Hannover: Very British and more (29.08.2014)

Lower Saxony’s state exhibition “When the Royals came from Hanover” to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the royal Personal Union will run until 5 October. At five different exhibition venues, everything focuses on the 123 years in which the Electorate of Hanover and the Kingdom of Great Britain shared the same monarch. At Lower Saxony State Museum, Herrenhausen Palace Museum, Hannover Museum of History, Wilhelm Busch – German Museum of Caricature and Critical Graphic Art and at the Residence Museum in Celle Palace visitors can follow in the royal footsteps and learn fascinating details of the chequered era of Personal Union.

You still have roughly one month left to take a look at Hannover’s British past.

If you would like to take a break in green surroundings between visits to the different museums, take your cue from around 400,000 visitors from all over the world who called at Herrenhausen Gardens between January and July to admire the bosquets, golden statues and botanical rarities. It is also well worth making a detour to the region around Hannover for a trip to Marienburg Castle, which is showing a special exhibition “The Path to the Crown – the Kingdom of Hanover and its Rulers”. More than 100,000 visitors have already come to see the Hanoverian king’s crown, sceptre and bridal tiara.

But quite apart from the royal exhibition, Hannover has many other attractive museums. Until 26 October, the kestnergesellschaft (kestner society), for example, is staging a first-class exhibition featuring three major contemporary artists: andreas gursky | neo rauch | jeff wall. Art aficionados will also be rewarded at the 17th Zinnober-Kunstvolkslauf on 6 and 7 September, when 36 studios, private and public art galleries, together with Hannover’s Cultural Office, invite you to come and discover art. The exhibition entitled ”Loriot. Spätlese” at Wilhelm Busch – German Museum of Caricature and Critical Graphic Art will continue to amuse visitors until 14 September.

Exhibitions on the Great War are on show at Hannover Museum of History (“Heimatfront Hannover” [Hanover’s Home Front]) and the Sprengel Museum Hannover (“Schlachtfelder” [Battlefields]). For details of these and other exhibitions, visit www.visit-hannover.com.

After a day inside museums, you will no doubt wish to head outdoors and luckily, the open air season in the city on the Leine River is by no means over! Hannover’s very own Oktoberfest begins on 19 September: feel free to appear in dirndl and lederhosen. From 12 to 14 September, HerrenhausenAutumn Festival presents stylish country lifestyle and the good things in life; athletes can compete in Maschsee Triathlon (6 September) or the 12th HannoverNight Run (19 September). The 27th Hannover Region Discovery Day on 14 Septemberfocuses entirely on climate protection and, with 52 excursion destinations and live performances by Max Mutzke and “The Voice of Germany” winner Ivy Quainoo, promises to be an eventful day. Visitors to the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen arts festival from 19 to 28 September can look forward to top-class culture. In its second year, the festival presents a selection ranging from baroque to contemporary artistic forms. The standard is also high at Tanztheater International: on 4 September, it will be curtain up for the 29th dance festival, which will present highlights of the international modern dance scene on stages throughout Hannover until 13 September.

“The large number of events on the ‘very British’ theme allows visitors to plan their own personal agenda for a visit to Hannover after the last weeks of the school holidays. Whether a short break or a longer stay, art and culture, sport or shopping, funfair or concert – there is something to suit every taste and every budget,” promises Hans Christian Nolte, Managing Director of Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH (HMTG).

To ensure you have an enjoyable holiday in Hannover, HMTG has designed numerous group trips and packages including accommodation. For more information, visit www.hannover.de/erlebnispakete & www.visit-hannover.com

All information about the state exhibition is available at www.hannover.de/landesausstellung and www.royals-aus-hannover.de.