Hanover Region


Hanover Region is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Heidekreis, Celle, Gifhorn, Peine, Hildesheim, Hamelin-Pyrmont, Schaumburg and Nienburg.
The District of Hanover has a unique legal status among the districts of Lower Saxony. It includes the City of Hanover, the state capital, which has the same privileges as a city that is not part of a district. As a consequence, the District is much larger in population than any other district of the state. Its administrative body is the Regionsparlament, headed by the Regionspräsident or "region president". The members of the Regionsparlament are elected once every five years and the Regionspräsident is elected once every eight years in local elections.

History

The City of Hanover was not part of the district until 2001, when the old Hanover District and the city were merged in order to form the new Region Hannover district.
During World War II, Hanover was the Headquarters of the Military District XI, which was responsible for Braunschweig, Anhalt, and part of Hanover. It was also the Garrison Town for the 71. Infanterie Division.

Geography

The district surrounds the City of Hanover and includes the outskirts of its metropolitan area. The Leine river enters the district in the south, runs through Hanover and leaves to the north. In the northwest is the Steinhuder Meer, a lake with an area of, within the region known as the Hanoverian Moor Geest.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on May 1, 2003. The cloverleaf is from the arms of the City of Hanover. The lion was the heraldic animal of the Welfen family, which ruled the region from the Middle Ages until 1866.

Towns and municipalities

Towns

TownCapitalArea Population Location
Barsinghausen

Barsinghausen102.65 km²33,608
Burgdorf

Burgdorf112.26 km²30,147
Burgwedel

Burgwedel151.96 km²20,654
Garbsen

Garbsen79.31 km²60,590
Gehrden

Gehrden42.97 km²14,624
Hanover

Hanover204.01 km²532,163
Hemmingen

Hemmingen31.65 km²18,793
Laatzen

Laatzen34.05 km²40,939
Langenhagen

Langenhagen71.99 km²53,323
Lehrte

Lehrte127 km²43,639
Neustadt am Rübenberge

Neustadt am Rübenberge357 km²43,931
Pattensen

Pattensen67 km²14,324
Ronnenberg

Ronnenberg37.78 km²23,752
Seelze

Seelze54 km²33,283
Sehnde

Sehnde103.44 km²23,489
Springe

Springe159.78 km²28,682
Wunstorf

Wunstorf126.60 km²41,251

Municipalities