In 620 individual articles, this volume contains an annotated edition of inscriptions from five districts south-west of the Elbe up to the year 1650. The inscriptions focus on the noble families living in the countryside with their manors, family chapels and patronage churches. Other focal points are the Bardowick canonry of St Peter and Paul, the town of Uelzen and the inscriptions referring to the Lüneburg dukes as princes and their officials.

The present volume presents an annotated edition of 464 German and Latin inscriptions in the district (Landkreis) of Hildesheim from the early 13th century up to 1650. The vast majority of inscriptions can be found in rural village churches. Main emphasis is put on about 100 inscriptions on bells which allow us to gain an authentic insight into the bells of the Hildesheim area and its different bell foundries. The large number of epitaphs show the way rural aristocracy wanted to be remembered. In addition to the inscriptions on bells those on altar pieces, offertory boxes and chalices give important evidence how the interior of village churches had been changed by the reformation.