Crypt

Overview

Welcome to the crypt, the hidden world of St. Michael’s, which represents a final resting place for the dead and a place of refuge for the living. More than 2,000 people have been buried here: a cemetery just below the church. The deepest graves are up to four metres deep.

Many Hamburg residents sought refuge here among the dead during the devastating nights of bombing in 1943. Whilst most of the city was destroyed in firestorms just outside, the crypt saved many lives here below.

The exhibits you see here in the vestibule are the relics of another, even earlier fire catastrophe: the crypt survived when St. Michael’s burnt down to the foundation walls in 1906.

So delve into the hidden world of the St. Michael’s crypt and discover the church below the church!