Center

The city center has been dominated by market activity since the Middle Ages: Department stores, administrative offices, banks and insurance companies still characterize the cityscape today. The beginnings of the town go back further.

The Herrenhof on what is now Ballhofplatz and the market square in front of the old town hall have existed since the early 11th century. The almond-shaped city layout, situated between the Aegidien and Steintor gates and featuring three main thoroughfares, was soon densely built up. The city’s economic importance grew, as did its self-confidence, which was recognized in a 1241 charter by Duke Otto I of Brunswick-Lüneburg. When Duke Georg made Hannover his residence in 1636, the citizens left him little room for a courtly life.

That is why he focused on Calenberger Neustadt. It was fortified; a market and a church were established; the sovereign’s administrative offices and staff moved in; and hotels began to open. The city, which was independent from 1707 to 1824, developed into the gateway to the royal residence. It was not until the railway connection (1843) and the end of the kingdom in 1866 that the economic center shifted toward Kröpcke. The opening of Karmarschstraße between 1879 and 1898 accelerated the development of the city center, while the Old Town lost its significance. During the reconstruction following the devastating destruction of World War II, the city center was expanded by the “Cityring” and its functions were reorganized. The selection of Hannover as the capital of the state of Lower Saxony (1946) and the establishment of the Industrial Fair (1947) provided further impetus.

Begin tower

City anniversary 775 years — 775 Years – Discover Your Hannover

The semicircular Beginen Tower was the fifth and strongest tower of the medieval city wall. The citizens of Hannover built it in 1357 on the banks of the Leine River, across from the sovereign’s castle at Lauenrode. The structure is a striking demonstration of the city’s self-confidence: deeply embedded in the high bank, rising 23 meters high, and featuring walls three meters thick, it provided protection for the citizens while simultaneously serving as a threat to outsiders. The narrow Gothic windows at the top served for observation and defense. Even today, two iron rings and a hook above the windows catch the eye; these once held a wooden shutter to protect the defenders. For a time, the tower served as a prison, then as a peat storage facility, a residence, and finally as a restaurant. Today, it is a museum dedicated to the city’s history.

Address:Am Hohen Ufer, 30159 Hanover

New town hall

Following two design competitions in 1896 and 1897, architect Hermann Eggert planned a group of three buildings centered around a “courtyard of honor”: City Hall, the Building Department (destroyed during the war), and the existing August Kestner Museum. Instead of the customary tower, the 129-meter-long and 124-meter-wide City Hall was given a dome—modeled after the Reichstag building in Berlin. The richly decorated facades were executed in the Neo-Renaissance style, which is why the building was popularly known as “Heinrich’s Castle”—named after the then-serving city director, Heinrich Tramm. The Plaza of Human Rights as a forecourt, the landscaped Maschpark, and the imposing, monumental effect still fascinate today, but have lost their intimidating power with the democratic opening of the building and its institutions.

Address: 1 Human Rights Square, 30159 Hanover
Further information on the New Town Hall

Anzeiger high-rise

As a landmark in the cityscape, the *Hannoverscher Anzeiger* skyscraper bears witness to the special influence of the press during the Weimar Republic. The nine-story reinforced-concrete structure with its green planetarium dome was commissioned by August Madsack for the *Hannoverscher Anzeiger* from the Hamburg-based master of brick architecture Fritz Höger and completed in 1927–28. The dynamic upward thrust of the pillars and pilaster strips, the stepped arrangement of the upper floors, as well as the elevated, stepped passageways and the approach to the cathedral-like lobby make the building a spectacle, a quality that is continued in the artisanal detail of the clinker brickwork. In 1930, the high-rise was one of eight high-rises in Hannover; moreover, it marks the beginning of the use of clinker brick for residential buildings of the “Red Modernism” movement.

Address: 9 Goseriede, 30159 Hannover