Church of the Holy Cross, Gothic church in Mitte, Germany

The Church of the Holy Cross (Kreuzkirche) is a Lutheran hall church in Hanover's old town, built of sandstone masonry. It has a single nave of four bays with rib vaults and a steep red-tiled roof. A tall tower of darker stone with a green copper spire and clock stands on the left. The church is about 23 m long and 6.5 m wide, with a tower around 70 m high.

The church was founded in 1284, making it one of the oldest surviving religious buildings in the area. Over the following centuries it was modified in places but kept its Gothic structure through wars and periods of urban change.

The church was the site of Hanover's first Lutheran sermon after the citizens accepted the Reformation in 1533. Sunday services are now usually led by the Protestant student congregation, and the parish belongs to the Market Church parish, which organises concerts, exhibitions and guided tours in the building.

Because the church is still used for regular worship, it is worth visiting outside of service times if you want to look around without interruption. The building sits in the Mitte district and is easy to reach on foot from the surrounding streets.

The tower's Baroque top was rebuilt in 1652–53 at the expense of the councillor Johann Duve, who was then allowed to add his own burial chapel to the south side of the choir in 1655. A stone panel with his portrait medallion and the dates 1611–1679 is set into the church.