Ten Secrets from Hannover

Dark sign from the past

The imposing facade of the brick building at Herrenhäuser Kirchweg 11 draws the eye and directs it straight to its strikingly beautiful details, such as the battlements and bay windows between 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 residence built for his own family in the so-called “Landhausviertel,” not far from the Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen; this building was also severely damaged during the air raids on Hanover in 1943. At that time, after every bombing raid and the end of the air raid siren, 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 the 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 mark from the past is somewhat hidden behind a hedge on the left side of the house 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 listed building, with its Gothic architectural elements and the portrait of its builder, Karl Mohrmann, on the brick facade (where 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 Hannover had destroyed nearly half of all the buildings in the city; a sound 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 up to the height of the roof, and the originally richly decorated gable facing Herrenhäuser Kirchweg was now simply plastered over.

Some things simply remain fond memories

Karl Mohrmann’s great-grandchildren now want to restore the mansion to its former glory. To this end, they have commissioned Wennigsen-based architect Thomas Ceglarek, who also designed the renovation of Marienburg Castle: based on old blueprints, two new apartments are to be built in the attic alongside the existing six rental units; the currently plain gable is to be restored to its former beauty; and the tower next to it is 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 as well as a windowless room where the master of the house displayed light-sensitive artifacts from his Egyptian collection to “select guests.” Also shielded from view but flooded with light, Karl Mohrmann’s son, Bernward Mohrmann, used the rooftop terrace behind the house’s battlements for unconventional nude sunbathing.", as you can read with a smile on Wikipedia.