The Hanoverians, however, were victorious at the battle of Langensalza on the 27th of June 1866, but the advance of fresh bodies of the enemy compelled them to capitulate two days later. By the terms of this surrender the king was not to reside in Hanover, his officers were to take no further part in the war, and his ammunition and stores became the property of Prussia. The decree of the 20th of September 1866 formally annexed Hanover to Prussia, when it became a province of that kingdom, while King George from his retreat at Hietzing appealed in vain to the powers of Europe. Many of the Hanoverians remained loyal to their sovereign; some of them serving in the Guelph Legion, which was maintained largely at his expense in France, where a paper, La Situation, was founded by Oskar Meding (1829–1903) and conducted in his interests. These and other elaborate efforts, however, failed to bring about the return of the king to Hanover, though the Guelph party continued to agitate and to hope even after the Franco-German War had immensely increased the power and the prestige of Prussia. George died in June 1878. His son, Ernest Augustus, duke of Cumberland, continued to maintain his claim to the crown of Hanover, and refused to be reconciled with Prussia. Owing to this attitude the German imperial government refused to allow him to take possession of the duchy of Brunswick, which he inherited on the extinction of the elder branch of his family in 1884, and again in 1906 when the same subject came up for settlement on the death of the regent, Prince Albert of Prussia.
In 1867 King George had agreed to accept Prussian bonds to the value of about £1,600,000 as compensation for the confiscation of his estates in Hanover. In 1868, however, on account of his continued hostility to Prussia, the Prussian government sequestrated this property; and, known as the Welfenfonds, or Reptilienfonds, it was employed as a secret service fund to combat the intrigues of the Guelphs in various parts of Europe; until in 1892 it was arranged that the interest should be paid to the duke of Cumberland. In 1885 measures were taken to incorporate the province of Hanover more thoroughly in the kingdom of Prussia, and there is little doubt but that the great majority of the Hanoverians have submitted to the inevitable, and are loyal subjects of the king of Prussia.
Authorities.—A. Hüne, Geschichte des Königreichs Hannover und des Herzogtums Braunschweig (Hanover, 1824–1830); A. F. H. Schaumann, Handbuch der Geschichte der Lande Hannover und Braunschweig (Hanover, 1864); G. A. Grotefend, Geschichte der allgemeinen landständischen Verfassung des Königreichs Hannover, 1814–1848 (Hanover, 1857); H. A. Oppermann, Zur Geschichte des Königreichs Hannover, 1832–1860 (Berlin, 1868); E. von Meier, Hannoversche Verfassungs- und Verwaltungsgeschichte (Leipzig, 1898–1899); W. von Hassell, Das Kurfürstentum Hannover vom Baseler Frieden bis zur preussischen Okkupation (Hanover, 1894); and Geschichte des Königreichs Hannover (Leipzig, 1898–1901); H. von Treitschke, Der Herzog von Cumberland und das hannoversche Staatsgrundgesetz von 1833 (Leipzig, 1888); M. Bär, Übersicht über die Bestände des königlichen Staatsarchivs zu Hannover (Leipzig, 1900); Hannoversches Portfolio (Stuttgart, 1839–1841); and the authorities given for the history of Brunswick.
HANOVER, the capital of the Prussian province of the same
name, situated in a sandy but fertile plain on the Leine, which
here receives the Ihme, 38 m. N.W. from Brunswick, 78 S.E.
of Bremen, and at the crossing of the main lines of railway,
Berlin to Cologne and Hamburg to Frankfort-on-Main. Pop.
(1885) 139,731; (1900) 235,666; (1905) 250,032. On the north
and east the town is half encircled by the beautiful woods and
groves of the Eilenriede and the List which form the public
park. The Leine flows through the city, having the old town
on its right and the quaint Calenberger quarter between its left
bank and the Ihme. The old town is irregularly built, with
narrow streets and old-fashioned gabled houses. In its centre
lies the Markt Kirche, a red-brick edifice of the 14th century,
containing interesting monuments and some fine stained-glass
windows, and with a steeple 310 ft. in height (the highest in
Hanover). Its interior was restored in 1855. Close by, on the
market square, is the red-brick medieval town-hall (Rathaus),
with an historical wine cellar beneath. It has been superseded
for municipal business by a new building, and now contains the
civic archives and museum. The new town, surrounding the
old on the north and east, and lying between it and the woods
referred to, has wide streets, handsome buildings and beautiful
squares. Among the last-mentioned are the square at the railway
station—the Ernst August-Platz—with an equestrian statue of
King Ernest Augustus in bronze; the triangular Theater-Platz,
with statues of the composer Marschner and others; and the
Georgs-Platz, with a statue of Schiller. To the south of the old
town, on the banks of the Ihme, lies the Waterloo-Platz, with
a column of victory, 154 ft. high, having inscribed on it the
names of 800 Hanoverians who fell at Waterloo. In the adjacent
gardens an open rotunda encloses a marble bust of the philosopher
Leibnitz, and near it is a monument to General Count von Alten,
the commander of the Hanoverian troops at Waterloo. Among
the other churches the most noticeable are the Neustädterkirche,
with a graceful shrine containing the tomb of Leibnitz, the
Kreuzkirche, built about 1300, with a curious steeple, and the
Aegidienkirche among ancient edifices, and among modern ones
the Christuskirche, a gift of King George V., the Lukaskirche,
the Lutherkirche, and the Roman Catholic church of St Mary,
with a tower 300 ft. high, containing the grave of Ludwig
Windthorst, “his little excellency,” for many years leader of
the Ultramontane (Centre) party in the imperial diet. Of
secular buildings the most remarkable is the royal palace—Schloss—built
1636–1640, with a grand portal and handsome quadrangle.
In its chapel are preserved the relics of saints which Henry
the Lion brought from Palestine. The new provincial museum
built in 1897–1902 contains the Cumberland Gallery and the
Guelph Museum; and the Kestner Museum also contains
interesting and valuable collections of works of art. The other
principal public buildings are the royal archives and library,
containing a library of 200,000 volumes and 3500 manuscripts; the old provincial museum, which houses a variety of collections, such as natural, historical and ethnographical, and a collection of modern paintings; the theatre (built 1845–1852), one of the largest in Germany, the archaeological museum, the railway station, and, in the west, close to Herrenhausen (see below), the magnificent Welfenschloss (Guelph-palace). The last, begun in 1859, was almost completed in 1866, but was never occupied by the Hanoverian royal family. Since 1875 it has been occupied by the technical high school, an academy with university privileges. Close to it lies the famous 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 has a number of colleges and schools, and is the seat of several learned societies. It is largely frequented by foreign students, especially English, attracted by the educational facilities it offers and by the reputed purity of the German spoken. Hanover is the headquarters of the X. Prussian army corps, has a large garrison of nearly all arms and a famous military riding school. It occupies a leading position among the industrial and commercial towns of the empire, and of recent years has made rapid progress in prosperity. It is connected by railway with Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Hameln, Cologne, Altenbeken and Cassel, and the facilities of intercourse have, under the fostering care of the Prussian government, enormously developed its trade and manufactures. Almost all industries are represented; chief among them are machine-building, the manufacture of india-rubber, linen, cloth, hardware, chemicals, tobacco, pianos, furniture and groceries. The commerce consists principally in wine, hides, horses, coal, wood and cereals. There are extensive printing establishments. Hanover was the first German town that was lighted with gas. It is the birthplace of Sir William Herschel, the astronomer, of the brothers Schlegel, of Iffland and of the historian Pertz. The philosopher Leibnitz died there in 1716.
Close by, on the left bank of the Leine, lies the manufacturing town of Linden, which, though practically forming one town with Hanover, is treated under a separate heading.
The town of Hanover is first mentioned during the 12th century. It belonged to the family of Welf, then to the bishops of Hildesheim, and then, in 1369, it came again into the possession
