The renovation of the Hanover Historical Museum is further delayed
The Historical Museum has been largely closed since spring 2020 – and it will remain that way for quite a while. As it is now becoming public, the city of Hanover cannot start urgently needed work as planned in the coming year. The reasons are varied, among other things a piece of advice is said to have contributed. The bottom line is that the city does not expect the construction work to end for five years, and the new permanent exhibition should finally be ready in 2027 – eight years later than originally planned.
Museum friends: The project is not a priority
The delay causes anger among the friends of the Historical Museum. “The whole project does not seem to have a priority,” says the chairman of the museum friends, Dirk Altwig. Some people also shake their heads when it comes to Council policy. “Too little has happened for years, this is an outstanding museum for Hanover and its history,” says FDP parliamentary group leader Wilfried Engelke.
As early as 2017, the city had cleared the upper museum rooms and closed them to visitors. The dusty permanent exhibition should be redesigned. In addition, the statics of the halls no longer met modern requirements. Ceilings are supported with a lot of rods. In the end, the city decided to close the house on Hohen Ufer in spring 2020 in order to renovate the listed building. Everything should be ready in 2023. The city said at the time that one now has the chance to bring the museum into top condition, both artistically and architecturally.
Council decision whirls up plans for the city
In 2025, Hanover will again host a Protestant Church Congress, and experience has shown that the Historical Museum will then experience a rush of visitors. The council, with its red-green-yellow majority a year ago, wanted at least the ground floor of the museum to be completed and made accessible in the church assembly year. Currently, the ground floor is the only area that is still open to visitors.
The city administration now thinks that the council decision overturns the plans. “The previous construction schedule stipulated – logistically obvious – that the construction site should move from top to bottom in the building and that the ground floor, in which the construction site equipment is located and through which the entire material transport takes place, will be renovated at the very end of the overall measure”, says city spokesman Dennis Dix. However, if the first floor is to be finished first, it will have to be rethought – and the city believes that this will lead to delays.
Certificate of the monument protection necessary
According to the city, it is made more difficult by the fact that the granting of the money by the federal government is linked to an expert opinion by the monument authority. The city expects the statements of the Lower Saxon preservationists at the end of the year.
Museum fans are not satisfied with the city’s reasons. “We don’t understand that the city was so surprised by the goal of opening the first floor in 2025,” says Altwig. At the SPD, the approach of the public building managers meets with understanding. “The city had to reschedule again, but it’s not like the historical museum is in the back,” says SPD cultural politician Belgin Zaman.
By Andreas Schinkel
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