Hanover - Main Sights

Main Sights

One of the most famous sights is the Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen:

The Great Garden is an important European baroque garden. The palace itself, however, was largely destroyed by Allied bombing but is currently under reconstruction. Some points of interest are the Grotto (the interior was designed by the French artist Niki de Saint-Phalle), the Gallery Building, the Orangerie and the two pavilions by Remy de la Fosse. The Great Garden consists of several parts. The most popular ones are the Great Ground and the Nouveau Jardin. At the centre of the Nouveau Jardin is Europe's highest garden fountain. The historic Garden Theatre inter alia hosted the musicals of the German rock musician Heinz Rudolf Kunze.

The Berggarten is an important European botanical garden. Some points of interest are the Tropical House, the Cactus House, the Canary House and the Orchid House, which hosts one of the world's biggest collection of orchids, and free-flying birds and butterflies. Near the entrance to the Berggarten is the historic Library Pavillon. The Mausoleum of the Guelphs is also located in the Berggarten. Like the Great Garden, the Berggarten also consists of several parts, for example the Paradies and the Prairie Garden. There is also the Sea Life Centre Hanover, which is the first tropical aquarium in Germany.

The Georgengarten is an English landscape garden. The Leibniz Temple and the Georgen Palace are two points of interest there.

Other gardens are the Guelph Garden with the Guelph Palace and the Prince Garden. Nearby are the Water Art, the Hardenbergsche House and the Prince House.

The landmark of Hanover is the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus). Inside the building are four scale models of the city. A worldwide unique diagonal/arch elevator goes up the large dome to an observation deck.

The Hanover Zoo is one of the most spectacular and best zoos in Europe. The zoo received the Park Scout Award for the fourth year running in 2009/10, placing it among the best zoos in Germany. The zoo consists of several theme areas: Sambesi, Meyers Farm, Gorilla-Mountain, Jungle-Palace, and Mullewapp. Some smaller areas are Australia, the wooded area for wolves, and the so-called swimming area with many seabirds. There is also a tropical house, a jungle house, and a show arena. The new Canadian-themed area, Yukon Bay, opened in 2010. In the year of 2010 the Hanover Zoo had over 1.6 million visitors.

Another point of interest is the Old Town. At the centre are the huge Marktkirche (Market Church, preaching venue of the bishop of the Lutheran Landeskirche Hannovers) and the Old Town Hall. Nearby are the Leibniz House, the Nolte House, and the Beguine Tower. A very nice quarter of the Old Town is the Kreuz-Church-Quarter around the Kreuz Church with many nice little lanes. Nearby is the old royal sports hall - which is now a theatre, called Ballhof. On the edge of the Old Town are the Market Hall, the Leine Palace, and the ruin of the Aegidien Church which is now a monument to the victims of war and violence. Through the Marstall Gate you arrive at the bank of the river Leine, where the world-famous Nanas of Niki de Saint-Phalle are located. They are part of the Mile of Sculptures which leads from Trammplatz, following the river bank and crossing Königsworther Square up to the entrance of the Georgengarten. Near the Old Town is the district Calenberger Neustadt where the Catholic Church of St. Clemens, the Reformed Church, and the Lutheran Neustädter Kirche are located.

Some other popular sights are the Waterloo Column, the Laves House, the Wangenheim Palace, the Lower Saxony State Archives, the Hanover Playhouse, the Kröpcke Clock, the Anzeiger Tower Block, the Administration Building of the NORD/LB, the Cupola Hall of the Congress Centre, the Lower Saxony Stock, the Ministry of Finance, the Garten Church, the Luther Church, the Gehry Tower (designed by the American architect Frank O. Gehry), the specially designed Bus Stops, the Opera House, the Central Station, the Maschsee lake and the city forest Eilenriede, which is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. With its around 40 parks, forests and gardens, a couple of lakes, two rivers and one canal, Hanover offers a large variety of leisure activities.

Since 2007 the historic Leibniz Letters, which can be viewed in the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library, are on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

Outside the city centre is the EXPO-Park, the former site of EXPO 2000. Some points of interest are the Planet M., the former German Pavillon, some nations' vacant pavilions, the Expowale, the EXPO-Plaza and the EXPO-Gardens (Parc Agricole, EXPO-Park South and the Gardens of change). The fairground can be reached by the Exponale, one of the largest pedestrian bridges in Europe.

The Hanover fairground is the largest Exhibition Centre in the world . It provides 496,000 square metres of covered indoor space, 58,000 square metres of open-air space, 27 halls and pavilions. Many of the Exhibition Centre's halls are architectural highlights. Furthermore it offers the Convention Center with its 35 function rooms, glassed-in areas between halls, grassy park-like recreation zones and its own heliport.

Two important sights on the fairground are the Hermes Tower (88.8 metres high) and the EXPO Roof, the largest wooden roof in the world.

In the district of Anderten is the European Cheese Centre, the only Cheese Experience Centre in Europe. Another tourist sight in Anderten is the Hindenburg Lock, which was the biggest lock in Europe at the time of its construction in 1928. The Animalgarden in the district of Kirchrode is a huge forest and shows the local animals.

In the district of Groß-Buchholz the 282 metres high Telemax is located, which is the tallest building in Lower Saxony and the highest television tower in Northern Germany. Some other remarkable towers are the VW-Tower in the city centre and the old towers of the former mid-age defence belt: Döhrener Tower, Lister Tower and the Horse Tower.

The 36 most important sights of the city centre are connected with a 4.2 kilometres (3 mi) long red line, which is painted on the pavement. This so-called Red Thread marks out a walk that starts at the Tourist Information Office and ends on the Ernst-August-Square in front of the central station. There is also a guided sightseeing-bus tour through the city.