Red Thread

About

The Red Thread (German: Roter Faden) is a 4.2-kilometre (2.6 mi) urban walking trail in Hanover, Germany, to 36 significant points of interest about architecture and the history of the city centre.

It starts at Ernst August Square [ de ] next to the tourist information office near 52°22′31″N 9°44′29″E  /  52.375366°N 9.741331°E  / 52.375366; 9.741331  ( Start of the Red Thread ) approximately 120 metres (390 ft) south-southeast of the southern, ground level, entrance of the main railway station. Threading through the city centre of Hanover and in particular the site of its old town ( Altstadt ) in a roughly clockwise direction, the Red Thread ends at the tail end of the equestrian statue of Ernst August. That statue is situated near - 52°22′35″N 9°44′27″E  /  52.376295°N 9.740774°E  / 52.376295; 9.740774  ( End of the Red Thread ) about 15 metres (49 ft) in front of that same, southern ground level, entrance of the main railway station.

Barrier-free for the entire course, the line is repainted annually with about 70 litres (18 US gal) of red paint. A brochure that explains each stop along the Red Thread is available in 10 languages, as is a mobile app for iOS called Roter Faden that supports 4 languages.

The Red Thread is based on the Freedom Trail in Boston, Massachusetts, and was created in 1971 for a marketing campaign developed for the city of Hanover by an agency chosen in 1969 by city manager Martin Neuffer. [ de ] At that time Hanover had a reputation of being one of the most boring cities in Germany. Appreciating art, city manager Neuffer initiated an image campaign comprising a street art program and a marketing campaign.

The walking trail comprises the following 36 numbered stops.

- The Red Thread starts near the tourist information office at the southeast corner of Ernst August Square south-southeast of the main railway station's southern entry.

- Galerie Luise [ de ] is a shopping mall of about 35 shops, which opened in 1987.

- Hanover Opera House, originally opened in 1852, was destroyed in 1943 by the aerial bombings of Hanover during World War II and reconstructed after the war, finally reopening in 1950.

- George Street [ de ] stretches from Stone Gate Square [ de ] through the main shopping district past the Opera House to Aegidien Gate Square. The street is named after George III, a monarch of the House of Hanover who was Duke and Prince-elector of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire and then King of Hanover from 12 October 1814, as well as King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1760 to 1820.

- George Square, [ de ] also named after George III, is a square dissected diagonally by George Street.

- The Aegidien Gate was the southeastern city gate until 1748 when the area was redeveloped and today is the Aegidien Gate Square with the Aegidien Gate Square subway station below it.

- Aegidien Church was destroyed by the aerial bombings during World War II. Its remnants are left standing as a memorial to the victims of war and violence in the city.

- The Spartan Stone [ de ] in the southeast exterior of Aegidien Church is a copy of the original now housed in Hanover Historical Museum. Legend has it being the headstone of the "Spartans of Hanover", seven Hanoverians who died defending the city in 1480.

- Kubus Gallery [ de ] exhibits contemporary art, focusing on Hanover and the city's twins. Immediately to the gallery's south, a city wall remnant and the Borgentrick tower [ de ] dating to 1310 are integrated into a former school building.

- The archer on Tramm Square, [ de ] a copy by Ernst Moritz Geyger of an earlier piece by him, aims at the mayor's office in the New Town Hall.

- New Town Hall opened in June 1913, and in November 1946 the new federal state of Lower Saxony was proclaimed in its main hall. Four models of Hanover are exhibited in that hall, showing Hanover as it was around 1689, just before World War II, just after the war, and as it is today. An observation platform at the top of the 97.73-metre (320.6 ft) building, reached by a unique elevator that ascends 43 metres (141 ft) along an arch of up to 17°, offers panoramic views of Hanover that extend to the Harz in favourable visibility.

- Museum August Kestner was founded in 1889 and exhibits art of ancient and Egyptian cultures, design, coins and medals.

- The portal at the entrance to the building department ( Baudezernat ) dates to 1736. It was moved there in 1955 after the barracks whose stable it adorned was destroyed by the aerial bombings during World War II.

- Laves House, [ de ] former home of architect Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves, became a public building in 1908. In 1996 the Lower Saxon Chamber of Architects [ de ] purchased the building as their headquarters that they now share with the Laves Foundation. [ de ]

- Laves built Wangenheim Palace for his eventual neighbour Georg von Wangenheim [ de ] in 1829–1832. After George V became king of Hanover in 1851, he lived in Wangenheim Palace for 10 years. The building served as town hall from 1862, when officials moved from the Old Town Hall, until 1913, when they moved into the New Town Hall.