On the trail of famous inventors and pioneers

Many inventors and pioneers hail from Hannover, and numerous inventions have been made there. Embark on a "journey of innovation" through Hannover.

Cord Broyhan

© public domain

Cord Broyhan was born in Gronau. After learning the art of brewing beer in Hamburg, he moved to Hannover in 1524. In Hannover, he adapted the dark brown “Hamburg-style” beer and, on May 31, 1526, invented a new light brown beer: Broyhan beer. It became a major export hit for the city, and Cord Broyhan became a wealthy man. He purchased the Broyhan House at Kramerstraße 24, which still stands in the Old Town today. In 1546, the brewers formed a guild. This gave rise to today’s Gilde Brewery at Hildesheimer Str. 132. In the same year, the “Broyhan Taler” was minted for the first time. The image of the Broyhan Taler still adorns every bottle from the Gilde Brewery to this day.

Emil and Joseph Berliner

Emil Berliner was born on May 20, 1851, and his brother Joseph on August 22, 1858, in Hannover. After completing his schooling in Wolfenbüttel and a commercial apprenticeship, Emil emigrated to the United States. Between 1881 and 1883, Emil Berliner visited Hannover. There, together with his brother Joseph Berliner, he founded the first European company for the production of telephone parts, the J. Berliner Telephone Company. Back in the United States, Emil Berliner invented the phonograph and the gramophone in 1887. Later, Emil Berliner and his brother founded a record production company in Hannover, the Deutsche Grammophon-Gesellschaft. Joseph Berliner managed the factory and began mass-producing the first records in 1898. The factory building still stands at Podbielskistraße 164 and is used as the “Grammophon Office Park.”

Karl Jatho

© Hannover Airport

Karl Jatho was born on February 3, 1873, in Hannover. In 1896, he began building gliders. It is said that on August 18, 1903—four months before the Wright brothers—he successfully made a powered flight with his Jatho-Drachen on the Vahrenwalder Heide in Hannover. However, this is disputed among experts. Nevertheless, the Jatho-Drachen was the first aircraft in history to feature a pilot’s seat, a lap belt to secure the pilot, and the ability to move under its own power. Starting in 1907, Jatho exhibited his flying machines at air shows, but never flew them there. It was not until 1909 that he succeeded in making the first press-confirmed powered flight with the Jatho-Drachen No. 4. In 1910, he presented a replica of the Bleriot aircraft. Later, he built additional aircraft, such as the Stahltaube in 1911 and the Jatho monoplane in 1913. In the same year, Jatho opened the Hannoversche Flugzeugwerke and, shortly thereafter, a flight school. However, since the military showed no interest, both were closed again in 1914. Jatho died on December 8, 1933, in Hannover. Karl Jatho has received many posthumous honors. For example, the General Aviation Terminal at Hannover Airport was named after him, and a replica of the 1903 Jatho Kite is on display in the permanent exhibition “World of Aviation” there. A Jatho memorial stone stands in front of the airport administration building. The Aviation Museum Laatzen-Hannover features a model diorama depicting the launch of the Jatho kite. Another memorial stone is located in the Hanover-List district, on the northern side of the Mittellandkanal, between the Reiterstation and the Lister Bad, on the former Vahrenwalder Heide, where allotment gardens are now situated

Hugo Haase

© Karl Johaentges

The man who would later be known as the "Carousel King" was born on June 1, 1857, in Winsen/Luhe. With his rides, he revolutionized the fairgrounds of his time. He founded two companies, one in the Harz region and one in Leipzig. In 1909, Haase moved his factory from Leipzig to Hannover. After previously introducing his Carousel Palace (1902) and the "El Dorado" step carousel to the market, numerous other innovations were built in Hannover, such as a portable roller coaster. Hugo Haase also brought the bumper cars to Europe and introduced many innovations there, as he did with numerous other carousels. Many of his rides were then regularly featured every year at the Hannover Schützenfest. Hugo Haase died on September 13, 1933, in Hannover; his tomb is located at the Engesohde City Cemetery. Three times a year, Haase’s spirit still hovers over Hannover’s Schützenplatz when state-of-the-art and nostalgic rides spin at Lower Saxony’s largest spring festival, the world’s largest Schützenfest, and Northern Germany’s largest Oktoberfest.

Walter Bruch

© hannover.de

Walter Bruch was born on March 2, 1908, in Neustadt an der Weinstraße. After having previously worked at Telefunken in Berlin, he returned to Telefunken in 1950, though not to Berlin, but to Hannover. There he headed the Basic Research Laboratory for Receiver Technology, where the PAL color television system—for which a patent application was filed on December 31, 1962—was developed. Walter Bruch first presented PAL color television to experts from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on January 3, 1963. The old Telefunken building is a listed historic site and is located at Göttinger Chaussee 76. Walter Bruch died on May 5, 1990, in Hannover; his grave is located at the Engesohde City Cemetery.

Ferdinand Sichel

© hannover.de

Ferdinand Sichel was born on September 29, 1859, in Hannover. While working in his parents’ business, Ferdinand Sichel had already become familiar with the difficult process of making paste and glue. He wanted to simplify the whole process. Eventually, he achieved a breakthrough: in 1888, Sichel invented the first ready-to-use wallpaper paste in Hannover. In 1889, he founded his company, “Arabinwerk, Chemische Fabrik Hannover,” in his parents’ business at Große Packhofstraße 39 in Hannover. Demand was so high that production had to be expanded. In 1897, new production facilities were built in Limmer (now a district of Hannover), and the company was renamed “Ferdinand Sichel in Limmer.” Business boomed, and the “Sichel-Werke” continued to grow. Ferdinand Sichel died on August 4, 1930, in Hannover. His grave is located at the Jewish Cemetery in Hannover-Bothfeld. In 1962, the factory was finally acquired by Henkel AG & Co. KGaA. The factory is still in operation today and is located at Sichelstraße 1.

Hermann Bahlsen

© Bahlsen

Hermann Bahlsen was born on November 14, 1859, in Hannover. In 1889, he founded the “Hannoversche Cakesfabrik H. Bahlsen.” He wanted to market the “cakes,” which he had previously encountered in England, throughout continental Europe. The factory’s most famous product was, and undoubtedly still is, the Leibniz butter cookie. In 1905, Bahlsen became the first manufacturer in Europe to switch to assembly-line production. In 1911 or 1912 (sources are not entirely certain), the word “Keks,” coined by Bahlsen, was finally added to the Duden dictionary and henceforth replaced the English word “cakes.” The former Bahlsen cookie factory now serves as the group’s administrative headquarters and is located at Podbielskistraße 11. Bahlsen died on November 6, 1919, in Hannover.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

© HMTG

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born on June 21, 1646, in Leipzig. He moved to Hannover in 1676 and was appointed a court councilor two years later. Leibniz is regarded as the universal genius of his time. His inventions include a calculating machine and the binary system, which forms the basis of modern computers. He also developed calculus. This was the subject of a long-standing dispute, as Sir Isaac Newton is also considered the inventor of calculus. Research has shown that Leibniz and Newton developed calculus independently of one another and without each other’s knowledge. Leibniz left many traces in Hanover. A detailed list with descriptions can be found here. Leibniz died on November 14, 1716, in Hanover. His grave is located in the Neustadt Court and City Church.

Karl Pollich and Fidelis Böhler

© LHH

Karl Pollich was born on April 7, 1892, in Baisingen, and Fidelis Böhler was born in 1887 in Friedingen (Langenenslingen). Both later became designers at Hanomag in Hannover and, in 1925, developed the Hanomag 2/10 PS compact car, which became known as the "Kommissbrot." What made this small car special was that it was manufactured entirely on an assembly line. After Opel had already begun producing its “Laubfrosch” on an assembly line in 1924, the Hanomag 2/10 PS became the first small car in Germany to be manufactured on an assembly line. A model of the Hanomag 2/10 PS can still be viewed today at the Historical Museum in Hannover

Georg Madelung

© Louise Kreth

Georg Madelung was born on July 31, 1889, in Rostock. In 1921, he earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Hannover. There, he designed a glider that would later become known as the HAWA Vampyr. The aircraft was designed by former World War I pilots Arthur Martens, Fritz Hentzen, and Walter Blume, all of whom were students at the Institute of Aeronautics at the Technical University of Hannover at the time. Under the direction of Hermann Dorner, the aircraft was built at the Hanover Carriage Factory (HAWA). The HAWA Vampyr is considered the forefather of modern gliders. A model of the aircraft is on display at the Aviation Museum Laatzen-Hannover

Franz Kruckenberg

Franz Kruckenberg was born on August 21, 1882, in Uetersen. He was a pioneer of high-speed rail travel. He designed the legendary “Rail Zeppelin,” which was built in 1930 at the Hannover-Leinhausen railway repair shop. What made the train unique was that it was propelled by a propeller at the rear. On June 21, 1931, the Rail Zeppelin set a world speed record of 230.2 km/h. This record was not broken until 1955. The buildings of the Hannover-Leinhausen Railway Repair Shop, which is no longer in operation, still stand today.

Konrad Dannenberg

© HMTG / Haase

The rocket pioneer was born on August 5, 1912, in Weißenfels (Province of Saxony). He graduated from high school at the Lutherschule in Hannover. He then studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Hannover (now Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University). Even then, he was already working on propulsion technology, among other things. In 1931, Dannenberg became a member of the Society for Rocket Research – Hanover Group (GEFRA), which was founded by Albert Püllenberg. Dannenberg built diesel-powered rocket engines out of bicycle frames. In 1932, he joined the NSDAP, became a soldier, and in 1940 joined Walter Thiel’s engine team at the Army Research Center in Peenemünde, where he worked primarily on the propulsion system for the A4 rocket. As part of Operation Overcast, he moved to the United States in 1945 along with Wernher von Braun and 117 other employees. In the U.S., he became deputy director of development for the Saturn rocket program at NASA. Thus, Dannenberg was involved in the construction of the “moon rocket” Saturn V for the Apollo program.

Elly Beinhorn

The aviation pioneer was born on May 30, 1907, in Hannover. After finishing school, she contacted the Hannover Aeroclub to train as a pilot. However, the club turned her down because, at that time, only men were allowed to become pilots. So she went to Berlin, where she received her pilot training. She initially became a sought-after aerobatic pilot until she completed her first flight to Africa in 1931. In 1932, she circumnavigated the globe in a solo flight, with Hannover serving as one of her stopovers. This was followed by a second flight to Africa in 1933, a trip to America in 1934, and a record-breaking flight across two continents in 24 hours in 1935. From 1935 to 1939, she undertook further long-distance flights. Beinhorn completed her solo flight around the world in 1932 in a single-engine Klemm L 25 D. An aircraft of this type is also on display today at the Aviation Museum Laatzen-Hannover.

Lazar Shargorodsky

© State Capital of Hannover

The designer was born in Odessa in 1882. In Hannover, he became chief designer at Hanomag, where, among other things, he designed the Hanomag streamlined car in 1939, which set four world speed records for diesel passenger cars that year. In 1939, Hanomag’s sports director and engineer Karl Haeberle reached 165 kilometers per hour in the vehicle during the Dessau Record Week. Unfortunately, the vehicle was lost in the turmoil of the war. However, the streamlined car was reconstructed by the Working Group on Technology and Industrial History in the Hannover Region as well as by the Hanomag Interest Group. Since then, the vehicle has been exhibited at select events

Max Valier

The astronomer, writer, and pioneer of rocket technology was born on February 9, 1895, in Bolzano. To bring his rocket plans to fruition, he needed a financier and approached numerous companies and associations. In 1927, Valier finally secured a wealthy patron in the form of automotive industrialist, sportsman, and race car driver Fritz von Opel. In 1928, the first tests with rocket-powered railcars took place on the Isernhagen-Burgwedel railway line (now part of the Hannover region). On August 4, 1928, the tests were halted after the fourth rocket car exploded during a test run. In November, however, the test runs resumed, this time in Berlin.

Georg Friedrich Grotefend

© HMTG

Georg Friedrich Grotefend was born on June 9, 1775, in Münden (now Hann. Münden). He studied philology and theology in Göttingen and worked there as an assistant teacher. In 1802, following a bet, he deciphered the first words of a cuneiform inscription. In 1821, he came to Hanover as director of the Lyzeum (today’s Kaiser-Wilhelm- und Rats Gymnasium) and became an honorary citizen of the city. He died on December 15, 1853, in Hanover; his grave is located in the Gartenfriedhof. His magnum opus is the 1837 work “New Contributions to the Explanation of Persepolitan Cuneiform.”.

Carl Hornemann

The chemist and entrepreneur was born on March 29, 1811, in Hannover. After studying chemistry at the polytechnic schools in Hannover and Munich, he began manufacturing artist’s paints in Groß Munzel in 1838. This marked the founding of Pelikan AG. In 1842, Hornemann moved to his hometown of Hannover and expanded his product line there. The product range included student paints, children’s paints, and artist watercolors. One of Pelikan’s innovations was liquid ink, which had previously been available only in stick form. Starting in 1895, the product range was significantly expanded. In addition to ink, the company now also manufactured office supplies. The iron gall ink “4001,” launched in 1898, became the world’s best-selling ink in the years that followed. In 1994, production in Hannover was discontinued and relocated to Peine. The old factory complex is now known as the “Pelikan Quarter” and houses, among other things, restaurants, a hotel, offices, and the Pelikan Ink Tower.

Ilse Knott-ter Meer

© Leibniz University (Source)

The graduate engineer was born on October 14, 1899, in Hannover. After graduating from high school, she studied mechanical engineering from 1919 to 1922 at the Technical University of Hannover—now known as Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University—and from 1922 to 1924 at the Technical University of Munich. In 1924, Ilse ter Meer completed her mechanical engineering degree at the Technical University of Munich. She was thus one of the first two female German mechanical engineers. In 1925, she also became the first female member of the Association of German Engineers (VDI).

Mary Wigman

© LHH

The dancer, choreographer, and dance educator was born on November 13, 1886, in Hannover. She spent her childhood and part of her youth in Hannover. After living in England, the Netherlands, and Lausanne, she studied rhythmic gymnastics in Hellerau from 1910 to 1911 but dropped out. She subsequently lived in Rome and Berlin. Finally, in 1913, she enrolled in Rudolf von Laban’s School of Art on Monte Verità in Switzerland. Mary Wigman performed her first public dances in Munich. Wigman had her big breakthrough in 1919 with her performances in Hamburg and Dresden. She made expressive dance internationally known as “New German Dance” and became one of the most influential pioneers of rhythmic-expressive dance. Mary Wigman’s childhood home is located at Schmiedestraße 33 in Hannover.

Ferdinand von Lindemann

The mathematician was born on April 12, 1852, in Hanover. His family home was located at what was then Langestraße 26, now Leibnizufer 13–15. He spent the first two years of his life there before the family moved to Schwerin. Von Lindemann studied mathematics in Göttingen. Over the course of his life, he lived and worked in numerous other cities, including Munich, Würzburg, and Freiburg. In 1882, he discovered that squaring the circle using a compass and straightedge is impossible. In doing so, he solved one of the oldest mathematical problems. A memorial stone in honor of von Lindemann is located in front of the building at Leibnizufer 13-15.

Charles Feltman

Charles Feltman’s real name was Karl Feldmann, and he was born in Hanover in 1841. At the age of 15, the trained baker emigrated to the United States and settled in New York. There, in 1867, he invented the hot dog as we know it today by selling sausages in a bun with sauerkraut from a pushcart on Coney Island. Karl Feldmann immediately changed his name to Charles Feltman and became a businessman. The hot dog business boomed, and in 1871 he opened “Feltman’s Restaurant and Beer Garden,” which eventually grew into what was then the world’s largest restaurant complex, featuring nine shops, a beer garden with two bars, and a hotel with a ballroom, bathhouse, and open-air cinema. In Hannover, too, hot dog stands are now a common sight, particularly at the numerous folk, street, and neighborhood festivals, but also sporadically throughout the cityscape.

Bulli and Beetle

© Volkswagen AG

Even though neither of them is a living, breathing being, no one can deny that both are true icons that have shaped entire generations. The VW Bus, or VW Transporter—known as the “Bulli”—rolled off the assembly line for the first time in Wolfsburg in 1950. In 1956, production of the bus was moved to the VW plant in Hannover-Stöcken, where it is still manufactured today. First the T1, and later the T2, T3, T4, and T5/T6 series. You can find numerous Bullis to rent and admire here. Another iconic vehicle is the VW Beetle. It first rolled off the assembly line in Wolfsburg in 1938. From 1974 to 1975, 43,000 Beetles (Type 1) were also produced in Hannover. As early as 1973, a rare special version of the Beetle, the Nordstadt Beetle, was created at the VW dealership in Hannover-Nordstadt. It was a car in the form of a “VW 1303” Beetle, but built on the chassis of the Porsche 914/6. A 2.7-liter engine from the Porsche Carrera RS was chosen to power it. The car could accelerate to 100 km/h in just over seven seconds and reached a top speed of nearly 220 km/h. The Beetle has enjoyed cult status at least since the U.S. film and television series featuring the Beetle “Herbie” or the German-Swiss film series featuring the Beetle “Dudu.” Every year on May 1, the Maikäfertreffen takes place at the Messeparkplätze Ost in Hannover; it is the largest VW Beetle meet in Europe, featuring around 3,000 Beetles and other VW models

© HMTG

Tourist highlights

Sights

Discover Hannover’s sights, rich in history and full of things to do.

read