Hannover 96
Image kindly provided by Martin Unger under a Creative Commons (CC 4.0) licence.
Introduction
The full name of the club usually know as Hannover 96 is Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896. As the name suggests, Hannover 96 was founded in 1896 and initially adopted the name Hannoverscher Fussball-Club 1896. At first the club was more interested in athletics and rugby. Football only came to the fore in 1899.
At the time there were a number of other clubs in Hannover. Following a series of mergers the name Hannoverscher Sportverein 1896 finally emerged in 1905.
The club performed well throughout the early 20th century but they had to wait until1938 before they won their first championship (beating the strong favourites Schalke 04)
After World War II the victorious allies disbanded numerous organisations, including many football clubs, but the Hannover was able to re-appear with its original name in 1946 and resume playing in the league in 1947.
Hannover were not included in the newly formed Bundesliga in 1963 but gained promotion the following year and remained there for a decade. Although they then returned from relegation in 1975, a second relegation the following year led to 17 seasons in the second tier.
Although the club was plagued by money problems in the 70s and early 90s Hannover won the German Cup in 1992.
Unfortunately this success was followed by demotion in 1996 into the Regional League.
1998 saw Hannover back in Bundesliga 2 but they gained promotion back to the top tier in 2002.
A dreadful 2015/16 season ended with relegation to the 2 Bundesliga.
Honours :
German Championship
Champions : 1938, 1954
DFB Pokal
Winners : 1992
2 Bundesliga
Champions : 1987, 2002
Regionalliga Nord
Champions : 1997, 1998
Going to a game
Stadium : Hannover 96 play their football in the HDI Arena. First opened in 1954 the stadium has a capacity of 49,000 (43000 for international games) with 8,000 standing places. From 2002 to 2006 an extensive modernisation programme involving an almost complete rebuild enabled the stadium to be used as a venue for the 2006 World Cup.
Tickets : You can buy tickets online or by phone (0049806189600) and they will cost you between 14 euros (standing) and 52 euros depending on where you want to sit and the match category (it costs more to see bigger teams like Bayern or Dortmund)
Directions : The stadium is about twenty minutes walk from the city centre (and about 30 minutes from the main station).
You can get there by bus numbers 100 and 200 or light rail (Stadbahn) numbers S7 S9 and S17.
What can I do before and after the football?
Visit the Herrenhausen gardens
This 300 year old garden complex is one of Hannover’s major attractions. The centre piece, called the “Great Garden”, is the best know baroque garden in Europe and tourists flock here in their thousands.
Wander through the old town (Altstadt)
Hannover’s old town, which was almost completely destroyed during the second world war, has been painstakingly restored and is now perfect if you want to do a bit of shopping, sit in a cafe or simply wander through the atmospheric streets.
Take the lift to the top of the New Town Hall
This lift is curved. As you go up you can look through the floor at the city below. When you get to the top you get a superb view of Hannover and its surroundings.
Take a tour by bus
Tours on open top double decker buses leave from the tourist information office every two hours. There is a commentary in English which describes the main sights of the city. You can get on and off and use the buses as often as you like for a 24 hour period.
Where can I find out more?
The tourist information office is right beside the main station. There is also an English version of their website for online research.