The Welfenschloss (English: Guelph palace) is a former royal palace in Hanover, Germany, which serves as the main building of the Leibniz University Hannover. The university is housed in the palace since 1879. The palace is surrounded by a large English landscape garden, named the Welfengarten (English: Guelph garden).
In 1856, king George V of Hanover (1819–1878) decided to build a new royal residence. [1] [2] Initially, only as a summer residence, but later intended as the main seat replacing the Leineschloss in the city center. The king engaged the architect Christian Heinrich Tramm (1819–1861) to make the designs in neo-Gothic style. [1] When Tramm passed away, he was replaced by the construction manager of the project, Eduard Heidelberg. [1]
The site of the palace of previously occupied by another palace, Schloss Monbrilliant. [1] This palace dated from the first half of the 18th century. [1] It served as a summer residence of kings Ernest Augustus (1771–1851) and George V. [1] Before the building started of the new palace, it was demolished. [1] It was rebuilt in Georgsmarienhütte, before it finally was teared down in 1923. [1]
Construction of the Welfenschloss palace started in 1857. [1] Workers used yellowish-white sandstone from the Danndorf and Velpke areas near Helmstedt, one of the hardest sandstones in Germany, and sandstone from Nesselberg near Nesselberg. [1] [3]
The palace was initially named Schloss Königsitz, but in 1861 this was changed into Welfenschloss after the reigning dynasty, the House of Welf, of which the House of Hanover was the surviving branch. [2] This also determined the iconography of the palace. [2] On the side of the garden, the Welfengarten, the exterior is decorated with sculptures of eight significant Welf rulers. [2] The sculptor Wilhelm Engelhard created around 1862 the most important one, that of Henry the Lion (1129/1131-1195). [2] On the entrance side, Adolf Rosenthal created the bronze Lions. [2]
George V's reign ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, after which Prussia annexed Hanover. [2] Construction works ended, leaving the Welfenschloss palace empty for over a decade. [2]
In the same time as the Welfenschloss was built, king George V also constructed another neo-gothic castle between 1858 and 1867, Marienburg castle. This he presented as a birthday present to his wife, queen Marie (1818–1907).
It was not until 1879 that a new purpose was found for the palace: the Higher Vocational School moved in, now named the University of Hanover. [1] Extensive renovations works were performed by Hermann Hunaeus to transform the palace into a school building. [1] In 1899, emperor Wilhelm II elevated the school the status of a university.
During the Allied aerial raids on Hanover, the chapel on the east side of the palace was heavily damaged. [2] In 1955, it was demolished. [2] On its location, an extension was erected between 1956 and 1958 to house an auditorium and a lecture hall. [2]
In 2006, the University of Hanover was renamed Leibniz University Hannover.
In front of the palace, there is a bronze statue of a Saxon Steed (German : Sachsenross), created in 1866. It is a duplicate from a sculpture made by Albert Wolf for the entrance of the Altes Museum in Berlin, the Löwenkämpfer. The Saxon Steed is a heraldic motif associated with the German provinces of Lower Saxony and Westphalia, and the Dutch region of Twente.
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Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was Prince of Calenberg from 1679 until his death, and father of George I of Great Britain. He was appointed as the ninth prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire in 1692.
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Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves was a German architect, civil engineer and urban planner. Born in Uslar, Lower Saxony, he lived and worked primarily in the city of Hanover and also died there. He was appointed Oberhofbaudirektor, "court master builder", in 1852. As the leading architect of the Kingdom of Hanover for a career spanning 50 years, he had great influence on the urban development of this city. Alongside Karl Friedrich Schinkel in Berlin and Leo von Klenze in Munich, Laves was one of the most accomplished neoclassical style architects of Germany. As an engineer he developed a special iron truss lenticular or "fishbelly" beam bridge construction method, the so-called "Lavesbrücke". Laves found his final resting place in the Engesohde Cemetery in Hanover.
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Calenberg Castle was a medieval lowland castle in central Germany, near Schulenburg in the borough of Pattensen, 13 km west of the city of Hildesheim. It was built as a water castle in 1292 by the Welf duke, Otto the Strict, in der Leine river meadows between 2 branches of the Leine river on the southern part of the chalk marl hill of the Calenberg. At the start of the 16th century it was converted into a fort (Feste). In the 15th century, Fort Calenberg gave its name to the Welf Principality of Calenberg. Following the Thirty Years' War it lost its military importance and was slighted. Today it is a ruin with underground vaults that are surrounded by high ramparts.
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Girolamo Sartonio, also known as Hieronimo Sartorio and Geronimo Sartorio, was an innovative Italian architect and engineer who worked mainly the German cities of Hanover, Hamburg, Leipzig and Erfurt. His designs were based on Palladian architecture. He was a noted expert in the installation of stage equipment and theatrical machinery and also worked as a builder or consulting architect on the construction of various opera houses, such as the Oper am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg. He is also credited with the beginnings of opera in Leipzig and the construction of the opera house in Prague.
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The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Hanover, Germany.
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The Old Town Hall is a former, and the first, town hall in Hanover, Germany. Originally built in the old city district in 1410, replaced by the New Town Hall in 1913, and extensively restored in 1953 and 1964 after heavy bomb damage in World War II, it is the oldest secular building in the city. The market façade with the highly sophisticated Brick Gothic of the lucarnes has been preserved and partly restored in its medieval shape. Some elements of it were copied on other wings of the building.
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Christian Heinrich Tramm was a German architect who, in 1850, introduced the Rundbogenstil in Hanover.
The Welfenschloss Stables is the residence of the Technical Information Library at the Leibniz University Hannover. It was built in 1863–1867 during the reign of the last Hanoverian king, George V as the royal stables for the Welfenschloss palace.
Carl Christoph Conrad Rangenier was a German sculptor, best remembered for his sculpture of George I of Great Britain at Guelph Castle in 1862, and the altar crucifix for the Evangelical Lutheran parish church in Graste in 1864 under Conrad Wilhelm Hase.
The Stadthalle Hannover is a concert hall and event venue in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The large hall is called Kuppelsaal, after its dome. The hall was opened in 1914. It is the largest hall for classical music in Germany, seating 3,600. Severely damaged during World War II, it was restored slightly altered. The hall is now part of the Hannover Congress Centrum. The listed historic building is a landmark of the city.
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