Germany - What do we all think about Hannover?

quite a vague topic but is it a place you would consider living in? especially if you were younger of age?

i have an opportunity to take a travel heavy job, but based out of there.

while i prefer larger sized city, what im really into are places with a sense of natural beauty, thats commonly linked to a very friendly, laid back vibe, but also a sense of vibrancy. "dull" is exactly what im trying to avoid.

i quite enjoyed berlin and munich, but from my small sample size, friends i talked who are/were german residents think very badly of hannover.

most people like to think optimistically and present themselves and their thoughts in a positive way... i'd prefer if you were honest and very critical. what do you really think about hannover?

FWIW, as a gauge of tastes and preferences, AND i apologize to the britons, but most of england bores me to death

The only experience I have with Hannover was when my flight from FRA to Bremen was cancelled and I had to fly to Hannover and take a bus to Bremen. Bremen was a pretty cool city, and with the university there, lots going on. SO if you live in Hannover, you can always drive or take the bus to Bremen.

This is probably one of the least helpful posts I have ever made - and I have made some pretty unhelpful ones over the years.

Hannover is a typical midsized German city (550000 inhabitans). It does not belong to any larger metropolitan area like the Rhein-Main-Area around Frankfurt or the Ruhrpott around Essen.

Still it is big enough to offer a lot of culture and recreation on its own. I think most people think bad about Hannover because they only know Hannover from the main train station and CeBIT (largest Computer and IT fair in the world).

Hannover also hosts the largest Schützenfest Hanover Schützenfest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanover_Sch%C3%BCtzenfest).

Hannover also has a large university. It is also the state capital of Lower Saxony.

Hannover is OK. I have been there many, many times for CeBIT.
You wrote: "... friends i talked who are/were german residents think very badly of hannover...." This is absolutely not true! If you get a good job - take it!
Hannover has a population of 522,686
City of Milwaukee has a population of 594,833

Wiki: "...A great number of German immigrants increased the city's population during the 1840s and continued to migrate to the area during the following decades. The German heritage and influence in the Milwaukee area is widespread. As of 2010, the Greater Milwaukee phone book includes more than 40 pages of Schmitts or Schmidts, far more than the pages of Smiths..."

Being a native of Braunschweig, what do I think of West Peine*? Hmm, not too much. The zoo is quite good, the baroque gardens of Herrenhausen are beautiful, there are quite some options for shopping and a handful of museums.
Flair? Not much.
Beauty? Old town? The war has spared very little of old Hannover.
Cultural life? Everything you'd expect from a city of half a million inhabitants.
Scenery? None apart from maybe the lake - the countryside is just flat.
Vibrancy? The presence of about 30,000 university students guarantees some for sure.
Train connections in all directions are excellent so it is easy to get away...

There are surely worse cities to live, so if the job offer is good, you should be okay there.

*Peine is a lousy little town halfway between Hannover and Braunschweig. - The natives of Hannouver call our city "Messe parking East", by the way. The usual rivalry between neighbouring places.

Hannover is OK. I have been there many, many times for CeBIT.
You wrote: "... friends i talked who are/were german residents think very badly of hannover...." This is absolutely not true! If you get a good job - take it!

It is true that most germans are thinking badly about Hannover (including me). Its one of the few medium size city few Germans really visited (probably because not much of interest), and most Germans only know Hannover as a train stop heading to/from Hamburg to somewhere else. Of course there is the large EXPO somewhere south of the city. Its having its own train station during fairs, so no need to even go to the city centre.

I remember Hannover as a grey city with a lot of these post-war 50s building giving it not really an appalling look. But i honestly must say i was there last as a child.

:o

I'm getting sleepy just thinking about it. I've never warmed up to the place, like I have with other German cities like Berlin, Leipzig, Nürnberg, and München. I get the same "blah" feeling of Hannover like I do with Düsseldorf or Frankfurt. However, they do claim to speak the most proper form of German.

:o

I'm getting sleepy just thinking about it. I've never warmed up to the place, like I have with other German cities like Berlin, Leipzig, Nürnberg, and München. I get the same "blah" feeling of Hannover like I do with Düsseldorf or Frankfurt. However, they do claim to speak the most proper form of German.

Frankfurt I can understand but Düsseldorf? The old town with its tons of bars, pubs and restaurants is everything else but "blah".

I've been to Hannover and Braunschweig several times. Both are nice little cities... Although Braunschweig is considerably smaller than Hannover.

There's a nice bar called Oker Cabana in Braunschweig... Beach themed and right on the river. Not exactly Hannover, but figured I'd throw it in there.

I've been to Hannover and Braunschweig several times. Both are nice little cities... Although Braunschweig is considerably smaller than Hannover.

Hannover is by German standards all but nice and little...

Frankfurt I can understand but Düsseldorf? The old town with its tons of bars, pubs and restaurants is everything else but "blah".

:D Yeah. Because it's the only German city with that stuff!

One of the most boring cities in Germany.

There's a nice bar called Oker Cabana in Braunschweig... Beach themed and right on the river. Not exactly Hannover, but figured I'd throw it in there.
Thanks for throwing it in there ^ I'll be visiting Germany this summer and we stay in Braunschweig for most of our visit. I'll make it a point to check out the Oker cabana...sounds fun!

I have a bunch of friends who live in a small town 25 KM west of Hannover, so I'm there kind of often.

If I didn't know these people, I probably wouldn't have really considered going back except maybe to change trains.

I could probably stand to live there for a while, but only because I know so many people, and because Berlin is under 2 hours away with ICE!

If your comment about being younger is an allusion to partying, it does have a few clubs that are kind of ok (one of my favorites is there, actually). Since it's the biggest city in the area, it tends to get lots of people coming in on the S-Bahn on Friday/Saturday nights, so there is some nightlife.

..., they do claim to speak the most proper form of German.

we don't claim to ... we do ;)

Actually you can't compare Hannover to Berlin, Hamburg, München or Düsseldorf. It's unfair and useless the same way it's unfair to compare Milwaukee to New York, LA or Miami. It's just different.

Depending on what you like to do there's some nice stuff to do in Hannover
- the Eilenriede forest
- the Hannover Zoo
- the Oldtown with it's famous old buildings, next to some bars and restaurants
- the flea market on saturday mornings
- the Maschsee
- the market hall on saturday mornings
- some more or less interesting museums (like Sprengel Museum, Wilhelm-Busch-Museum or Landesmuseum)
- it's quite large pedestrian area in the centre of Hannover from the railway station to the Oldtown where you have plenty of malls, shops, restaurants
- the Herrenhäuser Gärten with the "castle" of Kurfürst Ernst-August
- there's even a party area at Steintor in downtown for those we like partying and clubbing (never been there because I'm already a little "out-aged" :o )
- there's a premier league (Bundesliga) soccer team in Hannover as well as a premier league hockey team, not as famed as the Packers but anyway
- Hannover is also some kind of a beer town with a couple more or less famous beer brands

If you want to go upcountry for some landcape, within less then one hour you are at the Harz mountains in the south, the Lüneburger Heide in the North and the Weserbergland in the west.

And yes Hannvoer is not as nice, glamourous, vibring or interesting as some other cities in germany. Still you wont' die from boredom ... it's up to you ...

I've been twice, albeit extremely briefly in Hannover, and from what I saw, I would love to go back and see it properly.

I flew to HAJ last summer on my way to Osnabrück, and spent a night there. I planned some time, the evening I arrived, and the morning before I flew out, to have a look round. Delayed inbound flight killed the evening, and a delayed train back to Hannover killed the morning before I left.

It's on the list for this summer though :D

The square outside the Hauptbahnhof gave a good first impression.

we don't claim to ... we do ;)

Actually you can't compare Hannover to Berlin, Hamburg, München or Düsseldorf. It's unfair and useless the same way it's unfair to compare Milwaukee to New York, LA or Miami. It's just different.

Depending on what you like to do there's some nice stuff to do in Hannover
- the Eilenriede forest
- the Hannover Zoo
- the Oldtown with it's famous old buildings, next to some bars and restaurants
- the flea market on saturday mornings
- the Maschsee
- the market hall on saturday mornings
- some more or less interesting museums (like Sprengel Museum, Wilhelm-Busch-Museum or Landesmuseum)
- it's quite large pedestrian area in the centre of Hannover from the railway station to the Oldtown where you have plenty of malls, shops, restaurants
- the Herrenhäuser Gärten with the "castle" of Kurfürst Ernst-August
- there's even a party area at Steintor in downtown for those we like partying and clubbing (never been there because I'm already a little "out-aged" :o )
- there's a premier league (Bundesliga) soccer team in Hannover as well as a premier league hockey team, not as famed as the Packers but anyway
- Hannover is also some kind of a beer town with a couple more or less famous beer brands

If you want to go upcountry for some landcape, within less then one hour you are at the Harz mountains in the south, the Lüneburger Heide in the North and the Weserbergland in the west.

And yes Hannvoer is not as nice, glamourous, vibring or interesting as some other cities in germany. Still you wont' die from boredom ... it's up to you ...

Very nice description! Hannover is also quite cheap if you consider buying a property or rent a flat / house compared to the mentioned cities of Munich or Rhein/Main area. I also can recomment the local beer "Gilde Ratskeller" ;)

Seems like the Eilenriede might make for a fun day with the kids on a day trip from Braunschweig this summer. Thanks for the tips! ^

Seems like the Eilenriede might make for a fun day with the kids on a day trip from Braunschweig this summer. Thanks for the tips! ^

should be fun for your kids to go here in the Eilenriede: http://www.seilgarten-hannover.de/web/site.shtml?seilgarten

I first visited Hannover back in 1997 and it was everything (or worse) that you hear about it: dull, boring and dirty.

But since then a lot has happened (especially the EXPO in 2000 was a big game changer). When I came to live there for nine months in 2003/2004 a lot had changed for the better and it was a nice, vibrant and pretty cheap place to live in.

olisch already mentioned a lot of the nicer areas and places. I would probably add the Steinhuder Meer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinhuder_Meer) (the largest lake in north-western Germany), which is an 18 mile ride from Hannover and is great for sailing and windsurfing.

Of course you can't compare it with larger metropolitan areas like Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Dusseldorf/Cologne, Frankfurt (Rhine-Main area), but it is also much cheaper there especially compared to Munich or Frankfurt.