Herrenhausen

In the 17th century the principality of Hannover fell to a branch of the House of Braunschweig and Lüneburg. The court moved to Hannover and the gardens of Herrenhausen became transformed. The arts and letters flourished as well under the sponsorship of Princess Sophia. Händel was frequently invited to give concerts, and in 1676 the philosopher Leibnitz arrived to take up the post of librarian to the court - a position he held for 40 years. In 1692 the principality became the Electorate of Braunschweig and Lüneburg. The marriage in 1658 of Duke Ernst-Augustus with the Princess Sophia, grand-daughter of James I, established a Hannoverian claim to the throne of England. In 1714, the Elector Georg of Hannover, son of Princess Sophia, became King George I of England. The court left Herrenhausen and did not return until 1837 when the union of England and Hannover under one sovereign lapsed beause of the application of the Salic Law in Hannover. In England Queen Victoria came to the throne, in Hannover it was her uncle Ernst-Augustus. He resided in town and restored it to its former glory, but in 1866 the House of Hannover was annexed by the kingdom of Prussia (Preussen).

The Herrenhausen Gardens on the northwest side of town actually consist of four quite different and separate gardens: the Große Garten (see below), the Berggarten, the Georgengarten and the Welfengarten. The Große Garten was begun in 1688; between 1696 and 1710 Princess Sophia transformed and enlarged it. It forms a rectangle nearly 900 yards long and is surrounded by a moat. The oldest part is a formal French pleasure garden divided into flower borders punctuated by statues of allegorical figures or Roman gods; on the left is an open air theater, on the right a maze. The powerful central fountain has a plume of 269 feet - 82m.

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