Golden Book (Hanover)

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The big book of the city of Hanover from 1910; designed by Heinrich Mittag

The Golden Book of the Lower Saxony state capital Hanover is a golden book intended for guests of honor , in which they can sign during a visit to the city. The now three volumes are kept in the New Town Hall .

history

The first golden book of the city of Hanover was designed in 1910 as "THE BIG BOOK OF THE CITY OF HANOVER" by the accounting book factory JC König & Ebhardt . The company had envisioned a chronicle similar to that of the town clerk Johann Heinrich Redecker , in which all “important data, especially events affecting the town ..., memorable visits and councils should find a descriptive record”. For this purpose, König & Ebhardt commissioned the Hanoverian painter Heinrich Mittag to design the book. On March 17, 1911, the book with a dedication for “your dear hometown” was ceremoniously presented in the New Town Hall.

The city of Hanover, however, decided to use the book as a guest book : After the two-week celebrations for the completion of the New Town Hall began on June 14, 1913, the representative building was inaugurated on June 20 in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm . On this occasion the first volume was opened with the emperor's signature.

The end of the air raids on Hanover in World War II , the invasion of American troops and the liberation from the tyranny of National Socialism in Hanover documented the city without signatures. The possibility of rebuilding a human civilization can be found in the Golden Book under the heading “Sucipere et finire” (“Beginning and leading to the end”; motto of the Guelphs and motto of the Ernst August Order ) and under the coat of arms of the city:

“On April 10, 1945, American troops occupied Hanover. The war was over [in Hanover ...]. Hail of bombs and firestorms had destroyed large parts of the city. With the total collapse, however, the twelve-year system of violence with which some deluded people believed they could rule the world was swept away. A new page in the history of the capital Hanover begins. "

The first entry in the post-war period comes from the first Federal President Theodor Heuss , after he made his inaugural visit to the Lower Saxony state government on November 30, 1949 .

After the Hannover 96 sports club became German soccer champions in 1954 , the entire team, including the club's board, signed the book of honor.

During the visit of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, she signed the Golden Book with her husband Prince Philip on May 27, 1965 .

Federal President Gustav Heinemann opened the second volume of the Golden Book . After him, among others, Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt and the party executive of the SPD signed when they held the federal party congress of the SPD in 1973 .

On January 5, 1976, Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Alfred Kubel officially bid farewell to the state capital and his office with his entry in Hanover's book of honor.

Roman Herzog opened the third volume of the Golden Book of Hanover . Richard von Weizsäcker drew after him on December 4, 1984.

Almost a quarter century after the recruitment agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and Turkey was the Turkey 1985 partner country of Hannover Messe . On this occasion, the Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Özal signed the book on July 14th of that year.

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger also came to the Hanover Fair for a lecture and was received in the New Town Hall. In the same year , Egon Franke , co-founder of the post-war SPD and former Federal Minister for Internal German Relations , signed the Golden Book on April 11, 1988, on the occasion of his 75th birthday.

Lena Meyer-Landrut , the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 , signed the book in her honor at the reception.

Sometimes the entries made by the city's guests of honor are controversial. The signature of Tehran's mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf , who visited Hanover in 2010 on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the International Neuroscience Institute (INI) of Professor Madjid Samii , triggered violent protests on the part of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI): The "war criminal Ghalibaf" had Among other things, as Commander in Chief of the State Security Forces, the Golden Book is now stained with the "blood of 120,000 victims of torture , rape , stoning and execution ".

Further entries

  • November 8, 1983: The Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki on the occasion of a guest performance in Hanover
  • October 11, 2010: Entry by the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, David McAllister, during his first official visit to the New Town Hall after his election on July 1, 2010

literature

Web links

Commons : Golden Book  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Klaus Mlynek: Golden Book
  2. ↑ Dieter Brosius : 1913. In: Hannover Chronik , p. 149.
  3. ↑ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon , Vol. 19, p. 214; online via Zeno.org .
  4. ^ Waldemar R. Röhrbein : 1949. In: Hannover Chronik , p. 226.
  5. ↑ Waldemar R. Röhrbein: 1965. In: Hannover Chronik , p. 257 f.
  6. ↑ Waldemar R. Röhrbein: 1976. In: Hannover Chronik , p. 273 ff.
  7. ^ Waldemar R. Röhrbein: 1984. In: Hannover Chronik , p. 289.
  8. ↑ Waldemar R. Röhrbein: 1985 , pp. 293-296, here: p. 293.
  9. ↑ Waldemar R. Röhrbein: 1988. In: Hannover Chronik , pp. 301–305, here: pp. 302, 304.
  10. ^ Controversial reception / Golden Book of Hanover “stained with blood”? Neue Presse from July 26, 2010, last accessed on July 21, 2012.
  11. ^ Waldemar R. Röhrbein: 1983. In: Hannover Chronik , pp. 286–289, here: p. 289.
  12. ↑ Prime Minister David McAllister enters himself in the Golden Book  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.hannover.de  
  13. ↑ Martin Steiner: McAllister enters the Golden Book of the City of Hanover , photos in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , accessed on July 21, 2012.