Hannover Speaks Low German: City Tour Now Available in Low German (October 1, 2013)

Binnenstadt, olet Rathuus, nieget Rathuus, or Markthall: Starting Friday, Hannover will be speaking Low German—at least on the open-top buses that take visitors on hop-on-hop-off tours of the city’s sights several times a day. Just in time for the start of fall break, HMTG and Hannover City Tour e.K. are now offering an Low German audio guide on their Hannover buses, in addition to German and English versions. It invites visitors to the capital of Lower Saxony to experience the city in a typically North German way. “Lower Saxony is the state of Low German. Even though the state capital, Hanover, is known for its pure High German, it is a matter of honor to offer our guests a city tour in Low German,” explains Hans Christian Nolte, Managing Director of Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH.

To make the listening experience particularly authentic and entertaining, Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH had the text for the city tour translated and narrated by an expert in the Low German language: Dr. Ilka Brüggemann-Buck is a Low German editor and host at NDR 1 Lower Saxony; she hosts the Saturday evening program "Düt un dat op Platt" and is the author of the series "Hör mal `n beten to." The 45-year-old has also previously contributed to the Low German audio guide for the State Museum in Hannover.

“There’s a lot to discover in Hannover. While working on the audio guide, I learned many small, interesting details that I hadn’t known before. And I think this Low German audio guide is a great resource not only for out-of-town tourists, but also for everyone who lives in Hannover—it might help them see their city from a different perspective,” says Brüggemann-Buck.

For the Low German audio guide, the NDR editor translated and recorded more than 60 individual segments. The final audio recording totaled about 40 minutes. “What I particularly like about the Low German language is that it gives you the chance to express things a bit more directly or to add a little more verve,” Brüggemann-Buck reveals.

Whether participants in the Hanover city tour prefer to listen to the Low German anecdotes about Hanover’s sights all at once—that is, during a continuous tour—or with short stops along the way, using the hop-on-hop-off format, is entirely up to them: At least one of the two Hannover buses departs several times a day (during the winter season starting in November, every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) from the Tourist Information office at Ernst-August-Platz 8 and stops at a total of seven locations.

The hop-on, hop-off system allows visitors to customize their city tour with flexibility. This means they can choose their own starting and ending points, get on and off at any of the seven stops, take breaks as they please, and resume the tour later or from a different location. The stops are served in sequence at the Tourist Information office on Ernst-August-Platz, the Hannover adventure zoo, the Apostelkirche (Lister Meile), the Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen, the New Town Hall, the Old Town Hall, and the north shore of Lake Maschsee.

 “Now is the perfect time to drive through the city in the open-top Cabriobus during the golden autumn—and experience Hannover in the local dialect,” recommends Nolte.

Tickets for the one- or two-day hop-on-hop-off tour and for the private tour are available both at the Tourist Information office on Ernst-August-Platz and directly on the bus. Depending on demand, one or two buses are in service each day. The buses can accommodate up to 70 people and are wheelchair accessible.

The Hannover double-decker buses, launched in April by HMTG in collaboration with Hannover City Tour e.K., have been very well received: Since the introduction of the new city tour system, more than twice as many people have taken a bus tour compared to last year. The special tours, which are popular with companies and clubs, are also in high demand.

The introduction of additional audio guides is planned for early next year, for example in Spanish, French, or Russian.

For more information, as well as a flyer containing detailed information, a map, and a schedule, please visit www.hannover.de/stadtrundfahrt