The St Andreas Church is the principal Lutheran

Evangelical Church in Germany

The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...

 church of Hildesheim

Hildesheim

Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the district of Hildesheim, about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste river, which is a small tributary of the Leine river...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, not to be confounded with the Catholic Hildesheim Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral, Hildesheim

St. Mary's Cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, is an important medieval Catholic cathedral, that has been on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list since 1985....

. Its tower is 114.5 metres (375.7 ft) tall, making it the tallest church tower in Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

; it is accessible (364 steps) and offers a panoramic view of both the city and surrounding countryside.

History

The earliest church building on the Treibeinsel named for the Apostle Andreas (Andrew) was a simple pre-romanesque chapel, which already existed at the death of Bishop Bernward

Bernward of Hildesheim

Saint Bern[w]ard was the Bishop of Hildesheim from 993 until his death in 1022.Bernward came from a Saxon noble family and studied at the cathedral school of Hildesheim...

 in 1022. Bishop Godehard was brought here after his death in 1038 so the people could mourn.

During the romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 period, the center of the market and workshops was relocated from the swampy lowlands between Domburg

St. Mary's Cathedral, Hildesheim

St. Mary's Cathedral in Hildesheim, Germany, is an important medieval Catholic cathedral, that has been on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list since 1985....

 and Michaeliskriche

St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim

The Church of St. Michael in Hildesheim, Germany, is an early-Romanesque church. It has been on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list since 1985.-History:...

 ("Old Market") to near St. Andreas. The chapel was subsequently replaced with a romanesque church with a strong westwork

Westwork

A westwork is the monumental, west-facing entrance section of a Carolingian, Ottonian, or Romanesque church. The exterior consists of multiple stories between two towers. The interior includes an entrance vestibule, a chapel, and a series of galleries overlooking the nave...

.

The building of the gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 church, in the basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

 style and romanesque westwork, was begun at the end of the fourteenth century, the choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 in 1389, the northern nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 in 1404, and the tower in 1503. By 1504, the nave with its side altars was finished and all that remained to be completed was the tower. This was only done in 1883-1890, when the tower reached its current height. The interior, with the quire

Quire (architecture)

Architecturally, the choir is the area of a church or cathedral, usually in the western part of the chancel between the nave and the sanctuary . The choir is occasionally located in the eastern part of the nave...

 and the radiating side chapels to the east, was modeled after the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 cathedrals.

Like market churches in many other German dioceses, St. Andreas represented bourgeois self-confidence in the High Middle Ages

High Middle Ages

The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....

 in comparison to the lordship of the Bishops, manifested in the cathedral. During the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, this old question of authority was combined with the religious question. Consequently, in 1542, St. Andreas became the first church in Hildesheim to support Lutheranism

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

; it was also there where Johannes Bugenhagen initiated the new church order. This is remembered in the 1995 Brunnen Memorial by Ulrich Henn, which is located in the southern of forecourt the church.
The church burned down during the Second World War on 22 March 1945

Bombing of Hildesheim in World War II

The German city of Hildesheim, ca. 30 kilometres south of Hanover was target of several Allied air raids in 1945.-Hildesheim during World War II:In 1939, Hildesheim had about 72,000 inhabitants...

, and only the ruined outer wall remained standing. The church had already been damaged on 22 February and 3 March 1945. From 1956-1965, St. Andreas was completely rebuilt as an almost exact copy of the original. Opposite the church, the Upended Sugarloaf

Upended Sugarloaf, Hildesheim

The Upended Sugarloaf is an iconic half-timbered house in the city of Hildesheim in the federal state of Lower Saxony in Germany.- History and architecture :...

, a famous half timbered-house with a very unusual shape, was rebuilt in 2009/2010.

Organ

The basilica houses what is thought to be the largest organ in Northern Germany, created by the Beckerath

Rudolf von Beckerath

Rudolf von Beckerath was a German master organ builder. He was born in Munich, but grew up in Hamburg, where his parents moved the year he was born. He initially pursued an interest in mechanical engineering...

 Company . It has 63 registers and 4734 pipes, which fill the church with an unusually loud volume of sound. Additionally, it is regarded as one of the most beautiful organs in the region. Organ and choir concerts are regularly held at the church.

Bells

In the tower hand four bells from 1725, 1738, 1632, and 1963:

1. 1963: 6.5 t
   Tonne
   The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
   
    2.15 m diameter
2. 1632: 3.0 t 1.75 m diameter
3. 1738: 1.5 t 1.36 m diameter
4. 1725: 1.3 t 1.22 m diameter

Measurements

The church's dimensions are remarkable. They attest to the prosperity and self-confidence of the Hildesheim citizens. St. Andreas is with its 114.5 m tower one of the tallest churches of the world.

Length: 80 m

Width: 35 m

Height: 27 m

Tower: 114.5 m

External links

St. Andreaskirche