North

Nordstadt, Hainholz, and Vinnhorst/Brink-Hafen make up the 13th district, Nord. A total of nearly 32,200 residents (as of 2020) live together in an area covering 10.92 km². The most populous part is the vibrant Nordstadt, which is primarily shaped by the University of Hannover—here, long-time residents, young families, and students live together in a tolerant and relaxed atmosphere.

As the first working-class neighborhood in the royal capital, Nordstadt features a diverse, compact urban landscape with the Welfenschloss and industrial complexes (König & Ebhardt, Appel, Sprengel, the freight yard, and the hospital). In Hainholz, industrial development continued along Schulenburger Landstraße, but the residential areas formed a spatially open structure.

Guelph Castle

The current main university building was never actually used as a palace. The Welfen Palace, designed by court architect Christian Tramm for the last Guelph king, George V, beginning in 1856 using light-colored Deister sandstone, was completed only on the exterior by 1866. Starting in 1875, Hermann Hunaeus converted the palace into the Technical University. The four-story, cubic central building is extended to 150 meters by lower side wings and connecting structures. Five towers give the compact structure a picturesque exterior. The facades are designed in the so-called Tramm style, a round-arch style refined by surface tracery. This magnificent Guelph building marks the end of the Classicist architectural style, which was largely defined by Lave.

© HMTG

Old Jewish cemetery

© HMTG

In 1550, Hanover’s Jewish community was able to establish a burial ground on a sandy hill just outside the city gates—the Old Jewish Cemetery. A hedge was intended to protect the formerly treeless hill, but carters repeatedly took sand from there, prompting the district administrator to erect a protective stone wall in 1671 to prevent damage and disturbance. In 1740, the cemetery was expanded and enclosed by a wall. The graves are permanently preserved due to the prescribed “eternal” rest of the dead, but they were stacked on top of one another due to a lack of space. The approximately 700 gravestones face east.

Brüggemannhof

On the former site of the oilcloth factory (now Benecke-Kaliko), the Sparund Bauverein Hannover built the Brüggemannhof housing complex, comprising a total of 158 apartments. Architect Franz Hoffmann created, for the first time, a block of buildings arranged around a shared courtyard, which was landscaped with mature trees and featured a children’s playground. The apartments were state-of-the-art in terms of hygiene, featuring bathrooms, toilets, and balconies. The complex, nicknamed the “Red Castle” in part due to its socially democratic residents, was the first to offer a uniformly designed mass housing development consisting of small apartments. On the upper gallery floor, figures depicting active craft life reflect the character of the residents.

© HMTG