Hannover Journal : Hannover: Glories Past…..The Issue of Self Esteem

Glories Past…..The Issue of Self Esteem The town of Hannover was founded sometime in the early Middle Ages as a small rural settlement on the high banks of the River Leine. Almost 1400 years later, It retains its original character, at least in the minds of its residents.When I first announced to my German friends that we were moving to Hannover, several sent letters of condolence. Even those who lived in Hannover seemed a bit embarrassed. Why would anyone want to move to a place that they had spent their whole adult lives trying to escape from? After having been here for several months, I am frequently asked if we are going to stay and have we considered Hamburg? This embarrassment over their city most likely has its antecedents in the fact that in 1714, George Louis, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also known as Hannover, after its capital), and thereby the Archbannerbearer (a prestigious sinecure) and, importantly, a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire left town to became King of England. Now, I can’t fault George Louis (you probably know him as George I ) for trading up so to speak. I mean in retrospect London has done fairly well. But, it has left an indelible mark on those left behind in the form of a very low level of self-esteem. Hannoverians really haven’t gotten over being abandoned by their monarch. One hundred and fifty years later, the Second World War dealt a further blow to Hannover’s psychology. Almost two thirds of the buildings were destroyed or burnt and the city was essentially flattened – this by the same family that had left in 1714. Thank you House of Hannover. The fact that Hannover was the base for Volkswagen’s heavy truck production may have also been a contributing factor, but still having your city destroyed by its namesake must be a bit traumatic. And destroyed it was, as after the war over 6.3 million cubic meters of rubble was removed. So, where does that leave Hannover today? Well it has more forest area within the city than any city in the world. It is famous for the extensive network of bike paths. You can go everywhere on bike, and they are all separated from vehicular traffic. The roads are wide and parking plentiful even in the inner city. And it has several beautiful lakes, including the Machsee which is located in the center of the city. In Hannover there are only a few of the old beautiful buildings that you expect to see in a European city. Yet, there is surprisingly little of the painful 1950’s and 1960’s style architecture that characterizes much of the UK and the old buildings that still stand are pretty spectacular.Perhaps the most attractive feature of this city is that its neighborhoods are separated by farmland and forest. It is very European to my mind with small clusters of perhaps one hundred homes surrounded by fields or wood. Tract housing and aluminum siding have yet to find their way across the Atlantic. No more than 100 feet outside our back door is a park that runs into open fields and we are only 6 minutes from the school – which is in the center of the city.So, we rate Hannover high on livability and are not quite sure why everyone is in such a rush to leave……but then winter has not yet arrived.

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