner turrets. Bishop Bernward ordered the monastery in 1010, and it was dedicated to the archangel Michael on his feast day in 1022. After Bernward’s death the work continued under Bishop Godehard, who completed the church in 1031 and placed Bernward’s remains in the crypt. The monastery once included two smaller chapels dedicated to Martin and the Holy Cross, reached through a northern cloister. A fire in the 12th century led to a major rebuilding, and the church was reconsecrated in 1186.

The church is recognised for its early Romanesque art and architecture. Nikolaus Pevsner called it the earliest surviving example of a truly Romanesque exterior. The interior follows a strict geometrical plan, with squares and alternating piers and columns guiding every measurement. Bernward’s travels to Rome shaped the design, and he rejected the plain interiors of contemporary basilicas. The painted ceiling shows the Tree of Jesse in 1,300 oak planks, restored in 2010. The Bernward Doors, with sixteen bronze reliefs, originally stood here before moving to the cathedral.

Visitors enter from the south through a simple façade. Inside, the wide nave rises to a painted wooden ceiling twenty-seven metres long. The eastern choir has three apses, while the western choir shelters an elaborate cross-vaulted crypt. The crossing is marked by massive towers, and narrow stair turrets give access to the galleries. Outside, a baroque garden lies to the west, and the Innerste river borders the hill to the east. The hilltop offers views over Hildesheim’s rooftops and the river valley below.