Contemporary appearances and their history - Medieval Churches in Lower Saxony

This exhibition focused on the various refashionings and restorations which have been applied to these churches and to their fitments in the course of the last two centuries.

Historical illustrations conveyed to the visitors an accurate impression of the eventful past of each individual church building, allowing them to relate to the historical flux of taste in art. The monuments appeared in a new light.

The presentation comprised the former monastery churches St. Godehard and St. Michael in Hildesheim, the Brunswick Cathedral, the collegiate church in Koenigslutter, the old church in Idensen, the former monastery church in Loccum and the nuns' choir of the Wienhausen convent. The exhibition was based on a research project, carried out by students of conservation at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/ Holzminden/ Goettingen under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ursula Schädler-Saub.

An accompanying book, amply illustrated, has been published within the series of publications by the Hornemann Institute.

During the conference "Restoring the restorations?", which the Hornemann Institute organized in cooperation with the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/ Holzminden/ Goettingen in May 2001, the resulting questions concerning the maintenance of monuments and sites were discussed by international experts.

Organizer: Hornemann Institute

Places:

• during EXPO 2000 (May - September 2000) in the respective churches, as a subdivided presentation
• during the "Romanesque Year 2001" in St. Godehard's Basilica in Hildesheim, as a comprehensive exhibition of all objects