St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim
Type:
Churches,
Monasteries
Date:
Dedicated in 1022; several building campaigns in subsequent centuries
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Germany
Description:
Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (r. 993–1022) was an Ottonian patron of the arts and founder of the monastery of St. Michael. The foundation document for the monastery was issued in 1010 and the church dedicated to the Archangel Michael was consecrated in 1022. Bernward was buried in the crypt that same year. One of Bernward's wills, written in 1019, describes how he saw his founding of the new church in the tradition of the biblical King Solomon building the Temple. According to the same will, Bernward hoped achieve divine grace through the "architecture of merit" (architectura meritorum). The church's hilltop position and towers may also have been a visual reference to the Heavenly Jerusalem described in the Apocalypse. Bernward's donations to the church also include monumental bronze doors and a triumphal column.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
6
Repository and Online Resources:
• St. Michael's Church is on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons
