2 -- Die Aegidienkirche (Hannover) (mid-1300s)

In Hannover, Germany (Lower Saxony), you can find the remains of the Aegidiankirche (Aegidian Church).

Sources online indicate the Aegidiankirche was built in the 1300s, with one source identifying the year 1347 in particular.  Like many other German and European churches, this church was built on the same site as an older church built centuries earlier.

Hannover was like most of the large German cities and was severely bombed by the UK and USA during WWII.   If you want to see how bad was the destruction, just check out some of the images of what Hanover looked like right at the end of the War.   Not surprisingly, the bombing had a devastating impact on historic monuments. 

Here is an image of what the Aegidienkirche and its immediate surroundings looked like not long after being bombed:   

(This photo was lifted from the Snell Family blog at this location: 

http://snelladventures.com/tag/demoralization/ )

Fortunately, today we can at least go back to a number of the monuments, even in cities that were badly bombed, and find some original structures that survived the bombing.  In some cases the structures survived with reconstruction. In this case, the Aegidiankirche was preserved in its bombed-out state as a shell of a structure, and intentionally not rebuilt so that it could be preserved as a monument to war casualties.   A webpage dedicated to it describes a pilgrimage that take place there every year of persons from various faiths from throughout the world.   This is as good a place for that kind of monument in Europe as any other;  I believe I saw somewhere that this particular structure had already been deliberately attacked and destroyed before WWII.   

Walking around the building at both day and night, the visitor can stare at the architectural details and wonder about the history of this site and of the individuals who have visited it.  This structure vaguely reminded me of the shell of an old abby I visited in Northern England long ago – I hope to rediscover that structure.  Anyway, here are a few of the Aegidienkirche, during both the day and at night.

Exterior on an afternoon. I understand the some of the exterior monuments and statue features were added centuries after the original construction.

A view of the inside wall from the interior.

A view of the tower, which I understand was added to during the Baroque period and later.

I needed to go back to the church to see how it appears at night.  I was certainly worth the trek.