Like his brother Ludger, Hildegrim was of Christian
Frisian noble descent. He presumably stayed at the
Benedictine abbey of
Monte Cassino and received a thorough
liberal arts education at the
Utrecht Cathedral School, founded by Bishop
Gregory, and in
York under
Alcuin. Mentioned as
deacon in 793, he was ordained a priest three years later. About 804 he became Bishop of Châlons. Upon Ludger's death in 809, he succeeded him as Abbot of Werden and
Helmstedt in 809. He is also traditionally named as the first
Bishop of Halberstadt, a position now discounted by scholars; nevertheless, Hildegrim is known to have been active in spreading Christianity as a missionary into the
Osterwieck and
Halberstadt region after the
Saxon Wars of
Charlemagne. Hildegrim is buried in the crypt of Werden Abbey church. He is a Catholic and Orthodox saint, remembered on June 19. ==Notes==