Bernward Column

Hildesheim Cathedral (German: Hildesheimer Dom), officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary (German: Hohe Domkirche St. Mariä Himmelfahrt) or simply St. Mary's Cathedral (German: Mariendom), is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral in the city centre of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany, that serves as the seat of the Diocese of Hildesheim. The cathedral has been on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list since 1985, together with the nearby St. Michael's Church because of its unique art and outstanding Romanesque architecture.The cathedral church was built between 1010 and 1020 in the Romanesque style. It follows a symmetrical plan with two apses, that is characteristic of Ottonian Romanesque architecture in Old Saxony. The cathedral's treasures include world-famous artworks, bronze works from the time of Bishop Bernward, Bernward Doors and Bernward Column, as well as two of the four notable Romanesque wheel chandeliers: the Hezilo chandelier and the Azelin chandelier. After renovations and extensions in the 11th, 12th and 14th centuries, the cathedral was completely destroyed during an air raid on 22 March 1945 and rebuilt from 1950 to 1960. A thorough renovation of the cathedral began in 2010, including technical and conservation measures. Some of the cathedral's treasures have been shown further afield, including at an exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The cathedral was reopened on 15 August 2014.

The Thousand-year Rose (German: Tausendjähriger Rosenstock, literally: Thousand-year-old Rosebush), also known as the Rose of Hildesheim, grows on the apse of the Hildesheim Cathedral, a Catholic cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, that is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. The cathedral and the adjacent St. Michael's Church have been on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 1985.The rose that climbs on the wall of the cathedral's apse is believed to be the oldest living rose in the world. A wild dog rose (Rosa canina), it grows against the eastern apse of the cathedral, which is around 21 m (69 ft) high and 9 m (30 ft) wide. The rose bush reaches a height of around 10 m (33 ft) and documentation verifies its age at around 700 years. Slight variations arise in the tale of the establishment of the diocese by King Louis the Pious at Hildesheim in 815 but the rose bush is a common theme in all versions. The cathedral was destroyed by Allied bombers in 1945 during the Second World War, but the roots of the rose bush survived and it blossomed again among the ruins. According to legend, while the rose bush flourishes, Hildesheim will prosper.A poem about the rose was published in 1896. In the early twentieth century, after visiting the cathedral and seeing the rose, author Mabel Wagnalls was inspired to write a book, which went on to form the basis of a silent film.

The Hildesheim Cathedral Museum (German: Dommuseum Hildesheim) is the treasury and diocesan museum of Hildesheim, which illustrates over a thousand years of art and church history in Lower Saxony. It is located in historic rooms off the southern transept of the Hildesheim Cathedral. During the cathedral renovations of 2010, the nearby church of St Antonius and part of the cathedral cloisters were converted into display rooms for the museum. The Hildesheim cathedral treasury is a collection of liturgical vessels, vestments, reliquaries, books and artworks of the highest quality, which has developed over the centuries. The Hildesheim Reliquary of Mary dates back to the beginning of the diocese and is connected to the cathedral's foundation story. Especially valuable pieces, including the gem-studded Cross of Bernward, the Bernward gospels, and the Ringelheim cross, were created during the prosperity of the diocese under Bishop Bernward († 1022), while the Ratmann Sacramentary was created in 1159 in connection with the beginning of his veneration as a saint. A bust reliquary and an arm reliquary of St Bernward date from the thirteenth century. From the baroque period comes magnificent monstrances and other gold and silver artworks. Many of these treasures are used to this day on important occasions in the cathedral calendar. The Gobelins Artemisia came into the possession of the cathedral in 1727. It is being restored until 2015 and will have its own room in the reopened museum. The efforts of Bishop Eduard Jakob Wedekin († 1870) converted the cathedral museum into a diocesan museum, containing religious artworks of the whole diocese and beyond. In particular he brought Gothic works from the parishes and his private collection into the cathedral treasury and organised their proper storage and display.

The Diocese of Hildesheim (Latin: Dioecesis Hildesiensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. Founded in 815 as a missionary diocese by King Louis the Pious, his son Louis the German appointed the famous former archbishop of Rheims, Ebbo, as bishop. The modern Diocese of Hildesheim presently covers those parts of the state of Lower Saxony that are east of the River Weser, northern neighborhoods in Bremen, and the city of Bremerhaven. The current bishop is Heiner Wilmer who was appointed in 2018. The diocese is a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Hamburg since 1994. Originally Hildesheim was suffragan to Mainz until 1805. Then it was an exempt diocese until 1930, before it was part of the Middle German Ecclesiastical Province with Paderborn Archdiocese as metropolitan between 1930 and 1994.

The Inkpot Madonna (German: Tintenfassmadonna) is a late-Gothic sculpture of Mary in the Hildesheim Cathedral, a building on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list since 1985, which is consecrated to the Assumption of Mary. The coloured life-size wooden statue was created around 1430, probably in Lower Saxony, and has the hallmarks of the international Gothic style: a tender face, loose posture and flowing drapery.

The Bernward Doors (German: Bernwardstür) are the two leaves of a pair of Ottonian or Romanesque bronze doors, made c. 1015 for Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany. They were commissioned by Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim (938–1022). The doors show relief images from the Bible, scenes from the Book of Genesis on the left door and from the life of Jesus on the right door. They are considered a masterpiece of Ottonian art, and feature the oldest known monumental image cycle in German sculpture, and also the oldest cycle of images cast in metal in Germany.

The Hezilo chandelier (German: Heziloleuchter) is an 11th-century Romanesque wheel chandelier. It is part of the treasures of the Hildesheim Cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, which has been a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site since 1985. The chandelier was most likely commissioned by Bishop Hezilo of Hildesheim, who rebuilt the cathedral after a fire. He probably also influenced the program of imagery and inscriptions. It is the largest of four extant wheel chandeliers of the period; the others surviving examples are the Azelin chandelier (also in Hildesheim), the Barbarossa chandelier in the Aachen Cathedral, and the Hartwig chandelier in the Abbey of Comburg. During the restoration of the cathedral (from 2010 to 2014), the chandelier was installed in St. Godehard, a basilica since 1963 and the temporary bishop's seat. After the restoration of the cathedral, which reopened on 15 August 2014, it was returned to its original location in the cathedral's nave.

The Azelin chandelier 1018 A.D (German: Azelinleuchter) is a Romanesque wheel chandelier, made in the 11th century for the Hildesheim Cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site since 1985. It is the oldest of four extant wheel chandeliers from that period, along with the Hezilo chandelier, also in Hildesheim, the Barbarossa chandelier in the Aachen Cathedral, and the Hartwig chandelier in the Abbey of Comburg. It was believed to be donated by Bishop Azelin, however his predecessor Thietmar is more likely to be the patron. Therefore, the chandelier is also called the Thietmar chandelier (Thietmarleuchter).

The Bernward Monument (German: Bernwardsdenkmal) is a larger-than-life-sized bronze statue of Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim in the Domhof in Hildesheim. It was made by Ferdinand Hartzer in 1893 for the nine hundredth anniversary of St. Bernward's enthronement as Bishop of Hildesheim. On 7 September 2011, in the course of the renovations of Hildesheim Cathedral it was temporarily relocated to the garden of house 24, Domhof.

Hildesheim Charterhouse (German: Kartause Hildesheim, Kartause Marienkloster; Latin: Domus Claustri Beatae Mariae) is a former Carthusian monastery or charterhouse in Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Hildesheim (German: [ˈhɪldəsˌhaɪm] ; Low German: Hilmessen or Hilmssen; Latin: Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km (19 mi) southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Leine River. The Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious founded the Bishopric of Hildesheim in 815 and created the first settlement with a chapel on the so-called Domhügel. Hildesheim is situated on the north–south Autobahn 7, and hence is connected with Hamburg in the north and Austria in the south. With the Hildesheim Cathedral and the St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. In 2015 the city and the diocese celebrated their 1200th anniversary.

The Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim is an archaeological museum in Hildesheim, Germany. Mostly dedicated to ancient Egyptian and ancient Peruvian art, the museum also includes the second largest collection of Chinese porcelain in Europe. Furthermore, the museum owns collections of natural history, ethnology, applied arts, drawings and prints, local history and arts, as well as archeology. Apart from the permanent exhibitions, the museum hosts temporary exhibitions of other archaeological and contemporary topics. In 2000, the old building, originally built in the 1950s, was replaced by a new building, significantly increasing the space available for exhibitions. The current museum is the result of the union of the Roemer Museum, founded in 1844 (and named after one of the founders, Herrmann Roemer), and the Pelizaeus Museum, established in 1911, that had housed the private collection of Egyptian antiques of Wilhelm Pelizaeus.