[hil-des-hahym] 
| a city in N central Germany. 103,400. |
| Hil·des·heim (hĭl'dəs-hīm', -děs-) A city of central Germany south-southeast of Hanover. A member of the Hanseatic League, it passed to Hanover in 1813 and to Prussia in 1866. Population: 103,000. |
Hildesheim
city, Lower Saxony Land (state), north-central Germany. It lies southeast of Hannover on the Innerste River in the foothills of the Harz Mountains. Originally it was a fort on the trade route between Cologne and Magdeburg. Louis I the Pious, son of Charlemagne, founded a bishopric there in 815, an event linked with the "thousand-year-old rosebush" (probably 300 to 500 years old) that blooms above the east choir of the cathedral. Such great prelates as Bernward (bishop 993-1022) and Gotthard (bishop 1022-38) fostered Hildesheim's development as a cultural centre in the 11th century. It became a member of the Hanseatic League and was chartered in 1300. Its bishops were princes of the Holy Roman Empire until 1803, although they lost territory when the town accepted the Reformation in 1542. Hildesheim passed to Prussia in 1803 and then to Hanover in 1815.
Learn more about Hildesheim with a free trial on Britannica.com.
dɛsˌhaɪm