Lange Laube: “SA Street” and Gauleitung [regional party leaders] Post-1933, many streets in Hanover were renamed after prominent National Socialist figures or in honour of party organisations. Bahnhofstrasse became “Adolf-Hitler-Strasse”, the square in front of the Stadthalle [now the Congress Centre] became “Hermann-Göring-Platz”, and Lange Laube became “Strasse der SA”, SA Street [SA is the…
Aegidienkirche: a war memorial The Aegidienkirche [Church of Aegidien], a Gothic hall church, was built in the middle of the 14th century. Together with the Marktkirche and Kreuzkirche it was one of the three churches in Hanover’s Altstadt. But today, its ruins stand as a memorial to the victims of war and violence. Hanover: View…
Cemetery of Honour on the northern bank of the Maschsee Graves of victims from all over Europe: this cemetery is the resting place of 386 concentration camp prisoners, forced labourers and prisoners of war from many European countries. The victims include 154 from the former Soviet Union who were murdered in a mass shooting that…
The Holocaust memorial at Opernplatz Inaugurated in 1994, the memorial next to the opera house commemorates Jewish citizens of Hanover that were deported and murdered. Although faced with a measure of opposition, the civic initiative Memorial association [Memorial e.V.] succeeded in erecting this important site in the heart of the city. The costs for the…
Neues Rathaus: the New Town Hall in Hanover Four scale models of the city vividly illustrate Hanover’s development, from the time it was the small residential seat of the House of Guelph (or Welf) (1689), to an industrial city on the eve of the Second World War (1939); then from the almost completely destroyed city…
ZeitZentrum Zivilcourage Located in the heart of the city, opposite the Neues Rathaus [New City Hall] in the Rathauskontor building complex, the ZeitZentrum Zivilcourage [Centre for Moral Courage] is an educational centre designed to appeal to all sectors of the community. It was opened in March 2021 and welcomes schoolchildren and all visitors with an…
Special court Hanover Special Courts, including the Special Court in Hanover, evolved over the 12 years of National Socialist rule from being special criminal tribunals dedicated to the persecution of the Nazi’s political opponents to “armoured troops of the criminal justice system”, there to keep the entire (wartime) society submissive by doling out draconian threats…