The
Province of Hanover () was a
province of the
Kingdom of Prussia and the
Free State of Prussia from 1868 to 1946.
During the
Austro-Prussian War, the
Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position, along with some other member states of the
German 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 dethroned
House of Hanover was then used by
Otto von Bismarck to finance his continuing efforts against
Ludwig II of Bavaria.
In 1946, the British military administration recreated the
Land of Hanover based on the former Kingdom of Hanover; but within the year, at the instigation of the German leadership, it was merged into the new
Bundesland of
Lower Saxony - along with the states of
Oldenburg,
Brunswick, and
Schaumburg-Lippe – with the city of
Hanover as the capital of this new state.
Hanoveran regions
Hanover was subdivided into six regions first called
Landdrostei (High-Bailiwick), which were reorganised into Prussian standard
Regierungsbezirke (governorates) on 1 April 1885.1)
Aurich<br>2)
Osnabrück<br>3)
Stade<br>4)
Lüneburg (
Lunenburg)<br>5)
Hildesheim<br>6)
Hanover
Presidents of the Province of Hanover
The heads of the provinces, appointed by the central Prussian government, were called
Oberpräsident (Upper...
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