Ahlem-Badenstedt-Davenstedt

The 11th district comprises the three neighborhoods of Ahlem, Badenstedt, and Davenstedt in the southwest of the city of Hannover. With an area of 9.85 km², it is home to nearly 34,000 residents (as of 2021). Ahlem-Badenstedt-Davenstedt is known for its green spaces, such as Willy-Spahn-Park, the Fösse Green Corridor, and Benther Berg. There is also no shortage of recreational activities here; youth centers and cultural institutions in particular shape life in the area.

Willy-Spahn-Park / lime kiln

© HMTG

The current site of Willy Spahn Park was originally a lime quarry, which was used from 1850 for the production of quicklime (mortar) and slaked lime (fertilizer). The existing lime kiln, a 35 m long, 13 m wide and 9.5 m high Hoffmann ring kiln, was built in 1925 and could be preserved. It only remained in operation until 1930. In 1938, the businessman Willy Spahn acquired the site and planted an orchard on the terraces for the production of fruit and fruit juice drinks under the "Sprudella" brand. The fruit juice business was discontinued in the 1960s. When his widow died in 1996, the site was redesigned as a public park and the only listed circular oven in the region was restored. The recreational park, which is popular with young and old, has been open since 2004.

In addition to cultural institutions such as the local history museum, the Ahlem neighborhood is also home to several memorials and sites commemorating World War II.

Israelite Garden School / Ahlem Memorial

© HMTG

The Ahlem Jewish Garden School at Heisterbergallee 8, originally called the Jewish Educational Institution, was founded in 1893 by the Hanoverian banker Moritz Simon with the aim of providing Jewish children and adolescents with an elementary school education followed by training in horticulture. The students came from all over Germany and Eastern Europe. The headmaster’s residence, the girls’ dormitory, and the gatekeeper’s house have been preserved. The architecture, featuring red brick bands and stuccoed walls with arched windows, is typical of school buildings of that era. The school was closed in 1942; as early as the fall of 1941, the gardener’s house became a “Judenhaus,” from which more than 2,000 men, women, and children were transported to concentration camps and ghettos in Eastern Europe by 1944. Since 1987, this site has been home to the Ahlem Memorial and Remembrance Center, which documents the history of this place and its residents.

The lime kiln (1925) and the asphalt pits (since 1842) still bear witness to this today. During the Second World War, goods essential to the war effort were produced in the asphalt pits using concentration camp prisoners. A unique facility was founded in Ahlem in 1893 with the Israelite Horticultural School.