HANOVER, capital of the Prussian province of the same name, situated in a sandy, fertile plain on the Leine, which here receives the Ihme, and at the crossing of the main lines of rail way, Berlin to Cologne and Hamburg to Frankfort-on-Main. Pop., including Linden , 438,922. The town of Hanover is first mentioned during the 12th century, when it belonged to the family of Welf, who became dukes of Brunswick. It joined the Hanseatic League, and was later the residence of the electors of Hanover. In 1866 it was annexed by Prussia, after having been the capital of the kingdom of Hanover since its foundation in 1815. The Leine flows through the city, having the old town, with narrow streets and old-fashioned gabled houses, on its right. In its centre lies the Markt Kirche, a red-brick edifice of the i4th century, with its interior restored in 1855, and containing fine stained-glass windows. On the market square, is the red brick mediaeval town hall (Rathaus), containing the civic archives and museum. The new town surrounds the old on the north and east. Among the other churches are the Neustadterkirche, with a shrine containing the tomb of Leibnitz; the Kreuzkirche, built about 1300, with a curious steeple; and the Aegidienkirche. Of secular buildings the most remarkable is the royal palace—Schloss —built 1636-4o. In its chapel are preserved the relics of saints which Henry the Lion brought from Palestine. Its museums have important art collections. The Welfenschloss has been occupied since 1875 by the technical high school, an academy with uni versity privileges. Close to it lies Herrenhausen, the summer palace of the former kings of Hanover, with fine gardens, an open-air theatre, a museum and an orangery, and approached by a grand avenue over a mile in length.
Hanover's railway connections have enormously developed its trade and manufactures. Almost all industries are represented; chief among them are machine-building, the manufacture of india rubber, cotton, cork, hardware, chemicals, cocoa, asphalt, tobacco, pianos, furniture and groceries. The commerce consists principally in wine, hides, horses, coal, wood and cereals. There are extensive printing establishments. It is the birthplace of Sir William Herschel, the astronomer, and the philosopher Leibnitz died there in 1716.