Exhibition area in Hanover
The
Hanover Fairground
(in
German
:
Messegelande Hannover
) is an
exhibition
area in the
Mittelfeld
district of
Hanover, Germany
. Featuring 392,453 m² (4.2 million sq.ft.) of covered indoor space, 58,000 m² (624,306 sq ft) of open-air space, 24 halls and pavilions, and a convention center with 35 function rooms, it is the largest exhibition ground in the world.
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History
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The area of the fairground originally was an
aircraft
works. After
World War II
, the
British military government
in
Allied-occupied Germany
wanted to hold a trade fair and sought for a good place, since
Leipzig
, the traditional fairground of Germany, was unavailable, being in the
Soviet occupation zone
. The hangars in
Laatzen
, south of Hanover, were deemed suitable for this purpose, and so the
Hanover Fair
, then named
Exportmesse 1947
was first held in 1947 to promote the economic recovery in the
Bizone
. The concept proved to be successful, and so a permanent fairground was established, growing over the years.
Timeline
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- 1947:
Exportmesse
held for the first time (August 18 - September 7).
- 1948: First intercontinental telephone call between Hanover and
New York City
.
- 1950: Exportmesse is renamed to
Deutsche Industrie-Messe
- 1956-1958: Hermesturm erected.
- 1961: The
Deutsche Industrie-Messe
is renamed to
Hannover Messe
.
- 1970:
Hall 1
is opened, then the largest exhibition hall in the world. It becomes permanent home to
CeBIT
, a subdivision of the Hanover Industry Fair.
- 1986: The
CeBIT
computer expo
is held independently for the first time, after outgrowing the Industry Fair.
- 1990s: The fairground undergoes extensive remodeling in preparation for the
Expo 2000
.
Hall 13
is constructed, at its time of completion the largest hall in the world without internal structural columns.
- 2000, June?October: The
Expo 2000
world exhibition is held at the fairground and the surrounding areas.
- 2000: The
Messehochhaus
at the northern end of the area becomes the new home of the
Deutsche Messe AG
, the fairground's operator. It is a 20-floor highrise that stands at 110 m (360 ft) with antenna.
Structures
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The Hermesturm (
Hermes
Tower) is a
tower
built of two
concrete
tubes on the fairground. The building was constructed between 1956 and 1958. Its total height, including the
antenna
, is 88.8 m, an observation deck at 65 m can be reached with an
elevator
.
Connection to public transit
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Northern light rail line
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]
The fairground has been linked to the city's
tramway
network since 1949. The original terminus, called
Messegelande
, has been moved several times, the last time in 1982, when the line was upgraded to become part of the
Hanover Stadtbahn
, and is now situated at the entrance
Nord 2
, between halls 1 and 18. Service to the city centre is provided by the regular line
8
as well as the peak line
18
. During the large fairs, like
CeBIT
or
Hannover Messe
, there is a special peak hour express service, denoted by the letter
E
, which only stops at the stations
Hauptbahnhof
,
Kropcke
and
Aegidientorplatz
. By employing highly efficient
dispatching
methods, trains can run in intervals as little as 90 seconds, each train able up to carry as many as 700 passengers.
Eastern light rail line
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For the
Expo 2000
, a new line was built that connects the fairground to the
Kronsberg
city borough. It is currently served by the line
6
. When there are fairs or other large-scale events on the fairground, the additional line
16
increases the number of services. There are no express trains.
As soon as the line was completed, the old terminus at Hall 1 was renamed to
EXPO/Nord
whilst the new terminus carried the name of
EXPO/Ost
. After the Expo, the terminuses were renamed to
Messe/Nord
(lines 8 and 18) and
Messe/Ost
(lines 6 and 16) respectively.
Railway
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In the 1960s, a railway station was built near the halls, however this was soon found to be impractical, as the station was constructed as a terminal of a branch line, making connections to and from main line trains difficult. However, it found its uses for dedicated services to the fairground.
For the Expo 2000, an entirely new railway station was constructed some 500 metres west of the fairground on the
Hanoverian Southern Railway
and the
Hanover?Wurzburg high-speed railway
. It is linked by the
Skywalk
, a
people mover
that works like a horizontal
escalator
. The railway station is named
Hannover Messe/Laatzen
after the suburb of
Laatzen
, which has a common border with Hanover near the fairground. It is only notably used during CeBIT, Hannover Messe and Agritechnica, and outside of this period, only regional services stop at the station. Since December 2008 the station has been connected to the
Hanover S-Bahn
, the city's suburban railway system.
References
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External links
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International
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National
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Geographic
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52°19′26″N
9°48′10″E
/
52.32389°N 9.80278°E
/
52.32389; 9.80278