Hildesheim: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 25 km southeast of Hannover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small affluent of the Leine river. Population: 106,100 (1999).

Geography and Location

Aerial map

History

The town became in 815 a bishopric. Four centuries the clergy ruled Hildesheim, before a town hall was built and the citizens gained some influence. In 1367 Hildesheim became a member of the Hanseatic League.

The city was heavily damaged by air raids in 1945. The centre, which had retained its medieval character until then, ceased to exist. It was rebuilt in a completely different style, and concrete houses took the place of the destroyed buildings. In the late 1970s the reconstruction of the historic centre began: The concrete buildings were torn down and replaced by copies of the old buildings.

Also in the 1970s, the University of Hildesheim was founded.

The cathedral of Hildesheim is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built in the 9th century, but damaged in 1945; it was reconstructed soon after the war. The roman St. Michaelis church build in 1010 to 1022 is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A rose tree entwines itself around the apsis, claimed to have been planted simultaneously with the foundation of the church. It was also destroyed in 1945, but the roots survived and began to sprout anew.

• Thousand-Year-Old Rosebush: 1,000 years old. That's the age the world's oldest living rose is thought to be. Today it continues to flourish on the wall of the Hildesheim Cathedral.
• Cathedral (UNESCO World Heritage Site) - with ancient bronze doors (Bernwards door) (c. 1015)
• St. Michaels church (UNESCO World Heritage Site) - one of the most beautiful early romanic churches in Germany and a unique example of ottonic architecture
• Knochenhaueramtshaus (butchers guild house): most beautiful and finest specimen of a wooden building of the world
• Historical market place: the most beautiful market place in the world
• St. Andreas church: highest church steeple of Lower Saxony
• The Roemer- and Pelizaeus-Museum: significant collections from the ancient Egypt and Peru and spectacular special exhibitions organized every year
• Museum of the Cathedral: Cathedral Treasure, also an UNESCO-cultural heritage
• Theatre: very versatile and offers opera, operetta and musicals, drama, ballet and concerts
• Rose Route: all other places of interest in Hildesheim: e.g. the charming medieval-appearing half-timbered houses and the old Jewish quarter

Recommended Day Trips:

• Castle Marienburg (10 miles/ 15 km): a neo-gothic-romantic medieval fairy tale castle (owned by Prince Ernst August of Hanover and Princess Caroline of Monaco)
• Castle Hämelschenburg (40 miles/ 60 km): medieval castle of Teutonic Knights
• Hamelin (30 miles/ 50 km): the beautiful town is famous for the folk tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin

• M'era Luna Festival, Europe's most important event of the gothic and wave scene

Notable multinational corporations - besides many strong medium-sized companies - in Hildesheim are Blaupunkt, Bosch, Krupp, Thyssen, Fairshild, Phoenix and Coca-Cola.

Hildesheim has a very good traffic infrastructure: it is a regional hub for interstate roads and railroad (high speed railroad station), is connected to the motorway (Autobahn), has a harbor at the artificial waterway Mittellandkanal and an airport.

• holy St. Godehard aka St. Gotthard: bishop of Hildesheim
• holy St. Bernward: bishop of Hildesheim
• Didrik Pining: discovered America in 1473 - 20 years before Christopher Columbus
• Sir Hans Adolf Krebs: Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1953
• Oskar Schindler: saved his Jewish workers from the Holocaust, see: Schindler's List
• Thomas Quasthoff: bass-baritone singer
• The twins Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein: Winner of the Academy Awards in 1989 for their movie Balance
• Diane Kruger: Supermodel and actress - Troy with Brad Pitt