Herrenhausen Gardens - Welfengarten

Welfengarten

The Welfengarten makes up the grounds of the University of Hanover, as the university now uses the castle at the garden's centre - Welfenschloss - as its main building. Before the construction on the castle was completed, Hanover was annexed by Prussia. In the following years - specifically from 1857 to 1866 – the building was rebuilt in its present form.

In front of the building is a bronze sculpture of the "Lower Saxony Steed" (Niedersachsenross) – the heraldic animal found on the coat of arms of Lower Saxony. The Welfengarten, like the other gardens, was also destroyed during the Second World War, but it was rebuilt specifically as the campus of the university. Although the University has occupied the castle since 1879, it was not until 1961 that the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Prince of Hanover (Herzog zu Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Prinzen von Hannover), sold the plot of land on which the castle stood to the city of Hanover. He kept however the Princely Palace (Fürstenhaus), located near the destroyed castle of the Great Garden, for himself. His grandson Prince Ernst August of Hanover is now using it as his private residence when in Germany. The elaborate museum in this small palace, built by king George I of Great Britain in 1720, has recently been closed.