History of Hannover

The town of Hannover was founded sometime in the medieval period as a small rural settlement on the banks of the River Leine, where two important trade routes crossed the river. The small settlement, composed of fishermen, developed into a town under the protection of the Dukes of Roden, who had a castle built on the opposite side of the river. The Dukes of Roden later sold the burgeoning town to the Welfen.

The 13th and 14th centuries

In 1241, the town became a borough. At that time, Hannover was already a thriving community of traders and craftsmen. In the 14th century, the city was fortified with a solid city wall boasting three gates: the Leintor, Aegidientor and the Steintor. Three Gothic churches were built in the same century, Aegidienkirche, Marktkirche and Kreuzkirche.

A hundred years later the Old Town Hall, which can still be seen today, was built next to Marktkirche in the brickwork style of northern Germany. Little then changed in Hannover for a few centuries. In the 1630s, during the vicious Thirty Years War, the Duke of Calenberg decided that it was better to live in a well-fortified city and made Hannover his residence. An old monastery by the river was converted into the duke's castle. On the other side of the river a new part of the town was built to house all the people who worked for the court. It was called ‘Calenberger Neustadt’.

The architectural boom

In 1714, the duke left Hannover to become the King of England, and again, few changes occurred during the time of the personal union with England. After the Seven Years War, the embankments were pulled down and the city started to grow again. In place of the large embankments, two boulevards were built: the Georgstraße and the Friedrichstraße (today, known as Friedrichswall).
In the 19th century, after the Napoleonic Age was over, Hannover became a kingdom and when the union with England was finished, it had its own king, Ernst August, whose monument now stands in front of Central Station.

At that time, GF Laves, a well-known architect, worked in Hannover by appointment of the king. A lot of important buildings in Hannover are based on his plans, like the Leineschloß, Castle of Herrenhausen (destroyed in the war), the Opera House, Waterloo Square and Central Station. Between the station and the Old Town, the Ernst August Stadt was built and new trades and companies were established here, so in due course, the city centre moved from the Old Town to Ernst August Stadt.

Modern times

In the 19th century, the city really started growing. Villages on the fringe were incorporated into the city, but industrialisation did not get going until 1866, when the Kingdom of Hannover was annexed by the Prussians. Before that, the king decided he did not want any dirty and noisy industry in his city. So Hannover's industrial development started in the village of Linden, which was incorporated into Hannover in 1920. After 1866, during the ‘Gründerzeit’, Hannover's industria l growth boomed. The Mittellandkanal and the motorway connected the growing city to the modern traffic network.

WWII dealt a heavy blow to Hannover's economy. Almost two thirds of the city’s buildings were destroyed or burnt out and a lot of people lost their homes. Also, a large number of refugees from the east had to be accommodated. It was a hard life, but after the rubble was removed, the rebuilding of Hannover began. With rebuilding, Hannover became famous for hosting commercial expositions such as the CeBIT and the Hannover Fair. In 2000, Hannover hosted the Expo 2000. The Hannover fairground is the largest in the world. In 2006, Hannover hosted five World Cup matches.