St. Michael's Church
A little bit of the history of the church, from the brochure :)
Historical background of the Church of St. Michael's Church in Hildesheim
From 993 to 1022 Bernward was bishop of Hildesheim. He founded a Benedictine monastery on Michael's Hill in 996. Emperor Otto III, whose tutor Bernward had been, presented him with a splinter from the Cross of Christ on the occasion of his consecration. In 1010 the foundations of St. Michael's Church were laid, in 1022 Bernward consecrated the church "in honour of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ and our most holy Mother, the eternal Virgin Mary, and the beneficial wood from the venerable and life - giving Cross, under the special protection of the holy Archangel Michael and all the Celestial Hosts". The centre was the Altar of the Holy Cross and its so - called Bern ward - Cross , which contained the so-called Relic of the True Cross (now in the museum of the Catholic Cathedral). After his death in 1022 Bernward was interred in the crypt. In the middle of the 12th century, even before his canonization in 1192, extensive work began in order to redecorate the church (choir of angels screens, stucco figures, replacement of older capitals, painted wooden ceiling).
In 1542 St. Michael's became a Protestant parish church. The Benedictine monastery, however, remained. The monks continued their horary prayers in the crypt, which remains Catholic to this day. Thus St. Michael's is one of 64 so-called 'simultaneous' churches, with Protestants and Catholics sharing one church. In the course of secularization the monastery was dissolved in 1803. The church was closed and amongst other things served as a store for hay and straw, later as a skittle alley and a foyer for the patients of the neighbouring mental institution, installed in the former monastery in 1827. In 1844 the church was returned to the Protestant parish; however the building was in a poor state and kept deteriorating. In the years 1855 to 1857 and 1907 to 1910 comprehensive renovations saved St. Michael's from being demolished completely. In 1943 a training corps of the SS moved into the monastery, after 470 patients had been transported to various extermination camps and murdered there.
During the devastating bombing raid on Hildesheim (March 22, 1945) the church burnt down completely. Between 1942 and 1943 the wooden ceiling had been dismantled and moved out of town and the one remaining choir of angels screen had been walled in. As early as 1945 the reconstruction was begun and completed in 1960. It closely followed the original design of Bishop Bernward.
The exterior
St. Michael's is a basilica, the pattern being two transepts forming a (double) cross each, with a choir (east and west) each. Two massive towers crown the intersections, where nave and transepts intersect. The transepts end in four round towers (with stairs).
The west choir covering the crypt protrudes further than the east choir.
The interior
It is significant that the ground plan for St. Michael's is based on 3x3 squares (three each for the nave and the two transepts). The number three stands for the Holy Trinity.
During the Middle Ages the number nine was used to represent the number of the hierarchical order of angels. The eight choirs, situated at the end of each transept, contained altars devoted to angels; a ninth altar (for the archangel Michael) was situated on the ambulatory in the west. The number of pillars (twelve) in the nave alludes to the twelve apostles as the supporting pillars of the parish. Further use of numbers as symbols can be found in many details.
The painted wooden ceiling
The most significant work of art in St. Michael's Church is the picture on the ceiling (dating back to the first half of the 13th century). It shows the genealogical tree of Christ (Jesseboom - tree of Jesse - Isaiah, father of King David). The main panels as viewed from west to east show: Adam and Eve (Paradise), Jesse, Kings David, Solomon, Ezekiel and Joshua, with Mary and Christ on the throne making up the finale. The rectangles depict prophets, the round fields show Jesu's ancestors. The first panel also shows symbolic representations of the rivers of paradise. The Archangels relate to the picture of Christ. The four Evangelists and their symbols can be seen in the corner fields.
Also in this church there is a baptismal font.
A man who was taking pictures of this font told me that it is very old. According to him it dates back to the year 1618, because this date is engraved on it.
He told me that the one I saw yesterday, in the St. Mary's Cathedral, is even older.
Unlike the one present in the St. Mary's Cathedral, this baptismal font is open (the lid is raised) and allows to see the little internal basin for the water. Question is: how did they manage to lift that heavy lid in the past ???
Today the lid is suspended above the baptismal font and connected to the ceiling with a (very) long metal chain.
The crypt
Bernward's tomb is located in the western crypt with its barrel-vaulted ceiling. The original plain stone coffin is covered with a lid richly decorated with sculptures (nine an gels among flames). Above the tomb there is a slab, used as the altar today, with a cross and symbolic presentations (lamb of God, symbols of the Evangelists).
The portals connecting the Protestant church with the Catholic crypt were closed during the course the Reformation. It was in 1978 that first the southern and in 2006 that also the northern door was reopened so that church and crypt can be experienced as a whole once again.
The cloister
The only remaining wing of the ambulatory dating from the 13th century can only be seen from the outside (to be entered from the east of the church via the inner court).
