Free Walking Tour Hildesheim: Two UNESCO Churches

Two UNESCO churches, a market square rebuilt from old photos and pyramid-age finds from Giza, linked on one 4.0 km walk through Hildesheim.

10 Stops 4.0 km ~55 min walking
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Route map for the Hildesheim walking tour
Stop 1 of 10
820 m·10 min
Hildesheim Cathedral
Head south-east from the cathedral toward the Kehrwiederturm along the old town wall
Hello, welcome to Hildesheim. I'm Alex, and this cathedral preserves a feat cast in bronze more than a thousand years ago.
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This Hildesheim Route at a Glance

Ten stops over 4.0 km, from Hildesheim Cathedral to the Hildesheim Cathedral Museum in the rooms around its cloister, so you finish beside your starting point. Pure walking time is 55 min; with the churches inside, plan about three hours, or a full day with both museums.

The churches, Magdalen Garden and the squares are free. Tickets apply at the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, the Hildesheim Cathedral Museum and the tower of St. Andrew's Church. The GPS route runs free in your browser; the AI Tour Guide is optional.

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This short shows highlights of the route. All 10 stops follow below.

The Route

Walking Map of Hildesheim, Cathedral to Cloister

10 stops 4.0 km 55 min walking
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The 10 stops along this route

  1. Hildesheim Cathedral, stop 1 on the self-guided walking tour
    1Hildesheim Cathedral
  2. Kehrwiederturm in Hildesheim, stop 2 on the self-guided walking tour
    2Kehrwiederturm
  3. Werner House in Hildesheim, stop 3 on the self-guided walking tour
    3Werner House
  4. Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum in Hildesheim, stop 4 on the self-guided walking tour
    4Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum
  5. Magdalen Garden in Hildesheim, stop 5 on the self-guided walking tour
    5Magdalen Garden
  6. St. Michael's Church in Hildesheim, stop 6 on the self-guided walking tour
    6St. Michael's Church
  7. Hildesheim Market Square, stop 7 on the self-guided walking tour
    7Hildesheim Market Square
  8. Umgestülpter Zuckerhut in Hildesheim, stop 8 on the self-guided walking tour
    8Umgestülpter Zuckerhut
  9. St. Andrew's Church in Hildesheim, stop 9 on the self-guided walking tour
    9St. Andrew's Church
  10. Hildesheim Cathedral Museum, stop 10 on the self-guided walking tour
    10Hildesheim Cathedral Museum
  11. That's the full route.

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Your Hildesheim Walking Tour, Stop by Stop from Dom to Treasury

  1. 1

    Hildesheim Cathedral

    Hildesheim Cathedral, stop 1 on the self-guided walking tour

    Begin where Hildesheim itself began. After Louis the Pious founded the diocese in 815, a Chapel of St. Mary rose on the spot where the apse stands today, and Bishop Gunthar added a small basilica with two round towers just south of it, dedicated to Saint Cecilia. That was the first cathedral, and the first four bishops were buried there. Only traces of its foundations remain.

    The church in front of you goes back to the years between 1010 and 1020. Notice the plan: an apse at both ends, a symmetrical layout typical of Ottonian Romanesque building in Old Saxony. Together with St. Michael's Church it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. It is also a rebuild. The air raid of 22 March 1945 destroyed the cathedral completely; it was reconstructed from 1950 to 1960, and after a thorough renovation that began in 2010 it reopened on 15 August 2014.

    Going in costs nothing and is worth it for everyone. Inside stand the bronzes from the time of Bishop Bernward, the Bernward Doors and the Bernward Column. Then look up: the Hezilo and Azelin chandeliers are two of the four notable Romanesque wheel chandeliers. Some of these pieces have travelled as far as an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

    Keep the name Bernward in mind; he returns at St. Michael's Church and in the treasury at the end of the walk. From here it is 820 m, about 12 minutes, to the last tower of the old town walls.

    Local name
    Hildesheimer Dom
    Hours
    Mon–Fri 10:00–17:30, Sat 10:00–16:00, Sun 12:00–17:30
    Price
    Free
  2. 2

    Kehrwiederturm

    Kehrwiederturm in Hildesheim, stop 2 on the self-guided walking tour

    This tower of rubble stone, 30 m high, is the last of the four towers that once guarded Hildesheim's town fortifications. It was first called Honser Tor, after the nearby village of Hohnsen; the name Kehrwiederturm, roughly the come back tower, took hold around 1600. When it was built is disputed: some give 1456, others around 1300.

    Legend says a noblewoman lost in the woods outside the walls found her way home by following the sound of its bell. The bell was real. It rang to call townspeople back inside before the gates closed, and it later moved to the nearby Lambertikirche. A plainer explanation for the name points to the almost right-angled bend the rampart makes below the tower.

    Since its last renovation in 1982 the Kunstverein Hildesheim has used the tower as its home and exhibition space, and the registry office holds weddings inside. The interior is currently closed between exhibitions, so enjoy it from outside. Artists have painted it in so many versions that it became known well beyond the city.

    Werner House is 530 m away, about 7 minutes. On the way you pass the Waffenschmiedehaus.

    Hours
    Wed 18:00–21:00, Sat–Sun 14:00–18:00 during exhibitions (currently closed between exhibitions)
    Price
    5 EUR regular, 3 EUR reduced
  3. 3

    Werner House

    Werner House in Hildesheim, stop 3 on the self-guided walking tour

    Stand at the corner of Hinterer Brühl and Godehardiplatz and take in this three storey Renaissance half-timbered house from 1606. It is named after its builder, Philip Werner, secretary to the bishop, and it shows how a well-off townsman built in Hildesheim.

    The façade is the reason to stop. It carries 29 carved panels in all, so take a moment to find them. Four parapet images stand for Hope, Faith, Charity and Patience.

    The house came through the Thirty Years' War unharmed. The raid of 22 March 1945 left it with extensive fire damage, all repaired by 1948, and major renovations followed in 1974 and 2011. Film fans may recognise the view: scenes of the 1955 film Du mein stilles Tal were shot in front of the house, looking into Hinterer Brühl.

    It is a private home, so admire it from the street. The Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum is 670 m on, about 9 minutes.

    Local name
    Wernersches Haus
    Hours
    Exterior view accessible 24/7 from the public street (private property, no public interior access)
    Price
    Free (historic half-timbered house; admired from the street, no public interior admission)
  4. 4

    Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum

    Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum in Hildesheim, stop 4 on the self-guided walking tour

    Here Hildesheim reaches all the way to Giza. The museum is known worldwide for its ancient Egyptian collection of about 9,000 objects spanning more than 5,000 years, from prehistory into Roman and Christian Egypt. Its heart is the Old Kingdom, the pyramid age, with finds almost entirely from the excavations at the pyramid cemetery of Giza. Alongside Cairo and Boston, it is one of the key places to study that era.

    Two men gave the museum its name. Hermann Roemer, lawyer, senator and geologist, counts as its founder: an association set it up in 1844, first in the converted Martinikirche and the orphanage. Wilhelm Pelizaeus, a merchant, banker and consul who lived in Cairo for about forty years, gave his collection of Egyptian finds to his home town in 1907, and the Pelizaeus Museum opened on 29 July 1911.

    Beyond the Old Kingdom, look for the Ramesside stelae of the 13th century BC, which show the veneration of Ramses II in the form of his statues, the cult chapel of the Osiris baboon from Tuna el-Gebel from around 300 BC, and the sarcophagus lid of Nakhtnebef. The museum also holds an ancient Peru collection, the second largest collection of Chinese porcelain in Europe, which came from the estate of Ernst Ohlmer in 1927, and a natural history collection of more than 300,000 objects.

    If you pick one paid stop on this walk and antiquity interests you, make it this one, and give it about 90 minutes. Magdalen Garden is 480 m away, about 7 minutes.

    Hours
    Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00, Mon closed
    Price
    12.50 EUR adults, 3.50 EUR children (6-17 years)
  5. 5

    Magdalen Garden

    Magdalen Garden in Hildesheim, stop 5 on the self-guided walking tour

    After the museum, this Baroque park of about six acres is a calm change of pace, and one of the oldest historic parks in Lower Saxony. The nuns of the Magdalen convent, founded in 1224, grew medicinal herbs and vegetables here, and a small hill in the north served as their vineyard. The convent church, St. Magdalena's, lies to the south of the park.

    Between 1720 and 1725 the convent garden was enlarged into an ornamental Baroque garden with a regular grid of paths. Then came the decline: the convent was dissolved in 1810, became an asylum in 1827, and the garden grew wild behind closed gates. Bombs devastated it on 22 March 1945.

    What you walk through today is a careful restoration completed in summer 2004. Using old paintings and maps, gardeners found the original dead straight paths still preserved under the turf. They planted more than 1,500 roses and 198 vines on the old vineyard hill. Eight squares make up the garden: four form a rose garden with a pavilion of climbing roses, one is a herb garden, and more than 100 kinds of trees and shrubs grow here. The main path, 110 m long, divides it into an eastern and a western half. On the west side you can see a well-preserved part of the medieval moat and rampart.

    Entry is free. On its east side the garden opens onto Michaelisplatz; St. Michael's Church is 230 m away, about 3 minutes.

    Hours
    Apr–Sep daily 08:00–20:00, Oct–Mar daily 09:00–17:00
    Price
    Free
  6. 6

    St. Michael's Church

    St. Michael's Church in Hildesheim, stop 6 on the self-guided walking tour

    Bishop Bernward of Hildesheim, in office from 996 until 1022, chose a hill associated with the archangel Michael, half a kilometre north of the town walls of his day, for a Benedictine monastery. Building began in 1010, and Bernward dedicated the unfinished church on Michael's feast day, 29 September 1022, only weeks before his death.

    This was a bishop with his hands in the work. Bernward had trained in bronze casting, painting and metalwork, skills he sharpened as private tutor to Otto III, and the Romanesque style he absorbed with Otto in Rome shows throughout the church. His successor Godehard finished it in 1031 and consecrated it again on 29 September of that year. After the completion in 1033, Godehard moved Bernward's remains into the crypt.

    St. Michael's has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985 for its early Romanesque architecture and its art, including the Tree of Jesse; the Bernward Doors you saw at the cathedral are part of the same story. Notice that the church faces south towards the town, its south flank acting as a kind of façade. Since the Reformation it has been a shared church: most of the building is Lutheran, the crypt Roman Catholic.

    Go inside, it is free, and anyone who enjoyed the cathedral should not skip it. The Market Square is 620 m away, about 9 minutes.

    Hours
    Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00, Sun & holidays 12:00–18:00
    Price
    Free
  7. 7

    Hildesheim Market Square

    Hildesheim Market Square, stop 7 on the self-guided walking tour

    Hildesheim was founded in 815 as a bishopric near a ford of the river Innerste, and King Otto III granted market rights in 983. The first market was held in a street still called Old Market, then around the church of St. Andreas. This larger square was laid out at the beginning of the 13th century, when about 5,000 people lived in the town; by the time Hildesheim gained city rights in 1249 it was one of the biggest cities in northern Germany.

    Work on the City Hall began in 1268, and fine half-timbered houses followed around the square. The tallest and most famous was the Butchers' Guild Hall.

    On 22 March 1945 incendiary bombs destroyed the half-timbered houses, and the sandstone City Hall and Temple House, a patrician house from the 14th century, were badly damaged. Only those two were rebuilt in their original style. In the 1950s the lost houses gave way to flat roofed concrete buildings, one used by the municipal savings bank, and a hotel built from 1962 to 1964 took the place of the guild hall.

    The turn came in the early 1980s: the hotel went bankrupt, the savings bank needed more space, and the city council decided to tear down the concrete and rebuild the historic square. Work began on the west side in 1983. Many residents donated money and brought old photos and drawings, and in some cases the original building plans survived. So as you look around, you are seeing a square its citizens rebuilt from memory. The Umgestülpter Zuckerhut is only 150 m away, about 2 minutes.

    Local name
    Historischer Marktplatz
    Hours
    24/7
    Price
    Free
  8. 8

    Umgestülpter Zuckerhut

    Umgestülpter Zuckerhut in Hildesheim, stop 8 on the self-guided walking tour

    On Andreasplatz stands this small half-timbered house with a name that makes people smile: Umgestülpter Zuckerhut means upturned sugarloaf. After the grand façades of the Market Square, it shows the modest scale of an ordinary town house.

    You can look at it from the square at any hour, and its ground floor is a café, so it doubles as a place to sit down for a moment. St. Andrew's Church is just 60 m away, about 1 minute.

    Hours
    Exterior view accessible 24/7 from the public square (Andreasplatz; ground floor cafe)
  9. 9

    St. Andrew's Church

    St. Andrew's Church in Hildesheim, stop 9 on the self-guided walking tour

    First, a common mix-up: St. Andreas is Hildesheim's principal Lutheran church, not to be confused with the Catholic cathedral where you started. Its tower rises 114.5 m, the tallest church tower in Lower Saxony and one of the tallest in the world.

    The Gothic basilica with its Romanesque westwork was begun at the end of the 14th century, yet the tower only reached its full height between 1883 and 1890. The church also marks the town's earliest commercial centre: Hildesheim's first market place was laid out around it.

    In 1542 St. Andreas became the first church in Hildesheim to support Lutheranism, and Johannes Bugenhagen introduced the new church order here. After two Romanesque churches built by bishops, this is where the town's Protestant story begins.

    Entry to the church is free. The climb to the viewing platform at 75 m costs extra and is worth it if you want to see the whole walk laid out below you. The Hildesheim Cathedral Museum is 460 m away, about 7 minutes, back beside the cathedral.

    Local name
    St. Andreas
    Hours
    Apr–Sep: Tue–Fri 09:00–18:00, Sat & holidays 09:00–16:00, Sun 12:30–16:00; Oct–Mar: Tue–Sat & holidays 09:00–16:00, Sun 12:30–16:00, Mon closed
    Price
    Free (church entry); tower climb: 5 EUR adults, 3 EUR reduced, 12 EUR family ticket
  10. 10

    Hildesheim Cathedral Museum

    Hildesheim Cathedral Museum, stop 10 on the self-guided walking tour

    You end in the historic rooms around the cathedral cloister, which house the cathedral treasury and the diocesan museum of Hildesheim. The treasury is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the collection covers more than 1,000 years of church history, art and faith in Lower Saxony.

    Look for the Great Golden Madonna, a Romanesque work counted among the oldest Marian figures in Western art, and the Marian reliquary, which goes back to the early days of the diocese and is linked with the founding legend of the cathedral. From Bernward's time come the Bernward Cross set with gems, the Precious Bernward Gospels and the Ringelheim Cross; the Ratmann Sacramentary of 1159 belongs to the beginnings of his veneration as a saint. A bust reliquary and an arm reliquary of St. Bernward date from the 13th century, and Baroque monstrances add gold and silver. Several pieces are still used in the cathedral liturgy on high feast days.

    The Artemisia tapestries came to the cathedral in 1727, were restored until 2015 and now have a hall of their own. Bishop Eduard Jakob Wedekin, who died in 1870, turned the treasury into a diocesan museum by bringing in Gothic works from parishes and his own collection. Between 2010 and 2015 the museum was enlarged and redesigned, taking in the deconsecrated St. Anthony's Church and parts of the cloister, which quadrupled the exhibition space from 200 to 800 square metres.

    Allow about an hour; the museum charges admission, with reduced tickets available. When you step out, the cathedral where you began is right beside you.

    Local name
    Dommuseum Hildesheim
    Hours
    Tue–Sun 11:00–17:00, Mon closed
    Price
    7 EUR adults, 5 EUR reduced, free for under 25
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Press start wherever you are, even hundreds of kilometres from Hildesheim, and the guide begins telling its stories right away. In the city, pick any of the 10 stops to start from: it leads you there, then talks with you the whole route, asking, listening, remembering, and shaping the tour around your answers.

10stops 4.0km 55 minwalking 13languages
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Shorter Ways Through Hildesheim

The route splits neatly into a museum morning and an old town afternoon, so you can walk one half or both.

Bernward's old town in an afternoon

Stops: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

For anyone with half a day who wants the medieval heart: from Magdalen Garden past St. Michael's Church and the Market Square to St. Andrew's Church and the treasury. That is 1,520 m and 22 minutes of walking. Everything is free except the Hildesheim Cathedral Museum and the optional tower climb at St. Andrew's, and the cathedral itself stands right beside the end.

Cathedral to the Egyptians

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4

For a morning with antiquity as the goal: the cathedral, the old town tower and Werner House, then plenty of time at the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum. That is 2,020 m and 28 minutes of walking, and the museum ticket is the only cost.

The whole walk

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

For a full day: all ten stops over 4.0 km and 55 min of walking, with both museums and the tower as you like.

How Long This Hildesheim Tour Takes, With and Without Museums

The legs are short: none takes longer than 12 minutes. Add a proper look inside the cathedral, St. Michael's Church and St. Andrew's Church plus short pauses at the outside stops, and the walk comes to about three hours.

For the full day, add about 90 minutes for the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, an hour for the Hildesheim Cathedral Museum and half an hour for the tower climb. Start at the cathedral at 10:00 on a weekday and you reach the Egyptian collection shortly after 11:00 and the treasury around 15:00, finishing near 16:00. Keep any lunch break short so you still have enough time in the treasury.

The old town half takes 22 minutes of walking, the museum morning 28 minutes; each fits comfortably into half a day with its visits.

Before You Set Off in Hildesheim

  • Start and finish: The recommended start is Hildesheim Cathedral, but you can join at any stop. You finish at the Hildesheim Cathedral Museum around the cathedral cloister, a few paces from where you began.
  • Best day: Plan around the closing days: both museums have a weekly day off, and so does St. Andrew's Church in the winter months. A weekday morning start, once the cathedral has opened, gives you the most room; on Saturdays the cathedral keeps shorter hours.
  • Costs: The walk, the churches, Magdalen Garden and the squares cost nothing. The paid extras are the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, the Hildesheim Cathedral Museum and the tower of St. Andrew's, all with reduced tickets.
Walking tour route map of Hildesheim
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Press start and a voice AI Tour Guide takes it from here: leading the route through Hildesheim, telling the stories, and turning your walk into a real back-and-forth conversation. No app or download is needed; it runs in your browser.

10stops 4.0km 55 minwalking 13languages
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What the AI Tour Guide Adds Between Dom and Market

This walk jumps between centuries: Bernward's bronzes, a square bombed flat and rebuilt from photographs, pyramid finds in a museum founded by a local club. The AI Tour Guide holds that thread as a conversation. It greets you at the cathedral, tells the stories at each place, asks what caught your eye and remembers it further on, and you can interrupt it at any moment, say to ask how a bishop came to cast bronze himself or what daily life looked like for the nuns in the herb garden. The route stays the same; the conversation follows you. You start with 100 free credits, then choose this tour all-inclusive for €19.99 with no time limit, or €5 per hour.

A Real Conversation A voice AI Tour Guide greets you, leads the whole route, and tells the stories and facts as you walk, asking what you want to see and keeping a real conversation going. Not a recording you press play on.
Map Navigation Follow the route on the map and walk at your own pace. You choose where to start and when to move to the next stop.
Ask Anything Curious about a building you pass? Ask your AI Tour Guide on the spot and the conversation carries on.
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Common Questions Before You Walk Hildesheim

Can I do the walk on a Sunday?

Yes, but begin around midday, once the cathedral and the churches have opened. Starting at the cathedral at 12:00 without the museums, you reach St. Andrew's around 14:30.

I only have time for one museum. Which one?

Choose the Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum if ancient Egypt draws you, and the Hildesheim Cathedral Museum if you want to see the treasures of Bernward's era that belong with the two UNESCO churches. The treasury is also free for anyone under 25.

Is the walk good with children?

The legs are short, Magdalen Garden makes a natural break, and the mummies and pyramid finds of the Egyptian collection tend to win over young visitors. Both museums offer cheaper tickets for children.

Can I combine Hildesheim with another city?

Hildesheim is only 28 km from Hanover, so a day in each works well. With more time, Goslar and Brunswick are both a little over 40 km away and have their own walking routes.

Is the tour really free?

Yes. The whole tour is free: the route, the interactive map and the navigation cost you nothing. Only the voice AI Tour Guide is optional and paid: you test it with 100 free credits, then you pay either €5 per hour or €19.99 for this whole tour, with no time limit. Admission to 3 of the 10 stops is not included: Kehrwiederturm, Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum and Hildesheim Cathedral Museum charge their own entry fees.

Do I need to download an app?

No. Everything runs in your phone browser. Open the route and start walking, no download and no sign-up required.

Do I need to book the walking tour in advance?

No booking needed. This self-guided tour is available anytime. Open the route in your browser and start walking. The AI Tour Guide works instantly, no app, no reservation required.

What languages is the AI Tour Guide available in?

The AI Tour Guide speaks 13 languages, so you take the tour in your own language and can switch at any time.

Can I skip stops or change the route?

Yes. Skip any stop, spend extra time at places you like, or start the route from any point. It is your walk, you set the pace.
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