Kröpcke is the central square of the city of

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The square is situated at the five-way crossroads of , and , and . It is named after Wilhelm Kröpcke who started working at Café Robby, that had relocated to the then-nameless square in 1869, as a waiter in 1878, before leasing the

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

in 1885, changing its name to ''Café Kröpcke'' in 1895, and operating it until his death in 1919. Eventually, the square adopted the name from the café and in 1947 was officially named ''Kröpcke'' by the city of Hanover. One of its most notable features is the Kröpcke clock, a 1977 reconstruction of a meteorological column erected in 1885 in front of the then Café Robby. This column was damaged by an air raid in 1943, but its clock was repaired in 1945 after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Europe. In 1954, the meteorological column was removed and replaced the following year with a This in turn was replaced in 1977 with a simplified reconstruction of the historical meteorological column that features a clock and, instead of meteorological instruments, a display case for art exhibitions and presentations.

Stadtbahn station

The Kröpcke station is the main station in the Hanover Stadtbahn network. It was built from 1968 to 1974 and opened in several parts through the 1970s and 1980s. At the time, it was one of Hanover's largest construction sites, extending more than underground. Today, all Stadtbahn lines except two call at the station and it is the main interchange point for the network. It has six platforms in total on three lines that cross each other in independent tunnels. Level -1 Main entrance and access to Niki-de-Saint-Phalle-Promenade. Level -2 * A line toward Hauptbahnhof and Markthalle. * B line toward Hauptbahnhof and Aegidientorplatz. * Connection between A line to Markthalle and B line to Aegidientorplatz Level -2.5 Connecting level with

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a Electric motor, motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the st ...

s and staircases to the A, B and C lines. Level -3 * C line toward Steintor and Aegidientorplatz. The station underwent extensive modernisation prior to Expo 2000, including hiding its 1970s colours tilework behind large

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

Next stations

References

Squares in Hanover {{hanover-geo-stub