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…
Renaming of streets: “Adolf Hitler Street” After the handover of power to the National Socialists, a host of streets and squares in Hanover, as in other cities in the German Reich, are renamed for political motives. Not just main shopping thoroughfares such Bahnhofstrasse, but also quiet side streets and intersecting streets fall victim to the…
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…