Looted property in the Hanover City Library Not only works of art, but also individual books or entire private libraries came into the possession of archives, museums and libraries as “Nazi-confiscated cultural property” – including Hannover City Library. The latter makes intensive efforts, in accordance with the criteria of the “Washington Principles” adopted in 1998…
The Stolperstein for Hermann Federmann At the north-eastern side of Wagenerstrasse, just before the passageway to Archivstrasse, there is a Stolperstein for Hermann Federmann embedded in the ground of the pedestrian walkway. Stolpersteine commemorate the fate of people who were expelled, deported, driven to suicide or murdered under National Socialism. They are located at the…
The Eigermann family, Kramerstrasse 19/20 This is where the large Jewish Eigermann family lived until their expulsion in October 1938. Three children succeeded in fleeing to Palestine. Stumbling stones set in front of the house commemorate the fates of family members murdered in the Holocaust. Life in Hanover’s Altstadt In the address book of the…
Stolpersteine for the Jewish Bloch family The Bloch family moved to Hanover from what is now Poland in 1905 and thus belonged to the approximately 20 per cent of Jews in Hanover’s Jewish population that had East European roots. Between 1903 and 1906, the Jews in Russian Poland suffered devastating pogroms. A baker’s family In…
Käte Steinitz Art Salon Kate Steinitz moves to Hanover in 1918 together with her husband. The university-educated art historian soon finds herself the focus of the city’s literary and artistic avant-garde. The guest book of her drawing room in her spacious apartment in Haus Basse reflects the vibrant cultural mood of optimism of the Twenties…
Jewish-owned department stores Before the turn of the century in 1900, Hanover undergoes a radical transformation, becoming not only an industrial city but also a shopping metropolis. As a result, six department stores are built. Four of them are founded by Jewish businessmen and developed into large companies – until, that is, the economic crisis…
Former “Jewish house”, Herschelstrasse Forced to move house: following a directive from the city authorities on 3 September 1941, more than 1200 Jewish citizens in Hanover had to leave their homes within the space of a few hours. They were forced to move into 15 “Jewish houses” dotted around the city. One of these was…
The birthplace of Herschel Grünspan Herschel Grünspan grows up here in Burgstrasse before living in Paris as an illegal immigrant. Whilst there, he hears of his family’s deportation to Poland. His shooting of an official at the German embassy provides the National Socialists with the long-awaited excuse to radically intensify their anti-Jewish measures. Hanover: Ballhofplatz…
Königsworther Platz alias “Horst-Wessel-Platz” Murderers and their victims. The story of two villas located on the same square. “Villa Simon” had belonged to the Jewish Berliner family of entrepreneurs since 1895. In 1941, it was acquired by the Hanover city authorities. Its Jewish occupants were deported. A few blocks away stood the villa housing SS-District…
The Technical University and Theodor Lessing A castle turned university: the main building of present-day Leibniz University not only looks like a castle, it was actually built as a Guelph palace. However, after the war against Prussia was lost in 1866, the Kingdom of Hanover ceased to exist. Hanover became the Prussian provincial capital. Shortly…