New Town Hall (Hanover)

The New Town Hall (German: Neues Rathaus) is a city hall in Hanover, Germany. It opened on 20 June 1913 after construction lasting 12 years.[1][2] A magnificent, castle-like building of the era of Wilhelm II in eclectic style at the southern edge of the inner city just outside the historic city centre of Hanover, the building is embedded within the 10-hectare (25-acre) Maschpark .

New Town Hall
Neues Rathaus
General information
AddressTrammplatz 2
Town or cityHanover
CountryGermany
Coordinates52°22′02″N 9°44′14″E
Construction started1901 (1901)
Opened1913 (1913)
Height97.73 m (320.6 ft)
Technical details
Floor area8,700 m2 (94,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect(s)

History

Costing 10 million Marks, the New Town Hall was erected on 6026 beech piles by architects Hermann Eggert and Gustav Halmhuber.[3] "Ten million Marks, Your Majesty – and all paid for in cash", the City Director, Heinrich Tramm , is claimed to have announced when the New Town Hall was opened in the presence of Emperor Wilhelm II. In honour of Tramm the square in front of the building is named Trammplatz.

Upon opening, the New Town Hall replaced the Wangenheimpalais as the main seat of administration, which had moved from the Old Town Hall into the Wangenheimpalais in 1863. As of 2022, the New Town Hall is still "the residence of the Mayor and CEO, the head of the municipal administration."[2]

Damaged during bombing raids on the inner city of Hanover in World War II,[4] the German state of Lower Saxony was proclaimed in 1946 in the 38-metre-high (125 ft) hall of the New Town Hall.[1]

The dome of the New Town Hall, with its observation platform, is 97.73 m (320.6 ft) high.[5] The dome's lift is unique in the world in that its arched course follows the parabolic shape of the dome.[1][2] It is often incorrectly described as a sloping lift up the dome and compared with the lifts in the Eiffel Tower, which actually only travel diagonally, without changing their angle of inclination. The lift climbs the 50 m (160 ft) shaft at an angle of up to 17° to the gallery of the dome, where the Harz mountain range can be seen when visibility is good. In the process, the lift moves over 10 m (33 ft). During the trip, the two weight-bearing cables wind up on three double rolls in the wall of the shaft.

The lift was erected in 1913. The lift cage travelled in steam-bent oaken tracks. Because of the weather, the original lift was not usable in the colder half of the year. There is a spiral staircase, which leads from the lift exit to the observation level. In 2005, over 90,000 people visited the tower of the New Town Hall. A new lift was installed in winter of 2007–08. The last trip of the old lift took place with Lord Mayor Stephan Weil on November 4, 2007. On that weekend, 1200 guests took the last opportunity to ride in the old lift.

There are four city models of Hanover in the ground floor of the New Town Hall.[1] They vividly portray the development of the city.

Literature
  • Steinweg, Wolfgang [in German] (1988). Das Rathaus in Hannover: von der Kaiserzeit bis in die Gegenwart [The Town Hall in Hanover: from the Imperial Era to the Present Day] (in German). Hanover: Schlüter. ISBN 3-87706-287-3. OCLC 18487850.

View
Panoramic view from the viewing platform.

References
  1. "Neues Rathaus Hannover" [New Town Hall Hanover] (in German). Discover Hannover. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  2. "The New Town Hall". Visit Hannover. Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH. 8 June 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  3. "Neues Rathaus Hannover" [New Town Hall Hanover]. Reiseland Niedersachsen (in German). TourismusMarketing Niedersachsen GmbH. 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  4. Franz, Axel (10 April 2018). "Ein Neues Rathaus aus der alten Zeit" [A New Cityhall from Long Ago]. NDR (in German). Norddeutscher Rundfunk. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  5. "Hannover - The New Town Hall" (PDF). HANNOVER.DE - Official portal. April 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2017.

Further reading
  • "Das Neue Rathaus" [The New Cityhall]. Visit Hannover (in German). Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
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