A wide range of cultural activities

© HMTG

The inauguration of the Sprengel Museum Hannover’s new wing in October 2015 and the reopening of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library in the summer of 2016 further enrich Hannover’s outstanding cultural landscape. Throughout the year, this UNESCO City of Music—with its more than 60 museums and performance venues—offers one cultural highlight after another.

Hannover has joined the world league of music cities! Since late 2014, the capital of Lower Saxony has held the title of UNESCO City of Music! The city thus joins the international UNESCO network of Creative Cities, which includes Glasgow, Seville, Bogotá, Bologna, Ghent, and Brazzaville. It was able to convince the UNESCO Commission in Paris primarily through its educational and training opportunities in the musical field, its strengths in the music and creative industries, its diverse offerings across all genres—from pop and rock to jazz, early music, classical, and contemporary music—and its strong choral scene.

Hannover sounds great!

© HMTG / Martin Kirchner

Music is in the air in Hanover all year round! Visitors to A-Cappella Week and the Masala Weltbeat Festival are taken on a musical journey through a wide variety of countries. Hannover transforms into a jazz capital every year when tens of thousands of visitors gather in front of the New City Hall on Ascension Day for “enercity swinginghannover” to listen to top-class jazz ensembles from around the world—whether at sessions in the legendary JazzClub Hannover on Lindener Berg, where music greats like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington have performed, or at “Jazz am Ballhof.”

© HMTG

“Just make music” is the motto of the global music festival “Fête de la Musique.” Every year on June 21, Hanover joins hundreds of cities around the world in celebrating this grand festival of tolerance and international understanding. At the NDR Plaza Festival and the N-Joy Starshow, top-tier bands take the stage one after another. Music fans will also get their money’s worth at the Fährmannsfest, small club concerts, and major rock and pop concerts, for example at the TUI Arena, the EXPO Plaza, the HDI Arena, the Gilde-Parkbühne, or the Swiss Life Hall. One of the classical music highlights is the International Joseph Joachim Violin Competition. Every three years, the Lower Saxony Foundation invites outstanding young violinists from all over the world to Hannover for this event.

The “Kultursommer” festival, featuring national and international musicians performing in castles, churches, and monasteries, demonstrates just how wonderful the Hanover region sounds every year. Classical music events, such as those organized by PRO MUSICA, are held at the NDR Sendesaal or the Kuppelsaal at the HCC—Germany’s largest classical concert hall, with 3,600 seats. The Kuppelsaal is considered one of the most beautiful concert halls in Europe and was renovated from summer 2015 through January 2016.

The stage is set for cultural experiences of the highest caliber

© GOP Variety Theater

In any case, culture is a top priority in Lower Saxony’s state capital. The Staatstheater Hannover, with its opera and drama divisions, ranks among the nation’s best. Its outstanding ensembles, renowned directors, playwrights, and choreographers consistently set the bar—even by international standards. Numerous private theaters, featuring exciting productions ranging from light entertainment to avant-garde, are located throughout the city’s various neighborhoods. As a guest performance venue, the Theater am Aegi regularly hosts major productions ranging from musicals to operas and features stars from the worlds of music and comedy. At the Georgspalast, Zarah Leander and Heinz Erhardt once thrilled their audiences. Here, the GOP Varieté Theater continues this long tradition of variety entertainment with top-notch shows and the Winter Children’s Musical.

© HMTG /Martin Kirchner

The Opera Ball is a major social event, with a different theme each year. Hanover transforms into a dance capital during the Easter Dance Days or when the TANZtheater INTERNATIONAL festival takes place. Once a year, the “Long Night of the Theaters” offers an eventful tour of the city’s stages, featuring over 20 venues. Every two years, one of Germany’s largest theater festivals, Theaterformen, also takes place in Hannover.

Hannover, a hub for art and museums

© HMTG /Martin Kirchner

With its unique exhibits and spectacular exhibitions, Hanover is regarded as a major hub for art and museums. Whether it’s art, technology, history, or treasures from distant cultures and the natural world, the museums in the Region Hannover—both internationally renowned institutions and smaller ones—offer the perfect setting for experiencing culture and history up close. With a wide variety of exhibitions, the internationally renowned Sprengel Museum, the August Kestner Museum, the kestnergesellschaft, the Wilhelm Busch – German Museum of Caricature and Drawing, and the Lower Saxony State Museum, as well as attractions in the vacation region such as Marienburg Castle with its exhibition “The Path to the Crown,” invite visitors on exciting journeys of discovery.

© HMTG / Martin Kirchner

An overview of current exhibitions can be found at www.visit-hannover.com/ausstellungen. A particular highlight: the expansion of the Sprengel Museum. The addition of approximately 1,400 square meters of exhibition space makes it possible to permanently display more works of art to the public. A clear sequence of spaces in the exhibition wing with a well-organized layout, varying room formats, and ceiling heights give the tour a sense of rhythm—the rooms seem to “dance.” Following extensive renovations, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library was also reopened in June 2016 by Minister President Stephan Weil. Visitors can look forward to an expanded service area, a modern lecture hall for the diverse cultural program, and an exhibition area that makes it possible to display the library’s valuable holdings (including the “Golden Letter” from the Burmese King Alaungphaya to King George II).

2016 is Leibniz Year in Hannover. 2016 marks the 300th anniversary of the death of the polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. This milestone will be celebrated with numerous events and exhibitions. For more information, visit www.hannover.de/leibniz.

Cultural Highlights at the Herrenhausen Gardens

© HMTG / Martin Kirchner

The famous Herrenhausen Gardens, which were awarded the Garden Prize for the best historic garden in Europe in 2015, provide a fantastic setting for high-caliber cultural events. Since 2013, they have gained an additional attraction in the form of the reconstructed Herrenhausen Palace, which houses a museum as well as a conference center. Thus, the Baroque gardens serve as a dreamlike setting for the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen.

© HMTG / Mahramzadeh

Top-notch pyrotechnic teams from around the world will wow audiences over five evenings between May and September at the International Fireworks Competition, filling the night sky with explosive works of art combining light and music. And at the “Little Festival in the Great Garden,” dancers, mimes, and musicians will perform in the Baroque gardens. During the cooler months, the Gallery and Orangery become sought-after venues for classical concerts and the GOP Winter Variety Show.

For more information, visit www.hannover.de/presse_hmtg.

Photos for editorial use are available at www.hannover.de/fotodownload.

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Museums and Theaters in the Region Hannover

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