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Hanover is one of the most thriving cities in Germany,
playing host in the early spring to the world’s largest
industrial fair. This prosperity is well reflected in
the city’s many fine restaurants and exclusive
boutiques, and also in its beautifully restored Old
Town, with its fine town houses and pleasant street
cafés.
The museums of Hanover are richly rewarding,
particularly the Kestner Museum, with its superb bust of
the Pharaoh Akhenaten, and the rich collections of
modern art at the Sprengel Museum. British visitors
especially will be attracted by the magnificent
Herrenhausen Gardens begun by the Hanoverian Electress
Sophie over 300 years ago.
These are in fact several gardens, in different styles,
but the most famous is the Great Garden, which was laid
out in a strictly geo-metrical style and is one of the
best preserved Baroque gardens in Europe. Its garden
theatre was the first of its kind in Germany, while its
Great Fountain is the highest on the Continent.
Gardeners will also want to visit the Berggarten, which
is home to the largest display of orchids in Europe, and
the late-romantic landscape park of the Georgengarten,
which provides an interesting contrast to the
magnificence and formal beauty of the Great Garden. The
garden also plays host to a season of music and theatre,
often accompanied by fireworks and the music of Händel,
including his “Water Music” and “Fireworks Music”. |
