Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [538]
DIE NANAS
The city government was inundated with nearly 20,000 letters of complaint when these three earth-mama sculptures were first installed beside the Leine River in 1974. Now, the voluptuous and fluorescent-coloured ‘Sophie’, ‘Charlotte’ and ‘Caroline’, by French artist Niki de Saint Phalle, are among the city’s most recognisable, and most loved, landmarks. Indeed, Die Nanas helped make de Saint Phalle famous, and devout fans of her work will find a direct trip to Leibnizufer (U-Bahn stop Markthalle Landtag) rewarding.
SPRENGEL MUSEUM
It’s the building as much as the curatorial policy that puts the Sprengel Museum ( 1684 3875; www.sprengel-museum.de, in German; Kurt-Schwitters-Platz; adult/child under 12yr/concession €7/free/4; 10am-6pm Wed-Sun, 10am-8pm Tue) in such high esteem. Its huge interior spaces are brilliant for displaying its modern figurative, abstract and conceptual art, including a few works by Nolde, Chagall and Picasso. At the core of the collection are 300 works by Niki de Saint Phalle, a selection of which is usually on show. Take bus 100 from Kröpcke to the Sprengelmuseum/Maschsee stop.
MASCHSEE
This artificial lake, built by the unemployed in one of the earliest Nazi-led public works projects, is now a favourite spot for boating and swimming. It’s certainly the most central at just 30 minutes’ walk away; otherwise take bus 100 from Kröpcke to Sprengelmuseum/Maschsee.
Ferries ( 700 950; adult/child full tour €6/3, half-tour €3/1.50) – some solar-powered – ply the lake from Easter to October in good weather, and there are sailing, pedal and rowing boats for hire. On the southeast bank, there’s a swimming beach, or Strandbad (adult/child €2.50/1.50; 9.30am-7.30pm May-Aug), while in-line skaters glide by under the neighbouring trees.
ALTSTADT
Despite WWII bombing, Hanover’s restored Altstadt (old town) remains appealingly quaint. The red-brick, Gothic Marktkirche in the market square has original elements, as do both the Altes Rathaus (begun 1455) across the market, and the nearby Ballhof (1649–64), a hall originally built for 17th-century badminton-type games.
An entire row of half-timbered houses has been recreated along Kramerstrasse and Burgstrasse near the Marktkirche, and here you also find Leibnizhaus, once the home of mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), with its reconstructed Renaissance facade.
In front of the Leibnizhaus is the Oskar-Winter-Brunnen (Oskar Winter Fountain). If you make a wish and turn the small brass ring embedded in the ironwork three times, local lore has it that the wish will come true.
OTHER MUSEUMS
It’s always worth checking listings for the Kestner Gesellschaft (Kestner Society; 701 200; www.kestner.org; Goseriede 11; adult/concession €5/2.50; 11am-6pm Tue, Wed & Fri-Sun, to 8pm Thu). Having exhibited works by Otto Dix, Georg Grosz, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee before they became famous, the society is still originating shows that later tour Europe. Its wonderfully light, high-ceilinged premises were once a bathhouse.
Decorative arts through the ages are covered at the Kestner Museum ( 1684 2120; Trammplatz 3; adult/concession €5/3, Fri free; 11am-6pm Tue & Thu-Sun, to 8pm Wed), where you’ll see everything from Bauhaus-style cutlery to a very impressive collection of Greek and Egyptian antiquities.
WAR MEMORIALS
In a city so devastated by war, it’s not surprising to find a peace bell. Donated by sister city Hiroshima, it lies inside a steel-cross Memorial to Our Dead on Breite Strasse near the corner of Osterstrasse. Every 6 August at 8.15am, the date and time of the atomic detonation