UNESCO World Heritage Day

For peace and understanding

Under this motto, Hildesheim celebrates its World Heritage status on June 7, 2026 ! As every year, you are invited to rediscover Hildesheim's World Heritage with the many participating partners around St. Michael's Church, the Diocese, and the Cathedral of St. Mary. A comprehensive and exciting program awaits visitors of all ages, featuring many exciting free activities and hands-on events.

On World Heritage Day, we want to not only highlight the daily function of our World Heritage site, but also strengthen its role as a mediator of the UNESCO idea on World Heritage Day.

UNESCO World Heritage Day website Flyer including overview map

The program for World Heritage Day 2026

St. Michaelis

Information booth of the Michaelis Foundation

full-time

“We are exploring the church space”

Activities for children and families offered by the church education team of St. Michael's Parish. Explorations in the
Church space and a stand with materials to decorate Bishop Bernward's precious cross.

11.30am to 15.30pm

“New Perspectives in World Heritage”

Photo walk with Jens Kotlenga – approx. 90 minutes
Prior registration required at kotlenga@michaeliskirche-hildesheim.de.

14.00 pm

Themed tours: Discovering hidden places

5:00 PM | 5:30 PM | 6:00 PM

Special guided tour: “St. Michaelis – ‘A Tower of Light for Germany and America’”

The destruction of St. Michael's Church and the miracle of its reconstruction with the help of the proactive citizens of Hildesheim, the energetic pastor Kurt Degener, and the willingness to reconcile shown by the American Jew Mr. BR Armour.

12.30:14.30 p.m. | XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.

St. Mary's Cathedral

church service

Corpus Christi. Starting in St. Godehard's Church with a procession to the cathedral square and concluding in the cathedral.

10.00 pm

Cathedral tour with organ music

Here, too, the focus is on World Heritage. Exemplary treasures within the cathedral will be presented. In addition, Cathedral Music Director Thomas Viezens will provide information about the cathedral's organs and perform them in a short concert.

13 p.m. / After the end of the church service

"Consultation hour" with the cathedral guides

The conversation with the guests focuses on famous treasures and unknown details of our world heritage.

14: 00 17 to: 00 pm

World Heritage scavenger hunt for children and families

During this time, the cathedral and museum can be explored independently in search of the "World Heritage pairs." The tour leads to some of the most beautiful works of art, provides interesting information about them, and is fun to do.
The playing cards and the small reward for a successful search can be found in the cathedral foyer.

13: 00 17 to: 00 pm

Cathedral Museum

Draw Attention – Signs in the Cathedral Museum

Drawing exercises using selected works of art. (Institute of Fine Arts and Art History, University of Hildesheim Foundation)

11.00am to 13pm

Participatory archive

The participatory archive invites all guests to browse through "archive files" themselves, create an entry about their own favorite motif in the museum, and thus provides a playful and creative approach.

11: 00 14 to: 00 pm

Guided tour (archival sequences + cathedral treasury)

14.00 pm

Hildesheim Archive – with Museum Director Dr. Felix Prinz

In addition to the exhibition, the Cathedral Museum will display some pieces from its photo archive and invites visitors to bring their own photographs, postcards with motifs related to the cathedral and the Cathedral Museum from their private collections and photo albums for joint viewing and classification.
Anyone wishing to bring and present something should please contact us by May 29, 2026, at 05121 - 307770 for organizational reasons. dom-information@bistum-hildesheim.de

15.00am to 16.00pm

Cathedral Library

Bound together in the book

In the cathedral library, visitors learn how ideas, trade, and understanding shaped and continue to shape our shared heritage.

11.00am to 16.00pm

Guided tours in the cathedral library

12:00 pm: Guided tour on the history and special holdings of the Cathedral Library
2:30 p.m.: Guided tour on the topic "Bound together in a book – how ideas, trade and understanding shaped and continue to shape our common heritage"

Diocesan Archives

Diversity in the Hildesheim Diocesan Archive

The diocesan archive will once again open its doors this year, offering insights into its diverse work as a vibrant institution of historical memory. It houses a wide variety of historical records: documents, official registers, files, plans, and much, much more. Visitors can expect special events on World Heritage Day, focusing on this year's theme, "Together for Peace and Understanding."
You are welcome to browse through church registers and church newspapers from the period after the end of the wars in 1918 and 1945, or you can, for example, learn something about the "Friedensgrund" and find out what it actually is.

11.00am to 15.00pm

Hildesheim City Guides Guild eV

UNESCO World Heritage Discovery Tour: Treasures for eternity and a stone angel

A unique World Heritage Site: If these stones could talk! What stories are told about the legendary "Devil's Horn" at Hildesheim Cathedral? And what is the secret of the golden "Celestial Sphere" high above St. Michael's Church? Or perhaps you've always wanted to ring a real church bell? The discovery tour of Hildesheim's UNESCO World Heritage Site makes it possible!

11:00 and 15:00 (each session lasts 60 minutes)
In front of the Mariendom

Free tickets

Discover Hildesheim's World Heritage – St. Michaelis, Mariendom and Cathedral Museum

A guided tour of the extraordinary evidence of Ottonian-Romanesque culture in Hildesheim.
We'll tell you about the concept and origins of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and visit St. Michael's Church, St. Mary's Cathedral, and the Cathedral Museum. Prepare to be amazed!

2:00 PM (Duration: 2 hours)
In front of St. Michael's Church

Free tickets

St. Andrew's Church Tower

The World Heritage Site from above

Passing the carillon and the old clockwork, a 360° panoramic view of the UNESCO World Heritage Site awaits at a height of 75 meters.

The tower opens at 11 a.m., the last ascent is at 16 p.m.

Tickets for the ascent

2025: A look back at the major World Heritage anniversary

Last year, Hildesheim celebrated a very special World Heritage Day! The 40th anniversary of Hildesheim's designation as a World Heritage Site, the 20th anniversary of World Heritage Day itself, and the hosting of the nationwide opening ceremony were all celebrated in Hildesheim during a spectacular World Heritage weekend. Among those present were representatives from politics and culture, the UNESCO Commission, many German World Heritage sites, and, of course, numerous interested visitors.