Hanover (state)
Hanover (
German:
Hannover) is a historical territory in today's
Germany.
It was an independent kingdom from
1814 to
1866 and a province of
Prussia from
1866 to
1946. Hanover was originally called the
Principality of Calenberg, which was a subdivision of the Duchy of
Brunswick-Lüneburg. The Principality of Calenberg existed from
1432 until
1803. Hanover is named after its capital,
Hanover.
The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, a state of the
Holy Roman Empire, was frequently subdivided into different principalities, each of which was ruled by a duke; one of these was the Principality of Calenberg. It was first created when it was split off from the
Principality of Brunswick in
1432. It fell to the
Principality of Wolfenbüttel in
1584. In
1635 it was separated again from Wolfenbüttel, together with the
Principality of Göttingen, with which it would stay joined.
In
1636, the capital of the Principality of Calenberg was moved from
Pattensen to
Hanover, and hence it also became known as Hanover.
In
1692, Duke
Ernest Augustus received the additional title of
prince-elector. The principality was then also known as the
Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg or, informally, the
Electorate of Hanover. In
1714, the Hanoverian electors became kings of
Great Britain (see
House of Hanover). The influence of the electors in Germany grew also: they inherited the
Principality of Lüneburg in
1705, and the formerly
Swedish territories of
Bremen and
Verden in
1719. As part of the
German Mediatisation of
1803, the Electorate received the
Bishopric of Osnabrück.
In
1803, the Electorate was occupied by
France, which ruled over it in some form or another for the next ten years. From
1807 on, the Hanoverian territority was part of the
Kingdom of Westphalia. In
1813, the Electorate was restored, and in October of
1814 it became the
Kingdom of Hanover at the
Congress of Vienna, in order to make
George III equal to the upstart King of
Württemberg in German affairs. The Congress of Vienna installed a territorial exchange between Hanover and
Prussia, in which Hanover increased its area substantially. Hanover gained the
Bishopric of Hildesheim,
East Frisia, the
Lower County of Lingen, and the northern part of the
Bishopric of Münster. It lost those parts of the
Duchy of Lauenburg to the right of the
Elbe, and several small exclaves in the east.
The
personal union with the United Kingdom ended in
1837 on the accession of
Queen Victoria because the succession laws (
Salic Law) in Hanover prevented a female inheriting the title if there was any surviving male heir (in the United Kingdom, a male only took precedence of his own sisters). In the
Austro-Prussian War of
1866, Hanover was annexed by
Prussia and became the
Province of Hanover.
*
Ernest Augustus 1692-1698
*
George I 1698-1727
*
George II 1727-1760
*
George III 1760-1803
*
George III (restored) 1814-1820
*
George IV 1820-1830
*
William 1830-1837
*
Ernest Augustus 1837-1851
*
George V 1851-1866
*
Province of Hanover*
King's German Legion*
Rulers of Hanover*
Map of Lower Saxony 1789
