Hl. Herz Jesu

Hl. Herz Jesu stands in Hannover’s Misburg-Süd district as a Catholic columbarium and place for prayer, remembrance, and services. Its early twentieth-century Heimatstil combines Gothic elements with the solid character of a former parish church. Glass-fronted niches hold urns inside, creating a visible connection between mourners and the deceased.

Maximilian Jagielski and Georg Thofehrn designed the church for a Catholic community strengthened by industrial growth. Air raids damaged the building during the Second World War, after which it was rebuilt and reconsecrated in 1948. The Diocese of Hildesheim transformed the interior into a columbarium and mourning centre, completed in 2010 as Northern Germany’s first church conversion of this kind. Christoph Palmen and Arne Kesten shaped the design around the biblical image of Jacob’s ladder, with Thomas Rauck carrying it into reality.

The space initially offered 1,500 urn niches and continues to host Eucharistic services, memorial services, and cultural events. A 1964 Krell organ adds 23 registers across two manuals and a pedal, operated through mechanical action. Pews from the former church found a second use at Maria Königin in Seesen.