Church St. Mary Magdalene (Magdalenenkirche) is one of the churches in Hildesheim. Founded in 1224, the current building was consecrated in 1294, the first Gothic building in Hildesheim. Extensive rebuilding took place in the 15th century and further additions were made in the 19th century. In the fifteenth century (ca. 1416) an altarpiece was created by an unknown artist, referred to as the Meister des Göttinger Barfüßeraltars depicting scenes from the life of Mary Magdalene. This has since been broken up and various panels are found in different museums. One of these, the Noli me tangere is in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.
The church was badly damaged in World War II on 22 March 1945 and partly restored in a simplified manner. The restoration was completed in 1961. Magdalenengarten, a baroque park laid out 1720–25, is close by.
Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.