Suedstadt-Bult

The 7th district, Südstadt-Bult, covers a total area of 7.17 km² and is home to nearly 44,000 residents (as of 2020). With the Maschsee in Südstadt and the “Alte Bult” landscape conservation area—part of which is designated as such—in the Bult neighborhood, the district is considered green. In the 1920s, Südstadt-Bult was developed with housing primarily for employees and civil servants.

Glückauf" high-rise residential building

Clinker brick façades of the "Red Modernism" style have dominated the streetscape here ever since city planning officer Karl Elkart linked the use of bricks fired to the point of sintering to the granting of loans. The wide, avenue-like transverse axis, Geibelstrasse, ended in the east with the nine-storey "Glückauf" high-rise building on Geibelplatz.

The nine-story residential high-rise “Glückauf” marks the end of Geibelstraße, located in the heart of the Südstadt district. The building was constructed in 1930 according to plans by architect Wilhelm Ziegeler for coal merchant Carl Lichtenberg and the Glückauf Miners’ Association. An arcade with seven arched openings forms the base, above which a pointed turret rises over six stories; in front of it stands a life-size sculpture of a miner with a pickaxe, helmet, and miner’s lamp. Crossed hammers can be seen in the keystone at the eaves. The decorative plaza was created in 1932 and has been redesigned several times.

© HMTG

© HMTG

Maschsee

Today, it is impossible to imagine the cityscape without Lake Maschsee as a recreational facility and leisure area, and yet it is only 80 years old. The annual Lake Maschsee Festival also attracts millions of visitors. Inspired in 1904 by rower Karl Thiele, technically conceived in 1926 by hydraulic engineer Otto Franzius, and detailed by Karl Schwien, the National Socialists took over the construction from 1934 to 1936 as their first major project to reduce unemployment. The overall design by the city planning office under Karl Elkart followed modern design principles, and even the torchbearers and fish riders can be classified as examples of moderate modernism.

Hiroshima Grove

From 1909 to 1973, the “Alte Bult” horse racing track was a special venue for equestrian sports. Today, the site serves as a valuable habitat and is of great importance for local recreation. In 1988, 110 cherry trees—the Hiroshima Memorial Grove—were planted on the grounds. The trees are intended to commemorate the 110,000 immediate victims of the atomic bombing of Hanover’s sister city, Hiroshima.

© Dagmar Nagel