The Mellini affair The Mellini Theater was located in present-day Kurt-Schumacher-Strasse (known at that time as Artilleriestrasse) opposite the junction with Odeonstrasse. It was a variety theatre or boulevard theatre. During the Second World War, it was converted into a “Kraft-durch-Freude-Theater” [Strength through Joy Theatre], designed to boost morale (by inspiring a spirit of resilience…
The Laveshaus on Friedrichswall: Municipal health department 1935-37 The building was constructed during 1823-24 by the renowned court architect and town planner Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves, who lived there until his death. In 1855, the adjacent annexe was added for use by his son as his studio and living quarters. From 1908 onwards, the buildings…
Precious metals handed over to the Lending Office The city authorities were also involved in robbing and marginalising the Jewish population. In the spring of 1939, the Jews in Hanover and the surrounding area were forced to bring all their valuables made of precious metal to the municipal Lending Office at Am Hohen Ufer. Today…
State Tax Office [Oberfinanzpräsidium]: Legislated robbery After the liberation from National Socialism, very few perpetrators from the top echelons of the Party, Gestapo, SS, industry and judiciary were punished. However, the repression and robbing of the Jewish population had many accomplices in public office and administrative departments: pen-pushing perpetrators. Terror and bureaucracy went hand in…
Former court jail in Hanover The former court jail was demolished after the war. only a memorial next to the Kulturzentrum Pavillon [Pavilion Cultural Centre] commemorates the former court jail in Hanover and its role in National Socialism. Between 1933 and 1945, large numbers of political opponents of the regime were detained here, as well…
The police headquarters in Hardenbergstrasse Place of persecution: at the outset of the Nazi regime, the police headquarters building, inaugurated in 1903, housed not only the Kripo [abbreviation of ‘Kriminalpolizei’, the Criminal Investigation Department] but also the Hanover Gestapo [abbreviation of ‘Geheime Staatspolizei’, the Secret State Police]. Opponents of the Nazi regime as well…
Book burning memorial at the Geibelbastion On 10 May 1933, members of Hanover’s universities burnt the books of Jewish, liberal, pacifist and Marxist writers at the Bismarck Tower at the Maschwiesen (site of the present-day Maschsee lake). Hanover: The book burning on 10 May 1933 at the Bismarck Tower, press photo from: Die Weltschau, 21…
The Maschsee: Prodigious plans For joggers, water sports enthusiasts or rollerbladers, the Maschsee most likely rates as Hanover’s most popular local recreational lake reserve. Yet, few are aware that it was built by the Nazis as an architectural showpiece. However, plans for the lake go back further. Torchbearer column on the north bank of the…
Ballhof and “cleansing and recovery of the Altstadt” Deceptive mediaeval appearance: Nowadays, Ballhofplatz – Ballhof Square in English – may give every appearance of being the idyllic remnants of old Hanover. However, its origins are rather more recent: the square and surrounding buildings are a product of the redevelopment of the Altstadt [historic old town]…
Kreuzstrasse: SA Sturmlokal – a tavern where the SA met The former “Kreuzklappe” is thought to have existed as a feared National Socialist hang-out in the heart of the Altstadt since the summer of 1931. In the old ‘Mitte’ [central district] of Hanover, the hostility between Communists and Nazis is particularly acrimonious. Hanover: National socialists…