Herrenhausen Gardens, Hannover

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The royal gardens of Herrenhausen are a real treat for visitors to the state capital. These unique gardens were created in 1666. You can enjoy a variety of stylistic orientations, baroque horticulture in the French style, the English landscaped garden and the botanical garden. The Großer Garten, Berggarten, Georgengarten and Welfengarten were laid out by the kings and princes of Hanover between the 17th and 19th centuries.

The centrepiece of the ensemble is the Großer Garten, the largest baroque gardens in Germany, with its hedges, secret garden, impressive fountains and white sculptures. In the summer months, grand celebrations are held here – visitors can enjoy the baroque ambience of the garden with events ranging from the international firework competition to the "Kleine Fest im Großen Garten“ (little festival in the Großer Garten) to theatre and musical performances.

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Herrenhausen Gardens are the city's pride and joy - a vast complex of formal gardens laid out between 1666 and the mid-19th century. The various gardens that are known together as the 'Herrenhäuser Gärten' are in the French Baroque, English landscape and botanical styles. In total the four gardens, the Grosser Garten, Georgengarten, Berggarten and Welfengarten, cover no less than 135 hectares of land to the north-west of the city centre. The gardens also feature several impressive buildings, such as the Orangery, the Wilhelm Busch Museum and the Fürstenhaus.

It can be reached by tram. From Kröpcke station (near the main station), you take the no. 4 or 5 heading for Garbsen or Stöcken respectively. Journey time is approx. 10 minutes. You will pass this landmark, opposite side is the Butterfly farm and the Rainforest Dome. The gardens are open till 8pm. The adult admission price was €3 that time (2005) but we got it for free i dont know why, is it because of the Cebit fair??... even the tram is free.. take note.

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I love gardens I really do! So when I was in Hannover I had to see the gardens as well, eventhough it was the middle of the winter I found the gardens beautiful (in morbid sort of way), anyway it is worth a visit.

The Grosse Garten in Herrenhausen is unique in Germany and has been preserved almost unchanged for over three centuries. Guided tours of this magnificent collection of baroque gardens are available. The Berggarten next door is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world and has a world famous collection of plants including one of the most complete orchid collections on the continent and displays of cactus and other tropical plant species.

Did not manage to enter the gardens per se, but that does not mean that I did not take in the wonderful greenery inside !

We walked around the outside and managed to take lots of pictures. It was evening and the sun was setting. The whole area was sort of bathed in gold light. Very nice !

Berggarten is kind of a botanic garden opposite the Royal Garden in Herrenhausen. You will find all the smells and colours of the world's flora here. There's little signs with the names of the flowers, little lakes and wonderful alleys here.

The entrance fee to the gardens (Großer Garten and Berggarten) is 4 €.

In Berggarten there's a mausoleum where many royals of the House of Hannover are buried, e.g. Ernst August (King of Hannover, 1771-1778) and George I (King of England, 1714-1727). George V (1819-1878), king of England and Hannover, however, is not buried here but in Windsor.

Many visitors are quite astonished to hear that the magnificent building they are standing in front of is, actually, the "new" townhall. Its size and grand architectural style make it look more "historical", like a relict from more majestic times, when Hannover used to be a kingdom. The townhall itself was, however, ceremonially opende on 20 June 1913 after twelfe years building time. The proud figure of 10 million Marks was the amount the municipality was willing to pay for its new splendid building, erected upon 6020 beech-tree piles. It was designed by Eggert and Halmhuber.

The new townhall is the residence of the mayor, the head of the municipal administration. The doors of the Townhall are always wide open to all visitors. And a visit is any time a worthwhile venture.

Four scale models of Hannover are on permanent display under the nearly one hundred metre high dome of the townhall lobby, showing the city as it was in the Middle Ages, before World War II, the destruction of 1945 and the townscape of today. These models are always immensely popular amongst the visitors.

The diagonal lift in the Townhall dome is unique in Europe. At a 15-degree angle it covers the 43 metres up tolthe gallery at the top of the dome. From this vantage point one can enjoy a marvellous view of the whole city, even as far as the Harz Mountains when visibility is good.