New City Hall (Hanover)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The New City Hall (German: Neues Rathaus) or New Town Hall in Hanover, Germany, is a city hall and was opened on July 20, 1913, after having been under construction for 12 years. It is a magnificent, castle-like building of the era of William II in eclectic style at the southern edge of the inner city (outside of the historic city center of Hanover). The building is embedded in the 10 hectare Maschpark. The Old City Hall is no longer used as the main seat of administration, but houses businesses and the registry office.
[edit] History
In its day, the building cost 10 million Marks. It was erected on 6026 beech piles by the architects, Hermann Eggert and Gustav Halmhuber. "Ten million Marks, Your Majesty - and all paid for in cash", announced the City Director, Heinrich Tramm, when the New City Hall was opened by Emperor William II. The square in front of the City Hall is called Trammplatz today, in honor of Heinrich Tramm. The New City Hall replaced the Wangenheimpalais as the city hall from then on.
During World War II, the building was heavily damaged during American bomb raids on the inner city of Hanover. The German state of Niedersachsen was proclaimed in 1946 in the 38 m high hall of the New City Hall.
The dome of the New City Hall, with its observation platform, is nearly 100 m high. The dome's elevator is unique in Europe, with its arched course (parabolic, following the shape of the dome). It is often incorrectly described as a sloping elevator up the dome and compared with the elevators in the Eiffel Tower, which actually only travel diagonally, without changing their angle of inclination. The elevator climbs the 50 m shaft at an angle of up to 17° to the gallery of the dome, where the Harz Mountains can be seen when visibility is good. In the process, the elevator moves over 10 m. During the trip, the two weight-bearing cables wind up on three double rolls in the wall of the shaft.
The elevator was erected in 1913. The elevator cage travelled in steam-bent oaken tracks. Because of the weather, the original elevator was unfortunately not usable in the colder half of the year. There is a spiral staircase, which leads from the elevator exit to the observation level. In 2005, over 90,000 people visited the tower of the New City Hall. A new elevator was installed in winter of 2007/2008. The last trip of the old elevator took place with Lord Mayor Stephan Weil on November 4, 2007 at 17:00 o'clock. On that weekend, 1200 guests took the last opportunity to ride in the old elevator.
There are four city models of Hanover in the ground floor of the New City Hall. They vividly portray the development of the city.
[edit] Literature
- Wolfgang Steinweg: Das Rathaus in Hannover. Von der Kaiserzeit bis in die Gegenwart. Schlüter, Hanover 1988, ISBN 3-87706-287-3
[edit] External links
- Information of the city of Hanover about the New City Hall in German
- Webcam with a view of the New City Hall
- 3D model in GoogleEarth 4
- New City Hall city panorama - Interactive 360° panorama with New City Hall dome and panoramic view
- This article was initially translated from the Wikipedia article Neues Rathaus (Hannover), specifically from this version.
