The Upended Sugarloaf (in German: ''Der umgestülpte Zuckerhut'') is a half-timbered house in the city of

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

in the federal state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History and architecture

The Upended Sugarloaf is a historic building in Saint Andrew's Place (''Andreasplatz'') in the center of Hildesheim, opposite Saint Andrew's Church. Originally, it was built in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

between 1500 and 1510, but the exact year and the architect's name remain unknown. The shape of the building is very unusual, looking similar to an upended sugarloaf. The ground floor is 17 m² in space, the first floor is larger and the second floor covers 29 m².

Destruction

In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the ''Upended Sugarloaf'' was slightly damaged during an air raid on 22 February 1945. On 22 March 1945, however, the building was completely destroyed by incendiary bombs. After the war, the ''Upended Sugarloaf'' was not immediately rebuilt. The space which had been occupied by the building was not used for building purposes again before 2009.

Reconstruction

In the 1980s, the historic market place of Hildesheim, which had been destroyed in 1945 as well, was reconstructed in the authentic style using old photos and construction plans. From 2000 on, the ''Altstadtgilde'', a private association dedicated to the embellishment of the city, started collecting funds to reconstruct the ''Upended Sugarloaf'' and bought the piece of land where the building had stood before the war. Many inhabitants donated money for the project, as the Altstadtgilde intended to give the building to the City of Hildesheim as a present. The City Council, however, hesitated a long time before accepting the present, but finally the building permit was granted on 4 February 2009. The reconstruction using 60 cubic meters of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

wood and 728 wooden pegs was started on 27 October 2009. Many inhabitants of Hildesheim provided old photos and drawings for the project, as the original construction plans were not preserved. The construction of the foundation was completed on 9 November 2009 and the Roofing Ceremony was held on 3 February 2010. The building was inaugurated on 8 October 2010. The ''Upended Sugarloaf'' is now used as a café. The Association ''Altstadtgilde'' as building sponsor estimated that the total costs of the reconstruction amounted to €1,500,000.Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung, p. 15, 14 February 2009.

References

Sources

*Jens-Uwe Brinkmann: ''Hildesheim - so wie es war''. Droste Verlag GmbH, Düsseldorf 1976. . *Hans Schlotter: ''Hildesheim in alten Ansichtskarten - Band 1''. Verlag Europäische Bibliothek, Zaltbommel/NL 1993. . {{coord, 52, 09, 08, N, 9, 57, 00, E, region:DE-NI_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures in Hildesheim Houses completed in 2010 Rebuilt buildings and structures in Germany Tourist attractions in Hildesheim