DE-4352745 The historic market place of Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany

Hildesheim is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located about 30 km southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, which is a small tributary of the Leine River.

Hildesheim is one of the oldest cities in Northern Germany and it became the seat of the Bishopric of Hildesheim in 815.

The city was heavily damaged by air raids in 1945, especially on 22 March. Although it had little military significance, two months before the end of the war in Europe the historic city was bombed as part of the Area Bombing Directive in order to undermine the morale of the German people. 28.5% of the houses were completely destroyed and 44.7% damaged. 26.8% of the houses remained undamaged. The centre, which had retained its medieval character until then, was almost levelled.

The historic market place (Marktplatz) was once considered one of the most beautiful market places in the world. It was reconstructed in 1984–1990 in its former splendour. One of the more noteworthy buildings in the square is the Knochenhaueramtshaus ("Butchers' Guild Hall"), known as a beautiful and fine specimen of half-timbered building. It was originally built in 1529 and destroyed in 1945 and reconstructed from 1987 to 1989 according to original plans. The façade is sumptuously decorated with colourful paintings and German proverbs. Today the building houses a restaurant and the City Museum.

There are other great buildings shown on this postcard - the Bäckeramtshaus (Bakers' Guild Hall) and the Stadtschänke (City Tavern) are two of them.

This postcard came from Holger (14 July 2015) Postcrossing.