St.-Martin-Kirche, Hanover

St. Martin is a Roman Catholic church in the Hannover district of Groß-Buchholz. Since September 1, 2008, it has been the parish church of a parish with four church locations, which includes the borough of Buchholz-Kleefeld as well as Misburg-Anderten and has about 12,000 members. The parish belongs to the Hannover deanery of the Hildesheim diocese.

The Roderbruch residential area is one of Hannover's youngest neighborhoods. The planned development of the former quarry area did not begin until 1968 and a high-rise housing estate with a high population fluctuation and a high proportion of migrants was created.

In 1979, St. Martin's Church with a parish center was built according to plans by Wolfgang Lorke and consecrated on December 22 of the same year by Auxiliary Bishop Heinrich Pachowiak. It was given the patronage of St. Martin with reference to an existing home for the elderly of the same name and in view of the special living conditions in the "satellite town".

St. Martin's is a towerless hexagonal central building. The design is largely based on the oldest surviving church in Rome, the Basilica di Santo Stefano Rotondo al Celio, consecrated around 468 A.D. Just like there, the altar island is extended far into the church space and is surrounded by benches on four sides of the hexagonal interior. The altar stands exactly in the center of the church, above it is enthroned a likewise hexagonal candlestick with 120 luminaries. The tabernacle is set into a cross-shaped stele carved out of stone, showing Christ in the posture of the Pantocrator. Stained glass windows rich in motifs surround the altar area and fill the back wall. Older than the church is the wooden St. Martin's group next to the altar: the church patron on horseback sharing his coat, below him the beggar in the figure of Christ.

St. Martin represents a slight break from the typical architecture of sacred buildings of the 1970s due to the symbolic and original approaches. Thus, the room is fully plastered and provided with colorful accents, in addition, a bright illumination is possible due to the very large window fronts and the large LED lighting.