Hannover has quite a lot museums, more than you would expect !
Wilhelm Busch Museum
The Wilhelm Busch Museum was opened in 1937 at Georgsplatz in Hannover to honour 19. century cartoonist Wilhelm Busch. The building was destroyed in the war, but the collection was preserved. In 1949 the Wilhelm Busch Society was offered the Georgenpalais in Georgengarten park as a new home for the Wilhelm Busch collection. In 1950 the museum was reopened. In a permanent exhibtion you can see the ouevre of famous lower Saxony artist Wilhelm Busch -333 Oil paintings, 1200 drawings, 49 cartoon stories, 896 letters,193 poems, a large archive and a library. The collection was extented with famous cartoon and caricatures by other famous artists and renamed "Deutsches Museum für Karikatur und kritische Grafik" in 1986. Since 1950 more than 150 exhibitions of cartoons have been presented here. The collection now contains more than 16 000 drawings, a large library and varios journals. Since 1991 the museum has been publishing ist own journal "Schriften zu Karikatur und kritischen Grafik".
Address: Georgengarten 1, 30167 Hannover Tel: +49-511-714076 Openings=Tu-Sa:10am-5pm ;Sun:10am-6pm Admission=6,- DM, with reduction: 3,- DM
Oriental Carpet Museum
The museum of Oriental carpets is situated on the fifth floor of the Basse House in Georgstraße in Hannover. This remarkable exhibition is based on private initiative of Dr. Amir Pakzad, who is the owner of more than 100 objects from five centuries which come from Turkey, the Caucasian Mountains, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, India and China. Outstanding in the collection are the Uschak-carpets, silk fabrics, two "Polish" carpets and a fragment of a garden carpet. There is also a collection of Islamic, especially Safawidic and Osman textiles, embroidery, works , bracts and clothes. Further objects like bronces, china, ceramics, books and documents add to the collection. This museum in its sophisticated presentation gives a thorough view into the cultural history of the Middle East.
Sprengel Museum of Modern Art The museum was opened in 1979 and extented in 1992. The idea of the museum is the dialog between opening and closing, between the public and the atmosphere of art. With its characteristic openness the museum has in the meantime become a place of meeting and communication. A generous donation made this museum possible. In 1968 Dr. Bernhard Sprengel gave his extensive collection of modern art to the city of Hannover and donated a considerable sum of money for the construction of the museum. The city of Hannover and the federal state of Lower Saxony agreed to finance the construction and run the museum together. In the Sprengel Museum Hannover you find besides the Bernhard Sprengel collection objects of art owned by the city and the federal state of Lower Saxony. This makes the museum one of the most important centres of modern art. The exhibition is not structured in an encyclopedical way but puts the focus on certain styles such as German expressionism, French cubism, abstract art after the Second World War, and movements like Minimal Art, Informel, Nouveau Realisme, Concept Art and Postminimal Art.
Address: Kurt-Schwitters-Platz , 30169 Hannover Tel: +49-511-16843875 Openings=Tu 10am - 8pm, Wed - Su 10am- 6pm
Niedersachsen Landesmuseum
The Niedersachsen Landesmuseum contains a selection of paintings and sculptures spanning nine centuries, as well as interesting archaeological, ethnological and natural history exhibits.
The museum's art collection includes the works of Rembrandt, Rubens and Albrecht Duerer as well as numerous other artists. German and Italian renaissance art hang alongside old Dutch masters and masterpieces from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Almost half of the 44 galleries containing the Landesmuseum's collection of paintings and sculptures are dedicated to 19th and 20th century art from romanticism through to impressionism. This part of the collection forms an interesting contrast to the ecclesiastical art of the middle ages which forms another focus of the collection.
Major attractions in the natural history department are a dinosaur model and an aquarium with more than 2,000 indigenous and exotic fish, amphibians and reptiles. Other rooms highlight the diversity of the landscape in Niedersachsen and provide interesting zoological, botanical, anthropological and geological detail on areas such as the Harz Mountains, the Luneburg Heath and the North Sea.
More than 200,000 years of human history are covered by the museum's archaeological department. Over one million exhibits provide a detailed insight into industry and technology, demography, burial rituals and after life beliefs. The exhibits in this department cover the hunter-gatherers in the early Stone Age as well as the first farmers in the late Stone Age, right through the techniques developed in the Bronze Age to the early middle ages. A sensational attraction are the mummified corpses exhumed from Niedersachsen's peat bogs.
The ethnological department contains 14,000 exhibits from around the world. One of the main focuses of this collection are the ancient civilisations of Peru and Mexico as well as the North American Indians, African peoples, and the inhabitants of China, Japan and Indonesia. Regular special exhibitions are held by the Niedersachsen Landesmuseum in the Forum des Landesmuseums at the Marktkirche.
Address: Willy-Brandt-Allee 5, 30169 Hannover Tel: +49-511-98075
Veterinary Museum The vets' college in Hannover was founded in 1778 as "königliche Roß-Arznei-Schule" by Georg III. The exhibition shows the development from the 18. century to the recognition as a university in 1913 until today. The collection, openend to the public in 1981, shows all aspects of veterinarian research and practice. The base of all veterinarian science is horse medicine which was in due course extended to other working animals and pets. You can see a lot of instruments for diagnosis, operations, the treatment of teeth, castrastion, epidemic control etc. The vet works in a country practice, in research, with the army or elswhere. The exhibition is designed for the public as well as for specialized vets. This very special museum is unique in Germany.
Address: Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover Tel: +49-0511 / 856-7503 Openings=Tues-Thurs 10.00-16.00
Museum of the Blind, Hannover - State Training Centre This museum is situated in the school for the blind in the "Landesbildenzentrum" which was built in 1912/14. It was opened in 1994. With the help of 6000 objects it is demonstrated how blind people have been educated between 1843 and today. You can see education materials, media and tools for daily life. There is a lot of information about Braille-script, books, maps and globes, writing machines and electronic reading machines which make ordinary writing readable with tactual sensation. This collection is unique in Germany.
Address: Bleekstraße 22, 30559 Hannover Tel: +49-511-52470 Openings=by agreement
Tram Museum In Sehnde-Wehmingen, 20 km from Hannover on the grounds of a disused potash mine there is an institution that has been visited by thousands of people within the last few years: the Hannover Tram Museum. As a museum of public transport it is popular not only with Hannoverians. The museum is situated in the old buildings of the mine company and uses the tracks on the grounds, which are the right size for the old trams. A good part of the tracks are "under wire" now, so visitors can go for a ride on an ancient tram. In the exhibition one can find out a lot about trams. The very first electric tram, built in 1881, has unfortunately not been preserved. But most of the other models, especially since 1900, are there to be seen. Transport means moving about. It is very important for the museums society to get the trams moving so that their visitors ride on them to get the right feeling. Rides and guided tours are included in the entrance fee. There is also a museum shop with postcards, books, tram models and other things.
Address: Kirchroder Straße 5, 30625 Hannover Tel: +49-5138-4575 Openings=April to October, Sun and holidays: 10am- 5pm, guided tours for groups possible
Kestner Museum Ancient Egyptian, Roman and Greek art and arts and craft from the Middle Ages to the present times are the themes of the exhibition in the Kestner Museum. Furthermore the museum holds an impressive collection of Art Deco and shows objects of present design and art from all over Europe. The collection of Roman and medieval coins is world famous. The founder of the Kestner Museum was August Kestner, Hannoverian diplomat in Rome and the son of Charlotte Buff who was a friend of Goethe's and example for the "Charlotte" in Goethe's famous "Werther.
Address: Trammplatz 3, 30159 Hannover Tel: +49-0511 / 168-42120 Openings=Tues-Sun 11.00 - 18.00 Uhr, Wed until 20.00 Admission=3,- DM, free on fridays
Kestner Gesellschaft The Kestner Gesellschaft was founded in 1916 as a gallery for 20th century art. Banned by the Nazis in 1936, the Kestner Gesellschaft reopened its gallery in the Warmbuechenstrasse in 1948. The Kestner Gesellschaft began to look for a suitable gallery when the old building became too outdated to meet the technical demands of present-day art exhibitions. The Kestner Gesellschaft found the ideal location for its new gallery in the centre of the city in the former Goseriede Public Baths. With the Goseriede, the Kestner Gesellschaft now has a gallery consisting of 5 exhibition halls. There is also a restaurant and a new library which is open to visitors at certain times.
Address: Goseriede 11, 30159 Hannover Tel: +49-0511 / 70120-0 Openings=Tues-Sun 10-19.00; Thurs 10-19.00,Thurs 10-21.00, public holidays 10-19.00
Historical Museum am Hohen Ufer The Beginenturm built in 1357 and integrated within the Museum is the symbol of the historical museum and the last witness of the old city wall. The museum displays 750 years of Hannover's history - from the "to den hogen overen" settlement right through to today's major city. The state history section on the ground floor covers the development from the Calenberg principality in around 1600 to the end of the Kingdom of Hannover in 1866.
Coaches from the Hannoverian court, portraits of its rulers, flags, costumes and medals, transport visitors back to an age when the state was still ruled by the Guelfs. Alongside exhibits from the period of absolutism and the 19th century, the museum also has historical exhibits bringing alive forestry and hunting, the postal service, the railways, as well as mining, universities and the legal system - highlighting Hannover's early economic and political life.
The city history section on the first floor showcases the long path from medieval administration centre to major conurbation. Rarities and everyday articles in private and public collections highlight the steps in the development of urban life. In addition to exhibits of different types of domestic rooms and models, photos and posters also give an insight into political and social life. The famous "Kommiábrot" - a small car built by Hannomag in Hannover in the 1920s - as well as other products (e.g. gramophones and radios) bear witness to Hannover's industrialisation.
The second floor focuses on rural life and reveals how Niedersachsen's rural population lived under changing conditions from the 17th to the 20th century. Models of local farm houses, agricultural equipment and animal husbandry, as well as a wide-ranging selection of traditional costumes bring alive the numerous changes in traditional rural ways brought about by mechanisation and industrialisation.
The museum education department is available for all groups interested in tangible historical exhibits, pleasure in valuable or everyday historical objects, or seeking answers to historical questions. Guided tours for adult groups, school classes, kindergarten and nursery groups etc. can be arranged upon request.
Address: Pferdestraße 6, 30159 Hannover Tel: +49-511-16843052 Openings=Tue 10am- 8pm, Wed - Fri 10am- 4pm, Sat & Sun 10am-6pm Admission=3 DM, Special exhibitions: 5 DM, free entrance on fridays, for children under 12 years and for school classes
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The Niedersachsen Landesmuseum contains a selection of paintings and sculptures spanning nine centuries, as well as interesting archaeological, ethnological and natural history exhibits.
The museum's art collection includes the works of Rembrandt, Rubens and Albrecht Duerer as well as numerous other artists. German and Italian renaissance art hang alongside old Dutch masters and masterpieces from the 17th and 18th centuries.