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        Volume CCXXXIII, Number 36          August, 2003              Page 4

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Hannover

Once again, as threatened, our intrepid travel correspondent, Robert F. Scott, takes a whirlwind tour of a noted vacation spot. This month, he visits the summer vacation destination of fun-loving German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

This week: Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany: bright lights, big city

10:00 a.m.

As we walk out of Hannover Central Station towards Ernst August Platz we find ourselves almost in the middle of Hannover's city centre.[I thought he was going to Hanover, N.H. – Ed.] The centre is rather large for a city of half a million. It has grown over the centuries between the old town down by the river, the Aegidientor in the west, the Steintor in the east and the Central Station.[Did Robert really write this stuff? – Copy Ed.][He told me so himself – Ed.]

The bomb raids of the Second World War turned most of the city centre into a large heap of rubble. Hardly an old building was spared. So most of the centre was rebuilt in the fashion of the fifties. The Bahnhofstraße, leading from the Central Station into the heart of the city is a "pedestrians only" shopping street on two levels: we also walked along the "Passerelle" in the basement, built in the seventies.  [How can he walk on two levels at once? – Copy Ed.]

Hannover did not escape the Second World War entirely unscathed, but the plucky Lower Saxons rebuilt their Hauptstadt bigger and badder than before

10:12 a.m.

At the end of the Bahnhofstraße I reached "Kröpcke", the most central square in Hannover.  [This isn't even written in English – Copy Ed.] It was named after a waiter who worked in (and later owned) the Café, which is now "Mövenpick".   Here, next to the "Kröpcke Uhr", the big green clock, is the place where Hannoverians meet, if they don't meet in front of the station under the horse's tail (of the monument of King Ernst August of Hannover).

At Kröpcke the Bahnhofstraße meets the Georgstraße, a boulevard named after one of the Hanoverian Kings of England[Or maybe four of them? – Copy Ed.]. The Georgstraße opposite the opera house has exclusive shops only on one side and a lot of room for promenades. It is here like to meet on Sunday mornings in summer for their traditional "Schorsenbummel".[Literally, "horse hockey." – Copy Ed.][That's enough from the Copy Desk – Ed.] The Georgstraße on the other side of Kröpcke is a pure shopping area with big stores.

10:22 a.m.

When I turn left at the Steintor (with the impressive "Anzeiger Hochhaus" built in 1927),  I reach the old town or what's left of it (after the Eighth Air Force was finished with it!) with a lot of interesting small shops, pubs and restaurants.  Next to the "Marktkirche" (the largest of the three churches in the old town) there is the old town hall, both built in red bricks, a characterstic style of Northern Germany and Northern Indiana.  Near the town hall is the market hall, built in the modest style of the fifties but well worth a visit. It offers an enormous variety of international delicacies.

If you want to do even more shopping and you've come an a Saturday, you're lucky! Walk through the old town past the Leineschloß and Leibnizhaus, where you come to the banks of the River Leine. It's there you find one of the biggest and oldest flea markets in Europe. And amidst all the market stands, the famous "Nanas", once mocked and now almost a symbol of Hannover. However, I don't need any more tchachkes peddled by sullen Gästarbeiter, so I set out in search of Hannover's famous city hall, known to the locals as "City Hall."

The bright lights of Hanover becken the adventurous traveler

10:34 a.m.

At the southern end of the bustling quarter I just described [You did? – Copy Ed.] is Hannover's noteworthy City Hall. Many visitors are quite astonished to hear that the magnificent building they are standing in front of is, actually, the "new" town hall. Its size and grand architectural style make it look more "historical", like a relic from more majestic times, when Hannover used to be a kingdom. The town hall itself was, however, ceremonially opened on 20 June 1913, after twelve years building time.

"And it is all paid in cash, your Majesty", as the then mayor of Hannover, Heinrich Tramm, proudly announced to the emperor Wilhelm II, present at the opening ceremony. Quipped the beaming Kaiser: "Stop jewing around, Heinrich!"

Looking for sensuous, sultry scantily-clad women? Try Italy, just 400 miles south of Hannover.

The new townhall is the residence of the mayor, the head of the municipal administration. It is here that the political bodies hold their sessions, receptions for official guests of the city and art exhibitions are held, the "Citizen's Office" is also here. The doors of the Townhall are always wide open to all visitors. And the visit can be worthwhile, even though it is being heavily renovated right now. Four scale models of Hannover are on permanent display under the nearly four hundred metre high dome of the townhall lobby, showing the city as it was in the Middle Ages, before World War II, the destruction of 1945 (also known as the "Sandbox") and the townscape of today. These models are always immensely popular amongst the visitors (both of them).

The diagonal lift in the townhall's dome is unique in Europe. At a 15-degree angle it covers the 43 metres up to the gallery at the top of the dome. From this vantage point one can enjoy a marvellous view of the whole city, even as far as the Harz Mountains when visibility is good.

10:32 a.m.

Sadly, my 36 minutes in Hannover are up. I haven't even sampled the delights of the surrounding countryside, including the famous asparagus trail wandering through the Burgdorfer Land to the northeast, or the newly-medieval city of Hameln, from which the rats were lured by the Pied Paper, leaving nothing but Resistance fighters and conscientious objectors when Third Army arrived in April 1945.

I return to the train station and find that I can just make the day express for Rimini, jammed to the gills with departing Lower Saxons. As I dream of the sun, sea and pasta awaiting me, I can only envy Chancellor Schröeder, for he has Hannover all to himself.

Next week: 36 minutes in Düsseldorf