The Church of St. Michael (German: Michaeliskirche) is an early-Romanesque church located in Hildesheim, Germany. It has been on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list since 1985 due to the before mentioned early-Romanesque architecture and art found within such as the Tree of Jesse and the now relocated Bernward Doors.
Following the Protestant reformation, St. Michael's became a shared church, with the majority of the structure being Lutheran and the crypt Roman Catholic.
The Ratmann Sacramentary is an illuminated liturgical manuscript, which was produced in 1159 by a monk-priest named Ratmann and given to the cloister of St. Michael's in Hildesheim for the high altar.
Ratmann is probably the same as the Ratmann who appears in a deed of 1178 as the abbot of the cloister. The sacramentary is richly decorated, including a miniature, which shows Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim, the founder of the cloister, receiving the sacramentary from Ratmann, alongside the Archangel Michael (the patron of the cloister). Bernward was not canonised until well after the production of the sacramentary, but a provincial synod in Erfurt had permitted local veneration of him in 1150.
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.
The Bernward Column (German: Bernwardssäule) also known as the Christ Column (German: Christussäule) is a bronze column, made c. 1020 for St. Michael's Church in Hildesheim, Germany, and regarded as a masterpiece of Ottonian art. It was commissioned by Bernward, the thirteenth bishop of Hildesheim in 1020, and made at the same time. It depicts images from the life of Jesus, arranged in a helix similar to Trajan's Column: it was originally topped with a cross or crucifix. During the 19th century, it was moved to a courtyard and later to Hildesheim Cathedral. During the restoration of the cathedral from 2010 to 2014, it was moved back to its original location in St. Michael's, but was returned to the Cathedral in August 2014.
A crypt (from Ancient Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) crypta 'vault') is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics.
Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a church, such as at the Abbey of Saint-Germain en Auxerre, but were later located beneath chancel, naves and transepts as well. Occasionally churches were raised high to accommodate a crypt at the ground level, such as St Michael's Church in Hildesheim, Germany.
Ottonian architecture is an architectural style which evolved during the reign of Emperor Otto the Great. The style was found in Germany and lasted from the mid 10th century until the mid 11th century.