Studying in Lower Saxony, Germany
Hildesheim
A small, walkable cathedral city south of Hanover, with a university built around teacher training, culture and data, and a university of applied sciences for design, building and social work.
Hildesheim has been a bishop's seat since 815, and two of its churches, the Mariendom and St. Michael's, have been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1985. Almost the whole old town was destroyed by bombing on 22 March 1945, and the market square you walk across today was rebuilt, house by house, until 1989. That history is part of daily life here: your lecture might be ten minutes' walk from a 1,000-year-old rose bush. The city has fewer than 100,000 residents and two higher-education institutions that sit in the middle of it, so a student is never far from campus, the station, the supermarket or the river. Hanover, with its bigger shops and larger communities, is about 35 km away. If you want a place where you can know the town in a month, find a room in a dormitory run by the Studierendenwerk and still reach a big city by train, Hildesheim is a sensible pick.
- Population
- 98,207 (31 December 2025), on 92 km²
- Distance to Hanover
- about 35 km; the station has ICE, Regionalexpress and S-Bahn services
- World Heritage
- Mariendom and St. Michael's, since 1985
- Dormitory rooms
- from €363.50 a month including running costs
- Semester contribution (HAWK)
- €400 to €500 per semester depending on location, including the Deutschlandsemesterticket
Part 1
Living in Hildesheim
A bishop's town that was rebuilt
The diocese of Hildesheim was founded in 815 under Emperor Louis the Pious, and the city grew around the cathedral hill and the monastery church of St. Michael's, which Bishop Bernward had built from 1010. The city received its own town law in 1300. The Reformation reached Hildesheim in 1542, while the cathedral and some churches stayed Catholic.
On 22 March 1945 Allied bombers destroyed most of the old town, and US troops took the city on 7 April. What visitors see on the Marktplatz is reconstruction: the Knochenhaueramtshaus, the former butchers' guild house, was rebuilt faithfully between 1987 and 1989, the Rathaus in 1954, and the Tempelhaus, which dates back to 1350, in 1952. Only the 'umgestülpter Zuckerhut' house on Andreasplatz came back as late as 2009/10.
Students should not expect a big-city skyline. Hildesheim is a place of brick, sandstone, half-timbering and green copper roofs, laid out mainly on the right bank of the river Innerste.
What to see in your first weeks
Most of these are within a short walk of each other, and several are free or cheap.
The cathedral at Domhof 4. Entry is free (Mon–Fri 10:00–17:30, Sat 10:00–16:00, Sun 12:00–17:30); guided tours cost €5 with reductions for students. The bronze Bernward door is a masterpiece of casting, and the rose bush outside is said to be 1,000 years old.
A former Benedictine abbey church at Michaelisplatz 2. The painted wooden ceiling from the 13th century shows Christ's family tree on 1,300 oak boards. Open Mon–Sat 10:00–16:00 and Sunday afternoons.
At 114.5 m the highest church tower in Lower Saxony; 364 steps lead to a platform at about 75 m with a view over the old town. Open from late March to 1 November, mainly Friday to Sunday; €5, reduced €3, cash on site.
Ten historic buildings around the square. A fanfare sounds from the Rathaus every day at noon, and the Tourist-Information sits in the Tempelhaus.
Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum ↗
At Am Steine 1–2, with a redesigned Egypt exhibition and a second permanent show on food and drink through city history and ethnology. Open Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00.
Around the old town
Events and the student-friendly calendar
The cultural year in Hildesheim is shaped by the university's arts departments. Pflasterzauber, a circus, theatre and dance festival, fills the city centre in early September. The transeuropa festival connects regional theatre with young artists from neighbouring countries, Prosanova is a festival for young literature, and the State of the Art festival takes over the Kulturcampus Domäne Marienburg. The student cinema 'Movie – Das Unikino' shows films during semester in the Audimax and Hörsaal 1.
The city's own calendar adds a Christmas market on the Marktplatz, the Citybeach and the Herbstvergnügen.
Getting around, and getting out
Within the city, buses run under SVHI, with RVHI covering the region. There are six daytime lines and eight secondary lines, services start about 4:30 am, and on Friday and Saturday nights buses run until about 4 am. Until the end of 2026, Hildesheim residents ride city buses free on Saturdays for trips that start and end inside the city; ask the city whether your registered address qualifies.
The Hauptbahnhof is about a ten-minute walk from the market. ICE trains run direct from Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Braunschweig and Göttingen, and S-Bahn, Metronom and Eurobahn trains also serve the station. For most students the useful line is the one to Hanover: 35 km away, it has the bigger shops, and the larger religious and national communities. HAWK's semester contribution includes the Deutschlandsemesterticket.
What it costs
- Blauer Kamp dormitory (single apartment, 13–26 m², own bath and kitchen)
- €403.50 to €674.50 a month including running costssource
- Hansering dormitory (room in a 3- or 4-person flat share, 12.6–16 m²)
- €363.50 to €427.50 a month including running costssource
- Semester contribution at HAWK
- €400 to €500 per semester, depending on location, including the Deutschlandsemesterticketsource
- Proof of funds for a student visa (non-EU)
- €992 per month, €11,904 per year, usually in a blocked accountsource
- Deposit for a private room
- usually one to two months' rent, returned if there is no damagesource
- Cathedral guided tour / St. Andreas tower
- €5 each (students get reductions)source
Figures are taken from the Studierendenwerk and the universities' own pages, checked on 2026-10-21. Food, phone and insurance costs vary and are not listed here.
Work, then and now
Industry in Hildesheim has a long record: Robert Bosch built a plant in the Hildesheimer Wald from 1938 to 1942, and after the war Blaupunkt's operations were moved there, which made the site an important automotive supplier through the 1950s. For a student the practical question is part-time work. A non-EU student with a residence permit for study may work 140 full days or 280 half days per year, according to HAWK. Check the rule with the Ausländerbehörde before you sign a contract.
Part 2
Student life in Hildesheim
Where you can study
University of Hildesheim (Stiftung Universität Hildesheim) ↗
About 7,800 students and four faculties with 27 institutes. It began in 1946 as a teacher-training college, moved to Hildesheim in 1970, became a university in 1989 and in 2003 one of Germany's first foundation universities. Teacher training is the largest field (about 3,200 students), followed by cultural studies and arts at the Kulturcampus Domäne Marienburg (about 1,100 students) and IT at about 500 students. Campuses are the main campus (Universitätsplatz 1), the Kulturcampus (Domänenstraße 1), the Samelson campus (Samelsonplatz 1, maths, sciences, business and computer science) and the Bühler campus (Lübecker Straße 3, education and social sciences). English-taught degrees confirmed on the university's own pages are the M.Sc. Data Analytics and the M.Sc. Software Engineering; all bachelor's and most master's degrees need German.
International office ↗HAWK, University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Hildesheim, Holzminden, Göttingen) ↗
A state university of applied sciences with three locations: Hildesheim (3,060 students, 15 programmes), Holzminden (1,080) and Göttingen (2,180). Fields are construction and architecture, design, engineering, health, social work, resource management and economics, with bachelor's and master's degrees and dual and part-time forms. The Hildesheim campus is at Hohnsen 4, and the international office is at Goschentor 1. Its pages give no English-taught programme list, so read the language of instruction on each programme page. Accepted German certificates include TestDaF level 4 (level 3 for the B.A. in Design), DSH-2 (DSH-1 for Design) and telc C1.
International office ↗Student unions, services and groups
AStA of the University of Hildesheim ↗
The elected student representation for about 7,800 students. Its volunteer team runs Referate such as Mobility and Gender & Queer*, gives confidential advice on discrimination, money problems and studying with a child or illness, and handles the Semesterticket. Council meetings are public and weekly in term, currently Wednesdays at 17:00.
Studierendenwerk OstNiedersachsen, Hildesheim ↗
Runs the two dormitories, five canteens and cafés (Mensa Uni, bistro4u, Mensa Hohnsen, Bistro Lübecker Straße and Marie) and offers social and study-finance counselling, psychotherapeutic counselling, legal advice and BAföG for Uni and HAWK students.
University sport, mostly free of charge, open to students and staff of the University of Hildesheim and to students of HAWK in Hildesheim, Holzminden and Göttingen. Registration is online; contact hsp@uni-hildesheim.de.
The local section of the Erasmus Student Network, the usual first contact for exchange and international students who want company in their first weeks.
International Office of the University of Hildesheim ↗
The Incoming Team at Universitätsplatz 1 advises exchange students, degree students and doctoral students, and runs a buddy programme, language tandems and a Welcome Week. Consultation hours are Tuesday and Thursday 10:00–12:00, online or in person.
HAWK International Office and Say Hi buddies ↗
Advice for applicants, exchange students and enrolled international students in Hildesheim, Göttingen and Holzminden, intercultural training and the 'Say Hi' buddy programme. Hildesheim office hours are Monday and Thursday 9:00–12:00 at Goschentor 1.
The joint Catholic and Protestant student community at Braunsberger Straße 3 on the grounds of the Matthäuskirche. It is open to everyone regardless of faith, with a choir, services, a nearby dormitory, an English section on its site and an emergency fund for foreign students.
The university's sustainability office, which runs its own projects and supports students who want to change things on campus.
University orchestra and choirs ↗
Open to students of all subjects; the orchestra takes all classical instruments, and there are choirs from classical to pop.
A university institution with a community programme and the 'musik.welt' master's, which suits students who play or study music outside the Western canon.
Student cinema showing films in the Audimax and Hörsaal 1 during semester.
Campus life and study culture
The University of Hildesheim is a small university with about 69 percent women, and its identity is teaching, culture and, more recently, data. A lecture day can mean the main campus on Universitätsplatz in the morning and the Kulturcampus on Domäne Marienburg in the afternoon, where theatre, music, media and creative writing are taught. The Samelson campus houses mathematics, sciences, business and computer science. HAWK's Hildesheim campus has its own building culture, with design, architecture and conservation projects done together with the city.
Many things are open across both institutions. Hochschulsport takes HAWK students as well as university students. AStA council meetings are public, so the quickest way into student politics is to walk into one.
Housing: dormitories first, then flat shares
The Studierendenwerk runs two dormitories in Hildesheim. Rooms are limited, so apply as soon as you have an admission letter. The application form is at stw-on.de/wohnen/bewerbung.
164 furnished single apartments of 13–26 m², each with a small kitchen with induction hob and its own bathroom, renovated 2021–2023. €403.50 to €674.50 a month including running costs.
131 places, mostly furnished single rooms of 12.6–16 m² in flat shares of three or four, with shared kitchen and bathroom; €363.50 to €427.50 including running costs. A wheelchair-accessible room type is also offered.
Starter packages and housing tips ↗
The Studierendenwerk lists starter packages and an information page ('Wissenswertes') for new tenants.
A free course on renting a flat in Germany, also offered in Russian. Registration is by phone or WhatsApp; the association is at Katharinenstraße 13.
Eating, sport and evenings
The Studierendenwerk runs five food places in the city: Mensa Uni, bistro4u, Mensa Hohnsen, Bistro Lübecker Straße and Marie. Hochschulsport is mostly free, so a gym-style routine costs you nothing but a registration.
Evenings are quiet compared with a big city: cinema (the Thega Filmpalast next to the theatre and the Unikino), concerts and exhibitions, festivals in summer, and the free monthly city magazine PUBLIC for what is on. Night buses on Friday and Saturday run to about 4 am, and for a bigger night you can take a train to Hanover.
Your first weeks, in order
- 1
Before you arrive
Apply for a dormitory room at the Studierendenwerk. If you need a visa, show €992 a month (€11,904 a year), usually with a blocked account. Non-EU students take German statutory student health insurance; EU/EEA students send their EHIC to a statutory provider.
- 2
Week 1
Take part in Welcome Week and meet the International Office (University: Incoming Team, Tuesday and Thursday 10:00–12:00; HAWK: Goschentor 1, Monday and Thursday 9:00–12:00). Ask about the buddy programme.
- 3
Week 1–2
Register your address at the Stadtbüro, Markt 2, room B 21 on the ground floor. This needs an appointment, your passport and a signed confirmation from your landlord. You then receive the registration certificate and your tax ID by post, and the tax ID is needed for a bank account.
- 4
Within the first weeks
Book your residence-permit appointment with the Ausländerbehörde at Markt 2 (email migration@stadt-hildesheim.de, phone 05121 301-2900). Walk-ins are not possible, except at the collection desk for finished permits. The same office lists the permit 'for the purpose of study' among its services.
- 5
Ongoing
Join Hochschulsport, a student group or an ESN event. If you want German practice, the Hi.punkt meeting centre at Steingrube 19A has open afternoons Monday to Thursday and German courses, some taught by University of Hildesheim students.
Where to ask for help
The city's meeting and competence centre for migrants, in the Gemeinschaftshaus. Open meeting afternoons, language groups, advice on training and work (with the Volkshochschule and the Handwerkskammer), and a multilingual flyer.
A migration support association active since 1991, with migration counselling and legal consultation (Wednesdays from 14:00). By appointment, at Katharinenstraße 13. It works mainly with refugees and newcomers, so ask whether it fits your question.
Migration advice from AWO, Caritas and Diakonie ↗
The city's own help pages point to the migration counselling offered by these three welfare organisations.
German and integration courses, plus an advice session on language courses at Hi.punkt every two weeks.
Counselling at HAWK for international students ↗
Free, confidential advice on applying, timetables, funding and German, in Hildesheim, Holzminden, Göttingen and online. Open hours are offered in German, English, Arabic, Russian and Ukrainian.
Where you come from matters here
Pick your home country: food, faith, community groups and the consulate that serves you, checked 21 October 2026.
🇮🇳 Living in Hildesheim as an Indian student
Hildesheim has no Indian association we could confirm. For temples and larger Indian and Tamil communities the nearest place is Hanover, 35 km away.
Sri Muthumariamman Temple, Hanover ↗
One of the largest Hindu temples in northern Germany. Construction began in 2007 and finished in 2009, and the three-storey tower was completed in 2017.
Tiergartenstraße 17, 10785 Berlin. Consular documents are handled by online appointment, and the site links to registration for Indian students in Germany.
Consulate General of India, Hamburg ↗
Kohlhöfen 21, 20355 Hamburg, with passport, visa, OCI and online registration for Indian students. The embassy site has a page on which mission covers which region; check it for Lower Saxony.
🇳🇬 Living in Hildesheim as a Nigerian student
Hildesheim has no Nigerian association we could confirm. The embassy is in Berlin, and the KHG/ESG student community is open to everyone and keeps an emergency fund for foreign students.
Neue Jakobstrasse 4, 10179 Berlin. Passport appointments are booked on the Nigeria Immigration website; visa applications go through the authorised provider VFS at Zimmerstrasse 68. The embassy warns that paying for an appointment is fraud.
Christian student community at Braunsberger Straße 3, open to all, with an emergency fund for foreign students and a choir.
🇻🇳 Living in Hildesheim as a Vietnamese student
Hildesheim has no Vietnamese temple or association we could confirm. One of the largest pagodas in Europe is in Hanover.
In the Mittelfeld district, near the exhibition grounds: a centre of faith for Vietnamese Buddhists, built 1987–1993, with a 24 m tower and a prayer hall for about 700 people. The Vietnamese abbot Thích Như Điển founded the Buddhist community in Hanover in 1978.
The embassy's site covers consular procedures, fees and document legalisation; electronic passports have been issued there since 1 April 2026.
🇨🇲 Living in Hildesheim as a Cameroonian student
Hildesheim has no Cameroonian association we could confirm. The Cameroon embassy in Berlin also covers Austria, Poland and several other European countries.
The embassy's site, available in English, French and German, for consular matters.
A free meeting place at Steingrube 19A with open afternoons, language groups and advice, where people from many countries meet.
🇨🇳 Living in Hildesheim as a Chinese student
Hildesheim has no Chinese association we could confirm; consular matters go through the embassy in Berlin or the consulate general in Hamburg.
Embassy of the People's Republic of China, Berlin ↗
Märkisches Ufer 54, 10179 Berlin. Consular documents are handled at Brückenstraße 10, Monday to Friday 9:00–12:00.
Chinese Consulate General in Hamburg ↗
The consulate general's own site (in Chinese); ask the embassy or the consulate which office handles Lower Saxony before travelling.
English-taught programmes in Hildesheim
Soonest open deadline first. Every entry links to its official source.
- Master of Science in Software EngineeringUniversity of Hildesheim · HildesheimmasterNo tuition15 Dec 2026Closing soon
- Future Analytics: AI & Audio WorldsUniversity of Hildesheim · HildesheimmasterNo tuition15 Dec 2026Closing soon
- Data Analytics (MSc)University of Hildesheim · HildesheimmasterNo tuition15 Feb 2027Open
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