St Michael's Church in Hildesheim - From an assignment to an agenda

(St. Michael in Hildesheim - ein Auftrag wird zum Programm)

St Michael's church in Hildesheim with its medieval interior decoration is world famous as a pinnacle of Ottonian architecture. By including it in the World Heritage List, UNESCO entrusted all of humanity with its preservation.
The Hornemann Institute has produced a film which documents two recent, spectacular conservation-restoration projects. One of these is devoted to the ceiling of the church, which is a gem of Romanesque monumental painting. Within the other project, specialists from different lines of specialization dedicate themselves to rescuing the 1000-year-old cloister. The pictures provide unique insights into the proceedings of conservators-restorers. They show how they nowadays proceed in a way which may almost be referred to as "forensic". While working for the preservation of these unique treasures, conservators-restorers discover facts which make these works of art appear in a new light.

The film was produced in the course of the exhibition
The cloister of St Michael's in Hildesheim - A millennium of cultural history in stone
Hildesheim, 1 July 2000 to 2 October 2000
Shooting: Sabine Kuse and Gerrick Rossel
Cut: Regine Gröhl
Speaker: Harald Nikelsky
Cutting-room: University of Hildesheim

The ceiling of St Michael's
Text: Maren Christine Härtel, M.A.; Dr. Detlev Gradesmann, with the assistance of Christina Achhammer and Elke Behrens (Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege = Regional Conservation Office in Lower Saxony)

The cloister of St Michael's - preserved for posterity
Text: Sabine Kuse, Stefanie Lindemeier (Hornemann Institute)

The documentary on the wooden ceiling has been financially sponsored by the Wenger Stiftung.

The video is only available in German.