Province of Hanover

Province of Hanover Provinz Hannover(German)
Province ofPrussia
1866–1946
Flag Coat of arms
The Province of Hanover (red), within theKingdom of Prussia(blue and red), within theGerman Empire(blue, red, and beige)
Capital	Hanover
Area
• Coordinates	52°22′N9°43′E
• 1939	38,705 km2(14,944 sq mi)
Population
• 1939	3.537.390
History
•Established	1866
• Disestablished	1946
Political subdivisions	Aurich Hanover Hildesheim Lüneburg Osnabrück Stade
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Hanover State of Hanover State of Mecklenburg
Today part of	Germany

TheProvince of Hanover(German:Provinz Hannover) was aprovinceof theKingdom of Prussiaand theFree State of Prussiafrom 1866 to 1946.

During theAustro-Prussian War,theKingdom of Hanoverhad attempted to maintain a neutral position, along with some other member states of theGerman Confederation.After Hanover voted in favour of mobilising confederation troops against Prussia on 14 June 1866, Prussia saw this as a just cause for declaring war; the Kingdom of Hanover was soon dissolved and annexed by Prussia. The private wealth of the dethronedHouse of Hanoverwas then used byOtto von Bismarckto finance his continuing efforts againstLudwig II of Bavaria.

In 1946, the British military administration recreated theState of Hanoverbased on the former Kingdom of Hanover; but within the year, at the instigation of the German leadership, it was merged into the newstate(Bundesland) ofLower Saxony—along with the states ofOldenburg,Brunswick,andSchaumburg-Lippe—with the city ofHanoveras the capital of this new state.

Hanoverian regions

The six Hanoveran regions.

Hannover, Oldenburg, Brunswick (1905)

Hannover, Schleswig-Holstein and small Northern German States (1890)

Hanover was subdivided into six regions first calledLanddrostei[en](High-Bailiwick[s]), which were reorganised into Prussian standardRegierungsbezirke(governorates) on 1 April 1885.

1. Aurich
2. Osnabrück
3. Stade
4. Lüneburg(Lunenburg)
5. Hildesheim
6. Hanover

Administrative divisions from 1885

On 1 April 1885 the sixLanddrosteienwere turned into regional administrative districts calledRegierungsbezirke:

Regierungsbezirk Aurich Regierungsbezirk Hannover Regierungsbezirk Hildesheim Regierungsbezirk Lüneburg Regierungsbezirk Osnabrück Regierungsbezirk Stade

TheRegierungsbezirkewere subdivided into new urban and rural counties (StadtkreiseandLandkreise), the oldAmtstructure being disbanded. Where the name of the county town differs from that of the county, it is shown in brackets:

Counties in the province of Hanover (1905)

Regierungsbezirk Aurich

Stadtkreise

• Emden
• Wilhelmshaven(1919–1937, then ceded toOldenburg)

Landkreise

• Aurich
• Emden(to 1932, then divided between the town of Emden, Landkreis Norden and Landkreis Leer)
• Leer
• Norden
• Weener(to 1932, then to Landkreis Leer)
• Wittmund

Regierungsbezirk Hannover

Stadtkreise

• Hamelin(from 1923)
• Hanover
• Linden(1886–1920, then to the city of Hanover)

Landkreise

• Grafschaft Diepholz(county offices inDiepholz,to 1932Kreis Diepholz)
• Grafschaft Hoya(county offices inSyke,before 1932Kreis Hoya)
• Grafschaft Schaumburg(county offices inRinteln,before 1932Province of Hesse-Nassau)
• Hameln-Pyrmont(county offices inHamelin,before 1922Kreis Hameln)
• Hanover
• Linden(to 1932, then to Landkreis Hannover)
• Neustadt am Rübenberge
• Nienburg/Weser
• Springe
• Stolzenau(to 1932, then to Landkreis Nienburg/Weser)
• Sulingen(to 1932, then to Landkreis Grafschaft Diepholz)
• Syke(to 1932, then to Landkreis Grafschaft Hoya)

Regierungsbezirk Hildesheim

Stadtkreise

• Göttingen
• Goslar(to 1941, then toBrunswick)
• Hildesheim

Landkreise

• Alfeld
• Duderstadt
• Einbeck
• Göttingen
• Goslar(to 1941, then toBrunswick)
• Gronau
• Hildesheim
• Holzminden(from 1941, previouslyBrunswick)
• Ilfeld(to 1932, then toProvince of Saxony)
• Marienburg i. Hann.(county offices inHildesheim)
• Münden
• Northeim
• Osterode am Harz
• Peine
• Uslar(to 1932, then to Landkreis Northeim)
• Zellerfeld(county offices inClausthal-Zellerfeld)

Regierungsbezirk Lüneburg

Stadtkreise

• Celle
• Harburg(1927 toHarburg-Wilhelmsburg)
• Harburg-Wilhelmsburg(1927–1937, then toHamburg)
• Lüneburg
• Wilhelmsburg(1925–1927, then toHarburg-Wilhelmsburg)

Landkreise

• Bleckede(to 1932, then to Landkreis Lüneburg)
• Burgdorf
• Celle
• Fallingbostel
• Gifhorn
• Harburg(county offices inHamburg-Harburg)
• Isenhagen(to 1932, then to Landkreis Gifhorn)
• Lüchow-Dannenberg(county offices inLüchow,formed in 1932 from the counties ofLüchowandDanneberg)
• Lüneburg
• Soltau
• Uelzen(county offices to 1974 inOldenstadt)
• Winsen

Regierungsbezirk Osnabrück

Stadtkreise

• Osnabrück

Landkreise

• Aschendorf-Hümmling(county offices inAschendorf/Ems,formed in 1932 from the counties ofAschendorfandHümmling)
• Landkreis Bersenbrück
• Grafschaft Bentheim(county offices inBentheim)
• Iburg(to 1932, then to Landkreis Osnabrück)
• Lingen
• Melle
• Meppen
• Osnabrück
• Wittlage

Regierungsbezirk Stade

Stadtkreise

• Cuxhaven(from 1937, previously part ofHamburg)
• Geestemünde(1912–1924, then to Stadtkreis Wesermünde)
• Lehe(1920–1924, then to Stadtkreis Wesermünde)
• Wesermünde(formed in 1924 from the counties ofGeestemündeandLehe)

Landkreise

• Achim(to 1932, then to Landkreis Verden)
• Blumenthal(to 1932, then to Landkreis Osterholz)
• Bremervörde
• Hadeln(county offices inOtterndorf,1932 to Landkreis Land Hadeln)
• Jork(to 1932, then to counties of Stade and Harburg)
• Kehdingen(to 1932, then to Landkreis Stade)
• Land Hadeln(county offices inOtterndorf,formed in 1932 from the counties of Hadeln and Neuhaus an der Oste)
• Neuhaus an der Oste(to 1932, then to Landkreis Land Hadeln)
• Osterholz(county offices inOsterholz-Scharmbeck)
• Rotenburg i. Hann.
• Stade
• Verden
• Wesermünde(formed in 1932 from the counties ofGeestemündeandLehe)
• Zeven(to 1932, then to Landkreis Bremervörde)

Presidents of the Province of Hanover

The heads of the provinces, appointed by the central Prussian government, were calledOberpräsident(Upper President). The provincial executive, theLandesdirektor(provincial director), was elected by the provincial parliament (Provinziallandtag).

• Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode1867–1873
• Botho Wendt August Graf zu Eulenburg1873–1878
• Adolf Hilmar von Leipziger1878–1888
• Rudolf von Bennigsen1888–1897
• Konstantin Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode1898–1902
• Richard von Wentzel1902–1914
• Ludwig Hubert von Windheim1914–1917
• Ernst von Richter(DVP) 1917–1920
• Gustav Noske(SPD) 1920–1933
• Viktor Lutze(NSDAP) 1933–1941
• Hartmann Lauterbacher(NSDAP) 1941–1945
• Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf(SPD) 1946

See also

• Kingdom of Hanover,for rulers of Hanover before the Prussian annexation