Moritzberg is a quarter in the city of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on a hill in the west of the city, about a mile from the Cathedral. It was an independent market town until 1911.
History
In the 9th century, Gunthar, the first bishop of Hildesheim (815-835), founded a chapel on a hill called Zierenberg west of Hildesheim. Before Christianization, pagans had worshipped the Germanic god Týr at a sacred well at the same place. Some Germanic tribes called Týr Ziur, and Zierenberg simply meant Týr's Hill. Strategically, the former place of worship and the chapel were in a very advantageous position: the ancient Hellweg trade route ran past the foot of the hill, which offered a clear view of the Innerste valley where the town of Hildesheim was developing at a ford.
One of Gunthar's successors, Bishop Godehard of Hildesheim (1022–38), founded a monastery beside the chapel on the Zierenberg about 1025 and had a church built there which was dedicated to Saint Maurice and consecrated in 1028. Maurice means Mauritius or Moritz in German, and so the name of the hill was changed to Moritzberg ("Maurice Hill"). A village bearing the same name developed around the monastery and at the foot of the hill beside the trade route in the Early Middle Ages. Most of its inhabitants worked for the monastery.
In the 12th century, many Flemish immigrants settled in northern Germany. They were welcome as they were hard-working and experienced in colonizing the land. The provost of Saint Maurice's monastery allowed Flemish settlers to found a new town between Moritzberg and Hildesheim in 1196. The new settlement, which was called Dammstadt, was supported by the Bishop of Hildesheim as well and quickly developed into a prosperous village which obtained town rights in 1232, i.e. even before Hildesheim was awarded town rights in 1249. The inhabitants of Hildesheim, who did not want to be governed by the bishop any longer, considered neighbouring Dammstadt to be a danger to the economic growth of their own town. They attacked Dammstadt on 24 December 1332 and destroyed it completely. As many inhabitants of Dammstadt sought refuge in Moritzberg, that village was attacked as well and suffered considerable damage. Dammstadt was never rebuilt and repopulated. In 1347, the townsfolk of Hildesheim attacked and looted Moritzberg, drove the inhabitants out of the village and destroyed it. Moritzberg, however, was rebuilt and repopulated.
In the 15th century, a moat and a rampart were built to fortify the village. In the east, Moritzberg was protected by the Kupferstrang, a small tributary of the Innerste. For many centuries, the Kupferstrang formed the border between Hildesheim and Moritzberg. There were three gates to the village. In 1430, the Katztor was mentioned for the first time in the records; it had a tower, 28 feet high. The Krehlator had a tower 25 feet high, and the third gate, the Dingworthtor, at the northern end of the high street, was mentioned for the first time in 1452.
When Protestantism was introduced into Hildesheim and its surrounding area in 1542, the inhabitants of Moritzberg and several other villages, e.g. Sorsum, refused to convert. Protestants were not even allowed to live in Moritzberg. There was, however, a Jewish community with a synagogue in the high street, a school and a Jewish cemetery which still exists. Several times, Jews from Hildesheim sought refuge in Moritzberg.
During the Thirty Years' War, Moritzberg suffered much more damage than Hildesheim. After Christian IV of Denmark had intervened in the fighting, Moritzberg was looted by Danish soldiers in 1626 and Saint Maurice's Church was heavily damaged. After the intervention of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Moritzberg was destroyed by Swedish troops in 1632. The village was rebuilt after the war. The oldest surviving house in the quarter today dates from 1645. The monastery and Saint Maurice's Church were rebuilt from 1644 to 1660.
After the Thirty Years' War, Moritzberg was granted market rights by Maximilian Henry of Bavaria in 1652. He wanted to promote the economic recovery of the Roman Catholic village which had suffered from the ravages of war, but there has never been a dedicated market place in Moritzberg. Presumably the market was held along the ancient trade route in Dingworthstrasse which has always been the high street of Moritzberg. It might have been an oblong street market. Originally, the city of Hildesheim did not have a proper market place either, but an oblong street market in a street called Alter Markt (Old Market) which still exists today. In 1699, Moritzberg had a total of 114 houses.