St. Godehard's Church in Hildesheim was founded in 1133 by Bishop Bernard, the year Godehard was canonized. It was originally the church of a Benedictine abbey, and it was completed and consecrated in 1172. It is a Romanesque basilica with two apses, and it is described as one of Germany's most important Romanesque buildings.
The church remained almost unaltered over the centuries and was not heavily damaged in World War II. For that reason it served as the bishop's cathedral from 1945 to 1960, while Hildesheim Cathedral was destroyed and rebuilt. Pope Paul VI gave it the title of minor basilica in 1963.
During the cathedral's restoration, beginning in 2010, it again served as the bishop's cathedral, and the Hezilo chandelier was installed there. The former convent buildings now house a university of applied sciences.
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