Ten secrets from Hanover

Dark sign from the past

The imposing facade of the brick building at Herrenhäuser Kirchweg 11 captivates the eye and draws one’s gaze directly to its strikingly beautiful details, such as the battlements and bay windows among the many windows and the round tower at the corner of Reinholdstraße. Only those who look closely will discover the little secret from the dark days of the Mohrmann House in Hanover’s Nordstadt district.

House wall with black cross — A cross with meaning.

A dark sign from the past

Around 1900, the Hanover architect Karl Mohrmann had a stately home built for his own family in the so-called “Landhausviertel,” not far from the Herrenhausen Gardens; this home was also severely damaged during the air raids on Hanover in 1943. At that time, after every bombing raid and once the air raid siren had ended, all damaged and destroyed buildings and houses were searched for survivors and bodies and then marked to inform other search teams of the results of the search that had already taken place: a black cross on the wall of a house signaled “Searched for bodies,” while a white cross stood for “Bodies found.” A black cross from that time can still be seen on the Mohrmann House, serving as a reminder to this day that the building—which was once almost completely destroyed—had been searched for bodies. This dark symbol from the past is somewhat hidden behind a hedge on the left side of the house’s wall, below a large window facing Herrenhäuser Kirchweg.

Rebuilt out of necessity

House facade with portrait of a man — The client in person.

The Mohrmann House, now a historic landmark, with its Gothic architectural elements and the portrait of its builder, Karl Mohrmann, on the clinker brick facade (in which he looks toward Herrenhäuser Kirchweg from between two miniature columns at the top of the tower), was actually slated for demolition after World War II. The air raids on Hanover had destroyed nearly half of all the buildings in the city; a safe roof over one’s head—or even a home of one’s own—was, like so many things in those years, in short supply. Out of this necessity, the Mohrmann ruins were rebuilt, though the once-tall tower was only raised back to the height of the roof, and the originally richly decorated gable facing Herrenhäuser Kirchweg was now simply plastered over.

Some things simply remain in fond memory

Karl Mohrmann’s great-grandchildren now want to restore the building to its former splendor. To this end, they have commissioned Wennigsen-based architect Thomas Ceglarek, who also designed the renovation of Marienburg Castle: based on old construction plans, two new apartments are to be built in the attic alongside the existing six rental units; the currently plain decorative gable is to be restored to its former beauty; and the tower next to it is also to regain its battlements. Many other things, however, will likely remain nothing more than a fond memory of carefree days: "At the time, the tower housed the children's room and a windowless room in which the landlord presented light-sensitive artifacts from his Egyptian collection to 'selected guests'. Also protected from view, but flooded with light, Karl Mohrmann's son, Bernward Mohrmann, used the roof terrace behind the battlements of the house for unconventional nudist pleasures", as you can read with a smile on Wikipedia.