Azelin chandelier, Romanesque wheel chandelier in Hildesheim Cathedral, Hildesheim, Germany

The Azelin chandelier is a Romanesque wheel chandelier of gilded copper and tinplate, a circular hoop carrying twelve towers and twelve gatehouses. Its decoration is sparser than that of the Hezilo chandelier: a braided bar runs through the middle of the hoop and an openwork wreath of foliage sits on its upper edge. The towers stand on a hexagonal plan, with niches closed by openwork doors and spires alternately round and hexagonal.

The Azelin chandelier was made in the 11th century for Hildesheim Cathedral, the oldest of four surviving Romanesque wheel chandeliers in Germany. It was long attributed to Bishop Azelin (1044–1054), but a lost inscription recorded in an early 16th-century manuscript names his predecessor Thietmar (1038–1044) as donor, hence its other name, Thietmarleuchter. Older scholarship linked its creation to the cathedral fire of 1046, which destroyed a gold and silver chandelier given by Bishop Bernward; how this one survived that fire is unexplained. It hung in St. Antonius church from 1960 and returned to the cathedral crossing after the restoration completed in 2014.

The chandelier is traditionally called Azelin after Bishop Azelin (1044–1054), but a lost 16th-century inscription names his predecessor Thietmar (1038–1044) as donor, so it is also known as the Thietmar chandelier. It hung in St. Antonius church from 1960 until 2010, and since the cathedral's restoration it has been back above the altar in the crossing.

The chandelier hangs above the altar in the crossing, where it was placed after the cathedral reopened on 15 August 2014; the larger Hezilo chandelier hangs in the nave. Look up from the crossing to see the towers and gatehouses against the choir. The 1982–1989 restoration repaired damage from World War II.

Each tower features niches, battlements, and imitation brickwork to authentically recreate medieval city architecture. This miniature stone workshop suspended in air reveals how artisans of the time embedded their vision of the world and spiritual hopes into religious objects.