Culture for free – Art for everyone!

The best part is that everyone decides for themselves when and where to start, how long to stay at each location, and when to take a break.

Hans Christian Nolte, Managing Director of Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH (HMTG): “With these special offerings, everyone—whether tourist or local—can discover the city in their own way, depending on their interests or the time they have available, whether by bike or on foot. What’s more, all the tours are free and offer fascinating insights into Hannover.”

A quick overview of the free city walking tours:

© HMTG / Heise

Art in public space
Public art has a long tradition and is highly valued in Hanover: over the decades, more than 200 sculptures and installations have been placed throughout the city. Anyone walking even short distances in the city center today cannot avoid the art; they are confronted with historical and contemporary works at every turn. They have become part of the urban fabric—often to such an extent that they are no longer even consciously noticed.

The HMTG has now compiled some highlights into four tours. Between eleven and fifteen works of art in public spaces can be discovered on these short walks. A map overview, photos, and background information on the artworks and the artists can be found at: www.visit-hannover.com/kulturforfree
Tip: Explore Art!
The city of Hannover offers guided tours of art in public spaces. “Kunst umgehen” is a regular educational program offered by the Cultural Office of the State Capital and a nationally recognized format. From May through October, four events are offered each month, focusing on the artworks from a wide variety of perspectives in art and science, sparking curiosity, providing an overview, and allowing visitors to view the objects from new perspectives. In addition to the tours, which can also be booked individually, there are discussion formats such as the consultation hour or the forum, discovery tours, or the Sunday excursion, as well as performative approaches to the artworks, such as in the Sculpture Transfer format. The complete program and all registration information can be found at: www.kunst-umgehen.de.

Hannover’s “Roter Faden”
has something truly unique to offer: a red line painted on the pavement stretches 4,200 meters and leads to 36 points of interest in the city center. The informative, pocket-sized brochure “Der Rote Faden – Ihr ganz persönlicher Stadtführer” is a helpful companion. The book provides plenty of interesting and sometimes amusing facts about all the attractions along the Red Thread.
Tip: The Red Thread is accessible

© HMTG

© Mahramzadeh

Bus Stops
: A More Beautiful Way to Wait – A Reality in Hanover for Over 25 Years: Since April 10, 1994, Hanover has boasted a collection of bus stops that is unique in the world. Gehry, Sottsass, Morrison—internationally renowned designers brought their own unique visions of the otherwise mundane bus shelter to life as part of this art project.
Tip: Discover “The Set Table,” “The Lego Landscape,” and “The Whispering Vault” on the Üstra bus.

© HMTG

Architecture Trail
The Architecture Trail follows in the footsteps of the Personal Union and showcases over 20 architectural landmarks from that remarkable era. The era of the Personal Union between the royal houses of Hanover and England lasted from 1714 to 1837. Numerous traces of this special time can still be found in today’s cityscape. Above all, the work of court architect Georg Laves (1788–1864) continues to shape the city to this day. The buildings and their connection to the Personal Union are described on the website and in a fold-out map.
Tip: The tour can easily be split into a downtown tour and a Herrenhausen tour and thus spread over two days.

© HMTG/Falk/Heise

Graffiti Tours:
Schwitters, the Cookie Monster, or an Underwater World: These three new graffiti and street art tours take you through Hanover’s Linden, Nordstadt, and List/Oststadt neighborhoods. Legal works of art that adorn and decorate building walls have been compiled here into short neighborhood tours.
Tip: Feel free to photograph new graffiti and send the photos to the HMTG via Instagram or Facebook.

© China Hopson

Leibniz Tour
Follow in the footsteps of the polymath and discover, on a tour through Hanover, the historic buildings and sites where Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz lived and worked during his lifetime. Leibniz designed the first calculating machine capable of performing the four basic arithmetic operations and described the binary system using zero and one, the foundation of modern computer technology. 
Tip: The spirit of Leibniz is reflected in the main building of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library, as he laid the foundation for its collection with the Ducal Library.

You can find all tours, including maps, information, and descriptions, at: www.visit-hannover.com/kulturforfree

(As of October 23, 2019)