Hanover

Main article: [Lower Saxony]

Further information: [List of cities in Germany by population]

History

Hanover has been important for many years. It has been a capital for many places and states. From 1714 to 1837, the same person ruled both Hanover and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Geography

Hanover is the capital of Lower Saxony. It is the largest city there. The city is where the River Leine and the Ihme meet. It sits in the flat lands of the North German Plain.

Transport

Hanover is a busy place for travel. Many trains and roads go through the city. Hanover Airport is one of the busiest airports in Germany.

Culture and events

Hanover is famous for its big event spaces. The Hanover Fairground is the largest in the world. It holds important events like the Hanover Fair and the CeBIT technology fair, which stopped in 2018. The city also has fun festivals, such as the Schützenfest Hanover, one of the largest marksmen's festivals, and its own Oktoberfest Hanover.

Education

Hanover has important schools, like the Hanover Medical School and Leibniz University Hanover. These help make the city a place for learning and research.

Etymology

The name Hanover may come from an old German phrase meaning "on the high (river) bank." People in English usually wrote the city's name as "Hanover." Today, many use the German spelling "Hannover" with two n's. Both ways of spelling the name are said with the stress on the first syllable in English. The older English spelling is still used when talking about history, like the British House of Hanover.

Main article: House of Hanover

History

Geography

Hanover has an oceanic climate. This means its weather is influenced by air from the ocean. Even though it isn’t on a coast, the city has weather patterns like those in coastal areas.

The city is divided into 13 boroughs and 53 quarters. This makes it a large and organized place to live. Some well-known areas include Mitte, Vahrenwald-List, Buchholz-Kleefeld, and Linden-Limmer, among others.

Politics

The current mayor of Hanover is Belit Onay of Alliance 90/The Greens, elected in 2019. The last mayoral election was on 17 October 2019, with a second round on 10 November.

The Hanover city council works with the mayor to help run the city. The latest city council election was on 12 September 2021.

Main sights

Hanover has about 5,500 important old buildings. One of the city's most famous sights is the Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen. Its Great Garden is a famous Baroque garden. Even though the palace was damaged during wartime, it was rebuilt and reopened in 2013. The garden has Europe's tallest fountain and a special theatre for musical shows.

The Berggarten at Herrenhausen is a lovely botanical garden with many kinds of orchids. Visitors can see tropical plants, cacti, canaries, and butterflies. The city's landmark is the New Town Hall. Inside, there are models of the city, and an elevator takes visitors to an observation deck on top of a large dome.

The Hanover Zoo is very popular and has many themed areas like Sambesi, Gorilla-Mountain, and Yukon Bay. It also has a tropical house and a jungle house. The zoo also has a Sea Life Centre, Germany's first tropical aquarium.

Old Town Hall

Hanover's Old Town has important old buildings such as the large Marktkirche and the Old Town Hall. Nearby are interesting old houses and towers. The city also has many other famous sights including the Waterloo Column, the Gehry Tower designed by architect Frank O. Gehry, the beautiful Maschsee lake, and the large city forest Eilenriede.

The historic Leibniz Letters in the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library have been listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register since 2007.

The Hanover Fairground was the site of the EXPO 2000 fair and is now the world's largest exhibition centre. It includes many large halls and special sights like the Hermes Tower and the EXPO Roof, the largest wooden roof in the world.

The Telemax tower in Groß-Buchholz is the tallest building in Lower Saxony and the highest television tower in northern Germany. A walking trail called the Red Thread connects 36 important sights in the city centre.

Population

Hanover has about 540,000 people. It is the largest city in Lower Saxony and the 13th largest in Germany. The Hanover Region, with cities like Langenhagen, Garbsen, and Laatzen, has around 1,160,000 people. It is the largest district in Germany. The bigger Hanover metropolitan region, including Braunschweig, Hildesheim, and Göttingen, has about 3,850,000 people. This makes it the 8th largest metropolitan area in Germany.

Hanover grew past 100,000 people in 1875. It grew fast in the 1950s and 1960s. Many people came from places like Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Hanover has one of the largest Vietnamese communities in Germany. The Viên Giác pagoda is the largest Vietnamese pagoda in the country. The city is a comfortable place to live because of its good location and size.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1190	1,500	—
1435	5,000	+233.3%
1811	16,816	+236.3%
1836	23,898	+42.1%
1855	33,148	+38.7%
1875	106,667	+221.8%
1895	209,535	+96.4%
1905	250,632	+19.6%
1919	321,200	+28.2%
1939	477,100	+48.5%
1945	325,841	−31.7%
1951	469,300	+44.0%
1961	574,481	+22.4%
1970	522,098	−9.1%
1980	534,623	+2.4%
1990	513,010	−4.0%
2001	516,415	+0.7%
2011	506,416	−1.9%
2022	513,291	+1.4%
Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions.

Largest groups of foreign residents
Nationality	Population (31 December 2022)
Turkey	15,600
Poland	8,200
Ukraine	7,300
Syria	6,000
Greece	5,400
Iraq	4,900
Bulgaria	4,300
Italy	3,700
Romania	3,400
Russia	3,000
Spain	2,800
Vietnam	2,750
Serbia	2,700
Iran	2,500
Croatia	2,350
Ghana	2,150
Afghanistan	2,000
Kosovo	1,900
India	1,850
China	1,400
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1,200

Society and culture

Hanover is an important city for many different religions and cultures. It is home to several Protestant organizations, such as the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the Protestant Church in Germany, and the Reformed Alliance. In 2015, about 31% of people in Hanover were Protestant and 13% were Roman Catholic. The rest of the population was either not religious or followed other religions.

Hanover has many museums and galleries that show art and history from around the world. The Historisches Museum Hanover tells the city's story from its early days to today. The Kestnergesellschaft is a big art group with many exhibitions. The Kestner-Museum shows art and history from ancient times, including special collections of coins. Other museums include the Landesmuseum Hanover, which has art, nature, and history displays, and the Sprengel Museum, known for its modern and classical art. The Wilhelm Busch Museum focuses on cartoons and funny drawings. Hanover also has many smaller museums about topics like police history, textiles, and energy.

The city has many theatres, including the Lower Saxony State Theatre and the Theater am Aegi for musicals. Hanover is also known for its music, with famous rock bands like Scorpions coming from the area. The city has orchestras, choirs, and music competitions for young musicians.

Hanover is a great place for sports. The local football team, Hanover 96, plays in a big stadium that has hosted world-famous tournaments. There are also teams for ice hockey, rugby, water sports, fencing, basketball, baseball, and American football. The city hosts many running events, like the Hanover Marathon, and cycling races. The Maschsee lake is used for dragon boat races and other water sports.

Every year, Hanover holds many big events. The Schützenfest Hannover is one of the largest fairs in the world, with parades, rides, and fun for everyone. The Hanover Oktoberfest is also very popular. Other events include festivals, fireworks shows, and markets, making Hanover a lively place to visit. The city attracts many tourists to see sights like the New Town Hall, Herrenhausen Gardens, and Hanover Zoo. The Hanover Messe trade fair is one of the biggest in the world, drawing many visitors each year.

Transport

Hanover has many ways to get around, making travel easy. The city's central station, Hanover Hauptbahnhof, is a big stop for fast trains on the ICE network. It is where the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line starts and connects to many places in Germany and other countries through the Hanover S-Bahn.

The city is also served by Hanover Airport in Langenhagen, which has special codes: IATA code: HAJ and ICAO code: EDDV. Hanover is an important point in Germany’s autobahn system, where the A 2 and A 7 meet at Kreuz Hanover-Ost. Local roads like A 352 and A 37 help connect different parts of the city.

Hanover has many buses and trams, run by üstra. Some of the trams are special models like the TW 6000 and TW 2000. Riding bikes is also popular in the city centre, and you can take your bike on a tram or bus when it’s not very busy.

Economy

Hanover is a busy city with many big companies and jobs. One of the largest employers is the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles factory, which makes vans and buses. Another important company is Continental AG, which makes tires and car parts.

The city is also home to famous companies like Sennheiser, known for making great audio equipment, and TUI AG, a big travel company. Many insurance companies have offices in Hanover, including Talanx and VHV Group. There are also many smaller businesses in the city.

Employer	est.	Hanover located employees
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles	1956	14,500
Klinikum Region Hannover	2005	8,500
Hannover Medical School	1961	7,600
Continental	1871	7,500
Deutsche Bahn	1994	6,000
TUI	2002	4,600
DHL	1969	4,400
Nord/LB	1970	4,000
Talanx	1996	4,000
WABCO	2007	2,600
VHV Group	2003	2,500

Business development

Hannoverimpuls GMBH is a company started by the city and the region of Hanover in 2003. It helps new businesses start, grow, and come to Hanover. It focuses on thirteen areas to help the economy, like Automotive, Energy Solutions, Information and Communications Technology, Life Sciences, Optical Technologies, Creative Industries, and Production Engineering.

The company has special programs to help businesses in Hanover and other countries. It works with centers in Russia, India, and Turkey to build stronger business ties. There is also a research group, the Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover, which shares ideas with businesses to improve production methods.

Education

Hanover has many places where students can learn and study. The largest university is Leibniz University Hannover, which has the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics. Other important schools include the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover for music and theater, Hannover Medical School for medicine, and the School of Veterinary Medicine Hanover for animal care.

There are also special schools for different jobs, like metal and electrical engineering, and business. The city has gardens where students can learn about plants.

In popular culture

In an episode called "Problem Dog" from the TV show Breaking Bad, a big company named Madrigall Electromotive GmbH is said to be based in Hanover. This company is linked to Los Pollos Hermanos.

Notable people

Hanover has been home to many famous people from different areas of life. Some well-known names include Hannah Arendt, a political thinker, and Erdoğan Atalay, an actor. The city is also where Hermann Bahlsen was born. He made popular snacks. Another person from Hanover is Emil Berliner, who invented the phonograph.

Other famous people from Hanover include William Herschel, an astronomer who found the planet Uranus. There is also Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a great thinker and mathematician. In music, the city is linked to Klaus Meine, the lead singer of the rock band Scorpions. In sports, Hanover is known for players such as Per Mertesacker, a well-known footballer.