![Schloss-herrenhausen hg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Schloss-herrenhausen_hg.jpg)
Herrenhausen Palace (German: ''Schloss Herrenhausen'') is a former royal summer residence of the
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house orig ...
in the
Herrenhausen district of the German city of
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
. It is the centerpiece of
Herrenhausen Gardens.
The original palace was destroyed by a British bombing raid in 1943 and reconstructed between 2009 and 2013. Today it houses a museum, a division of the
Historisches Museum Hannover
(german: Historisches Museum Hannover) is an historical museum situated in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The museum was founded in 1903 as the Homeland Museum of the City of Hanover (). Its collections are related to the histor ...
, and exhibition space.
History
Originally a manor house of 1640, the building was enlarged in phases from 1676, and served as a summer retreat, located only a few kilometers outside the city from the central
Leineschloss
The Leineschloss (English: Leine Palace), situated on the Leine in Hanover, Germany, is the former residence of the Hanoverian dukes, electors and kings. Currently it is the seat of the Landtag of Lower Saxony.
The first building on the site w ...
. In 1683
Sophia of Hanover
Sophia of Hanover (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; 14 October 1630 – 8 June 1714) was the Electress of Hanover by marriage to Elector Ernest Augustus and later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and Scotland (later Grea ...
commissioned the French gardener Martin Charbonnier to enlarge the garden in the manner of Versailles to form the 50 hectare "Großer Garten". Sophia's husband,
Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Ernest Augustus (german: Ernst August; 20 November 1629 – 23 January 1698) was ruler of the Principality of Lüneburg from 1658 and of the Principality of Calenberg from 1679 until his death, and father of George I of Great Britain. He was appo ...
, planned its replacement with a large baroque palace, and began construction with the "Galerie", but their son, elector
George Louis, who in 1714 succeeded to the British throne as King George I, gave up the palace building project and concentrated on adding
water feature
In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, jeux d'eau, pools, ponds, rills, artificial waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity, tho ...
s to the garden.
The next elector,
George II of Great Britain
, house = Hanover
, religion = Protestant
, father = George I of Great Britain
, mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle
, birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683
, birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...
(), planned again for a new palace in better proportion with the "Großer Garten", but never realized it. His successor
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
(), who never visited Herrenhausen, had the palace modernised in neoclassical style by
Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves
Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves (17 December 1788 – 30 April 1864) 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 ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Herrenhausen Palace suffered immense damage in a
British bombing raid on 18 October 1943.
The ruins of the palace were almost completely torn down after the war; the outside staircase once leading up to the entrance was salvaged from the debris and moved next to the Orangerie building where it can be seen today.
Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover sold his remaining property at
Herrenhausen Gardens in 1961, but kept the nearby ''Princely House'', a small palace built in 1720 by George I for his daughter Anna Louise. It is now his grandson
Ernest Augustus's private home, along with
Marienburg Castle.
In 2009, the city of Hanover took the decision to rebuild the palace. The
Volkswagen Foundation received the plot and sponsored the reconstruction. Following extensive restoration work, the palace was reopened on 18 January 2013 in a ceremony attended by
Princesses Beatrice and
Eugenie of York, and Prince
Ernst August of Hanover.
The reconstructed baroque palace houses the ''Museum Schloss Herrenhausen'' with a cafeteria and a bookshop, as well as exhibition and meeting spaces sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation.
Gardens
The palace's extensive gardens extending beyond the original "Großer Garten" are an important example of baroque and later
garden design
Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. ...
and contain many significant period garden buildings. The gardens were reinstated following major damage in World War II, and became an important leisure resource for the city of Hanover, with new additions including an aquarium.
Births, deaths and burials
King George II of Great Britain
, house = Hanover
, religion = Protestant
, father = George I of Great Britain
, mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle
, birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683
, birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...
was born in Herrenhausen Palace in 1683. Three of his daughters were born there:
*
Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange
Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange (12 January 1759) was the second child and eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and his consort Caroline of Ansbach. She was the wife of William IV, Prince of Orange, the first heredita ...
*
Princess Amelia of Great Britain
Princess Amelia Sophia Eleonore of Great Britain (10 June 1711 ( Old Style and New Style dates, New Style) – 31 October 1786) was the second daughter of King George II of Great Britain and Queen Caroline.
Early life
Princess Amelia was born ...
*
Princess Caroline of Great Britain
Princess Caroline Elizabeth of Great Britain (10 June 1713 – 28 December 1757) was the fourth child and third daughter of King George II of Great Britain and his wife Caroline of Ansbach.
Early life
Princess Caroline was born at Herrenhausen Pa ...
Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Ernest Augustus (german: Ernst August; 20 November 1629 – 23 January 1698) was ruler of the Principality of Lüneburg from 1658 and of the Principality of Calenberg from 1679 until his death, and father of George I of Great Britain. He was appo ...
, George II's grandfather, died in Herrenhausen Palace in 1698.
After World War II the remains of
King George I of Great Britain
George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...
along with his parents' were removed from the chapel of
Leineschloss
The Leineschloss (English: Leine Palace), situated on the Leine in Hanover, Germany, is the former residence of the Hanoverian dukes, electors and kings. Currently it is the seat of the Landtag of Lower Saxony.
The first building on the site w ...
in Hanover and reinterred in the 19th-century "Welfenmausoleum" of
Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover
Ernest Augustus (german: Ernst August; 5 June 177118 November 1851) was King of Hanover from 20 June 1837 until his death in 1851. As the fifth son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Hanover, he initially seemed unlikely to become a m ...
, in the "Berggarten" at Herrenhausen.
[Helmut Knocke and Hugo Thielen (2007). ''Mausoleum'', in Dirk Böttcher, Klaus Mlynek (Eds.): ''Hannover Kunst- und Kultur-Lexikon. Handbuch und Stadtführer.'' Springe: zu Klampen Verlag. (p.92)]
See also
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Burial places of British royalty
These burial places of British royalty record the known graves of monarchs who have reigned in some part of the British Isles (currently includes only the monarchs of Scotland, England, native princes of Wales to 1283, or monarchs of Great Britai ...
*
House of Welf
The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconia, Franconian family from ...
(Guelph)
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List of castles and palaces in Lower Saxony
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Geography of Hanover
Museums in Lower Saxony
Palaces in Lower Saxony
Buildings and structures in Hanover
Tourist attractions in Hanover
Culture of Lower Saxony