Hannover: exciting, ambitious, cosmopolitan

It’s always worth while arranging a rendezvous in Hannover! This delightful city, full of green oases and open spaces such as the Herrenhausen Gardens, the Eilenriede City Forest, the River Leine and the Maschsee Lake, offers its visitors both complete relaxation and recreation on the one hand, and a whole range of opportunities for sporting activities on the other. Lovers of art and culture will also find everything their hearts could desire: Hannover’s theatres, its Opera House and its numerous museums and art galleries, not to mention the GOP-Varieté, guarantee top-notch events and concerts and exhibitions of the highest quality. And there are many other diverse attractions that draw large numbers of visitors too.

The Herrenhausen Gardens

From a tourist’s point of view, the brightest jewel in Hannover’s crown is the Herrenhausen Gardens. Already in the days of King George IV, these unique gardens were described as "Hannover’s green anteroom". Today it is not only the citizens of Hannover who enjoy strolling through their gardens; visitors from other parts of Germany and abroad are equally delighted by the unparalleled atmosphere of what must be one of the most beautiful of historic garden ensembles. The City of Hannover owes the Great Garden, a gem of baroque garden design, to Electress Sophia, Princess Palatine of the Rhine. Inspired by the Sun King Louis XIV, she had the almost 200-acre garden laid out in the French style at the end of the 17th century, and made it her life’s work. Today, more than 400,000 tourists enjoy the atmosphere of the baroque garden every year; it is one of the best preserved in Europe. In addition, the Grotto, which was transformed into a magical work of art, a place of sensuousness and joie de vivre, by the artist Niki de Saint Phalle, exercises a magnetic attraction on visitors. Its rooms, lovingly and elaborately decorated with pebbles and fragments of glass and mirror, plunge the visitor into an unending play of colour, light and shadow.

Hannover Adventure Zoo

A further attraction is Hannover Adventure Zoo, which in recent years has been transformed from a traditional zoo into an animal experience and adventure park that is unique in Europe. Nowhere else north of the Sahara can Africa be experienced as intensively as here: the visitor is practically at arm’s length from hippos, zebras and rhinos, can explore Zambezi by boat and observe giraffes from an airy height. In the Indian Jungle Palace, one of Europe’s biggest herds of elephant can be watched performing their tricks. But it is not all exotic worlds: red-and-white "Husum Protest Pigs" wallow in the mud in front of Farmer Meyer’s pigsties, while the meadows are full of rough-fleeced Pomeranian sheep and hardy Exmoor ponies. The Mullewapp petting zoo provides lots of fun for the very smallest, while the adults can take refreshment at the magnificent country beer garden on Meyer’s Farm. Over 2,600 animals are to be seen in four thrilling, exotic worlds of experience.

SEA LIFE Hannover

Since a little more than a year ago, Hannover has been richer by a further attraction: denizens of the sea meet with the jungle in Germany’s first tropical Sea Life aquarium. Sea Life Hannover has moved into the former Rainforest House in the Berggarten botanical garden. Visitors are given insights into the underwater world at home and abroad, from the River Leine to the Caribbean to the tropical Amazonian jungle. No less than 30 tanks and pools are filled with shellfish, crabs, rays, piranhas, nurse sharks and many other species besides. And a range of special events and projects, particularly on environmental topics, make SEA LIFE Hannover a major draw for visitors.

Hannover Sevens Rugby European Championship

Sevens rugby is a fast and vigorous game which demands peak physical condition, athletic prowess and speed. And Hannover is without a doubt just the place for the European Championship in Sevens Rugby. On 12 and 13 July, the AWD Arena will be turned over completely to this sport, which has a long tradition in many parts of the world. Planning has been proceeding in top gear for months already. According to legend, the game of rugby was "invented" in 1823 by the English schoolboy William Webb Ellis, when in the course of a football match, "with a fine disregard for the rules", he caught the ball in his hands and ran with it towards his opponents’ goal, pursued by his fellow players. From this there developed a completely new type of ball game. And as it all happened in the town of Rugby in the English Midlands, it was easy to find a name for this form of "egg-chasing", as the game with the oval ball is also called. Starting from Rugby, the new sport spread quickly as students and soldiers, merchants and migrants made it known throughout the world. In many Commonwealth countries particularly, rugby is a national sport. In New Zealand, for example, the players of the national team enjoy hero status. The major sporting event in Hannover is being organised by the Lower Saxony Rugby Union, together with the City Council. There has been a European Championship in Sevens Rugby since 2002, and the contest is becoming more and more popular: in 2007, 37 nations took part in the qualifying tournaments. In 2008, the European Championship finals in Hannover are also a qualifying tournament for the Sevens World Cup in Dubai in 2009. Five European qualifiers still have to be determined to join England, Scotland and France in Dubai, these three countries having already qualified through their good performances in the last World Cup. The favourites for the Hannover Sevens are Wales, Ireland, Italy, the defending champion Russia and five times European Champion Portugal. On its good days, Germany is well able to stand up to these top teams. In addition to a high-class rugby tournament, visitors can also expect an entertaining programme of sport, show and entertainment outside the stadium. The motto of the event is "Rugby, family and friends".

Hannover Marksmen’s Fair - crazy days in the city

Almost next door to the Rugby Championship, the people of Hannover will be celebrating the Hannover Marksmen’s Fair, the biggest marksmen’s fair and the one with the greatest wealth of tradition, from 4 to 13 July. The Hannover Sevens will of course also be taken due note of at the fair this year: amongst other things, public viewing screens are planned at different points on the fairground.
The Marksmen’s Fair, with its exciting fairground atmosphere and breathtaking rides, captivates about two million visitors every year. The highlight of these "crazy days", however, is the Grand Parade of the Marksmen on 6 July, when some 12,000 participants - marksmen and markswomen, marching bands, and festively decorated floats, some of them horse-drawn - march from the Town Hall to the fairground. And up to 200,000 people line the streets to cheer on this magnificent procession.

Musical by Kunze in the historic Garden Theatre

It’s amazing what the rock poet Heinz Rudolf Kunze and the composer Heiner Lürig are able to think up. In 2007, tens of thousands of visitors flocked to the historic Garden Theatre in Herrenhausen to see yet another entertaining musical, freely after Shakespeare, against the matchless backcloth of the Herrenhausen Gardens. And once again in 2008, the musical version of Shakespeare’s "Twelfth Night" called "Love in Disguise, or, What You Will", as produced by the Herrenhausen Festival Weeks and the Theater für Niedersachsen (TfN), promises to be a complete success at each of its 18 performances.

18th International Firework Competition

This year, the 18th International Firework Competition in Herrenhausen will be a "high-light" in the truest sense of the word. The elite of pyrotechnists from all over the world will be competing against each other in the Great Garden on five different evenings, and are certain to enchant their audiences. The combination of music, fireworks and artistic performances guarantees first rate entertainment on a high level.
The 25-minute firework display offers pyrotechnic creations that have never been seen before, while the colourful accompanying programme attracts thousands of people to the Herrenhausen Gardens to stroll around and picnic long before the firework display begins. It is scarcely possible to imagine lovelier surroundings for this breathtaking spectacle.

Dates and participants 2008:
10 May Portugal
14 June France
30 August Philippines
13 September Denmark
27 September Canada

TUIfly Marathon Hannover 2008

The 18th Hannover Marathon on 4 May 2008 leads past the most beautiful spots in the city: the Maschsee Lake, the Herrenhausen Gardens and the New Town Hall are just a few of the many highlights along the TUIfly Marathon route. In addition to the full marathon distance there will also be a half-marathon, a 10-km run and inline skating, handcycling, walking and Nordic walking competitions. Hannover has some terrific offers for the Marathon Active Weekend from 1 - 4 May 2008. As a warm-up to the great event we have organised a town tour of a very special kind for you: a professional guide will take you along the Red Thread, which leads to all the most important sights of the city over a distance of 4.2 km. The two-hour tour will start at 3 p.m. on 2 and 3 May, setting off from the Tourist Information Office opposite the Central Station.

Maschsee Lake Festival - Hannover knows how to party!

Hustle and bustle on the lakeside promenade between the palm trees, delicious things to eat and drink, live music and other artistic performances, swimmers bearing flaming torches, juggling and theatre to join in with: what awaits visitors to the Maschsee Lake Festival from 30 July to 17 August 2008 is simply a spectacular festival for all the senses. A Mediterranean atmosphere in the heart of the city and a total party feeling make Hannover just the place to be during the summer.

"Hannover goes Fashion"

A year after the success of the "Made in Germany" exhibition, Hannover is again planning a major cooperation project: in "Hannover goes Fashion", from 30 August to 26 October 2008, eleven Hannover museums, exhibition houses and cultural institutions will be investigating the theme of fashion in its cultural, historical, artistic, design-orientated and social facets and manifestations. The Lower Saxony Chamber of Architects, the Hannover Museum of History, the Kestnergesellschaft, the August Kestner Museum, the Hannover Klosterkammer, the Hannover Arts Association, the Museum for the (Hi-)Story of Energy, The Lower Saxony State Museum, the Sprengel Museum Hannover, the Theatre Museum and the Wilhelm Busch Museum are all taking up the topic of fashion from a variety of different points of view.
From the cultural history of clothing to experimental, avant-garde ways of handling fashion, art and design, the series of exhibitions will bring together a multitude of aspects of this very broad theme. This major project will be supplemented by events all relating to the subject of fashion in Hannover city centre.

There for you ....
Hannover Tourismus GmbH

The Hannover tourist agency Hannover Tourismus GmbH (HTG) has put together some exciting packages with attractive content covering all the highlights of 2008; these are to be found in the new 2008 Rendezvous brochure, with special offers for package and group tours.

These special offers include not only our out-of-the-ordinary town guide, "The Red Thread", but also the HannoverCard, a particularly economical way of discovering the City and Region. The Card allows you to travel free by bus, tram or train throughout the network of the Greater Hannover Passenger Transport Authority (GVH). It also entitles you to price reductions on city tours and at many museums, art galleries, theatres and restaurants, the Opera House, the GOP-Varieté theatre, Hannover Adventure Zoo and the Bison Paddock in Springe.

The very personal town guide "The Red Thread" accompanies visitors as they follow a 4,200 metre long line that guides them through Hannover to sites of architectural or historical interest or that are simply amusing or entertaining. You are certain to see some new sights and gain some new insights along the "Red Thread". The accompanying brochure is obtainable from the Hannover Tourist Information Office on Ernst-August-Platz.

Experience the many different facets and multitudinous possibilities that Hannover offers! Lower Saxony’s capital city invites you to go on a voyage of discovery.

Further information is available from:
Hans-Christian Nolte
General Manager
Hannover Tourismus GmbH
Prinzenstrasse 6, D-30159 Hannover
Tel.: +49 (0)511 168-49797, Fax: +49 (0)511 168-49779

>> Read this press release in german (via ihmebote)

[Press release LH Hannover, 06.03.2008]