Landesmuseum Hannover

The Lower Saxony State Museum Hanover, also known as the WeltenMuseum, is the largest state-run museum in the state and stands at the Maschpark, across from the New Town Hall. The stately Neo-Renaissance building was completed in 1902 to designs by Hubert Stier. It is a four-wing complex with two main floors, distinguished by a large inner courtyard and a striking relief frieze on the facade. The history of the museum goes back to the 19th century, when various civic associations merged their collections. After Prussia annexed Hanover and the royal family went into exile, the holdings were transferred to a provincial museum, which was renamed the State Museum in 1933. Despite severe destruction from air raids in World War II, in which the dome above the central projecting bay burned down, among other damage, most of the exhibits were saved by timely evacuation.

Today the museum presents its five collections on three thematically linked levels. On the ground floor, the NaturWelten (Nature Worlds) offer an overview of the natural environment with a living vivarium and natural history specimens, featuring aquatic and land animals as well as dinosaur tracks. The first floor is devoted to the MenschenWelten (Human Worlds), which use archaeological and ethnological finds to tell the story of humankind from evolution to modern times. One focus is on features specific to Lower Saxony, while ethnographic objects offer a new, postcolonial perspective on non-European cultures. Well-known highlights include Red Franz (Roter Franz), a bog body, and the Gold Disc of Moordorf.

On the second floor, the KunstWelten (Art Worlds) house one of the largest collections of medieval art in Germany. Here you can admire paintings, prints, and sculptures from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, including works by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Caspar David Friedrich, and Paula Modersohn-Becker. The offerings are rounded out by a print room with around 20,000 hand drawings and prints, as well as a coin cabinet whose holdings go back to the Hanoverian kings. The museum is wheelchair accessible and, in addition to its permanent exhibitions, regularly hosts changing special exhibitions that take up current research findings and cultural topics.