a province of Hanover, comprising the principality of Hildesheim, which forms the most southern part of Hanover Proper, the principalities of Göttingen and Grubenhagen, the county of Hohnstein and the Lower Eichsfeld. Area 1717 square miles. The principality of Hildesheim originated in a bishopric instituted in 812 by Charlemagne, at Elze, but removed in 822 to Hildesheim. In course of time, the bishops acquired a considerable territory, amounting, in the beginning of the present century, to 682 square miles. The last prince bishop of Hildesheim possessed also the bishopric of Paderborn, acquired by his predecessor. Both bishoprics were secularized and ceded to Prussia in 1803. In 1807 they were incorporated with the kingdom of Westphalia, but were restored in 1813 to Prussia, which ceded Hildesheim to Hanover, retaining only Paderborn. The principality of Hildesheim is generally level except towards the S., where it is traversed by branches of the Hartz. Its principal stream is the Innerste, an affluent of the Leine. A considerable portion of the surface is wooded, and the rest yields moderate crops of rye, barley, flax, and potatoes, with some wheat. The chief manufacture is linen. The principality of Göttingen is mostly covered with mountains, offsets of the Hartz, chiefly of basaltic formation. The principal river is the Weser. The soil in the mountain districts is generally stony, but that of the valleys is of great fertility. Sheep are reared in great numbers. Grubenhagen is, like Göttingen, for the most part mountainous, but the peaks are higher, and include some of the loftiest summits of the Hartz. The climate is bleak and variable. Some of the valleys are fertile and well cultivated, but these are exceptions to the general sterile character of the soil. Woods and forests, which cover above half its surface, constitute the chief wealth of the district. The mines are valuable, and yield silver, copper, lead, iron, zinc, vitriol, and sulphur. The remaining portions of the province are too small to require particular notice. Pop. of province (1852), 186,628, of whom 296,734 were Lutherans, 60,802 Roman Catholics, 7627 Reformed, and 3023 Jews.

the capital of the above province, stands on the right bank of the Innerste, 18 miles S.E. of Hanover, with which it is connected by railway. It is a large old town, irregularly built, and surrounded by ramparts now used as public promenades. The cathedral (founded by Louis the Pious, in 818) is remarkable for its fine bronze gates of the 11th century, and paintings on glass; among its antiquities is a marble pillar supposed to have been a Saxon idol, but now surmounted by a cross. Several of the other churches are remarkable for their antiquity and monuments. The educational institutions comprise a Roman Catholic and a Lutheran college and numerous schools. It has also a lunatic, a deaf-mute, and several orphan asylums, and a large workhouse. The chief manufacture is coarse linen cloth. Pop. 14,700, of whom about one-third are Roman Catholics.