Contrast of the 1939 and 1945 models
Downstairs in the domed hall of the New City Hall there are four city models of Hanover showing the interior of Hanover at different times. They are each 4.5 by 5.5 metres in size and give a realistic picture of the respective years. In addition to the "germ cell" of 1689, the state of the city in 1939 - i.e. before the bombing raids - and 1945 are particularly impressive. The first air raids on the city took place as early as May 1940. Bombs fell in Misburg, later also in Südstadt. In addition to industrial sites and railway lines, residential buildings and monuments were soon targeted.
The attacks by British bombers from July 1943 onwards were particularly strong, with destruction of the Leineschloss, the opera house, the Kröpcke and, in October, Herrenhausen Palace (which was rebuilt from 2011). Of the approximately 100 air raids on Hanover, those on the night of 9 October 1943 were the strongest.
90 per cent destroyed - 250,000 homeless
In the city centre, 90 percent of the buildings were destroyed after the war, in the rest of the city more than 50 percent. The model of the "Stadtmodelle Hannover" from 1945 shows this quite realistically. According to the statistics, 3932 residential buildings were completely destroyed and 18,832 severely damaged. There were many dead and about 250,000 homeless people who now tried to find temporary shelter in the surrounding areas of Hannover. The last model shows the rebuilt Hanover of 1951. It was then updated and supplemented again and again until today.
Hanover to feel, see and grasp
Since summer 2021, a new model of the city centre has stood in front of Ernst-August-Platz (at the main railway station) near the musical manhole cover (corner of Bahnhofstraße). It is a 3.4 tonne bronze piece on granite to "feel, see and grasp". The 1.6 by 1.6 metre object can be felt and is supplemented by Braille. If you look closely, you can even recognise this model as a miniature. It was financed by the Hanover Community Foundation, the Rut and Klaus Bahlsen Foundation, Dirk Rossmann GmbH and the state capital of Hanover. The 70,000 euro gem of the "Hanover City Models" was created by artist Felix Broerken.
