As overland travel was relatively difficult, its position on the upper navigable reaches of the river helped it grow from increasing trade.

It was connected to the Hanseatic League city of Bremen by the Leine River and was situated near the southern edge of the wide North German Plain and northwest of the Harz mountains, so east–west traffic such as mule trains passed through it.

Hanover was thus a gateway to the Rhine, Ruhr and Saar river valleys, and their industrial areas which grew up to the southwest and the plains regions to the east and north for overland traffic skirting the Harz between the Low Countries and Saxony or Thuringia.

The beginning of industrialization in Germany led to trade in iron and silver from the northern Harz Mountains, which increased the city's importance.

Thus, Hanover passed to William IV's brother, Ernest Augustus, and remained a kingdom until 1866, when it was annexed by the Prussia during the Austro-Prussian war.

However, Poland refused to accept them, leaving them stranded at the border with thousands of other Polish-Jewish deportees, fed only intermittently by the Polish Red Cross and Jewish welfare organisations.

After the war a large group of Orthodox Jewish survivors of the nearby Bergen-Belsen concentration camp settled in Hanover.

[21] As an important railway and road junction and production centre, Hanover was a major target for strategic bombing during World War II, including the Oil Campaign.

Targets included the AFA (Stöcken), the Deurag-Nerag refinery (Misburg), the Continental plants (Vahrenwald and Limmer), the United light metal works (VLW) in Ricklingen and Laatzen (today Hanover fairground), the Hanover/Limmer rubber reclamation plant, the Hanomag factory (Linden) and the tank factory M.N.H.

Although the city is not on a coastal location, the predominant air masses are still from the ocean, unlike other places further east or south-central Germany.

The Leibniz Temple and the Georgen Palace are two points of interest there.The landmark of Hanover is the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus).

An elevator ascends to the observation deck at the top of the large dome along a variable angle of up to 17 degrees, thought to be unique in the world.

In the centre are the large Marktkirche (Church St. Georgii et Jacobi, preaching venue of the bishop of the Lutheran Landeskirche Hanovers), and the 15th century Old Town Hall, heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1943, and reconstructed after World War II.

On the edge of the Old Town are the Market Hall, the Leine Palace, and the ruin of the Aegidien Church which is now a monument to the victims of war and violence.

They are part of the Sculpture Mile, which starts at Trammplatz, runs along the river bank, crosses Königsworther Square, and ends at the entrance of the Georgengarten.

Near the Old Town is the district of Calenberger Neustadt where the Catholic St. Clement's Basilica, the Reformed Church and the Lutheran Neustädter Hof- und Stadtkirche St. Johannis stand.

Some other popular sights are the Waterloo Column, the Laves House, the Wangenheim Palace, the Lower Saxony State Archives, the Hanover Playhouse, the Kröpcke Clock, the Anzeiger Tower Block, the Administration Building of the NORD/LB, the Cupola Hall of the Congress Centre, the Lower Saxony Stock, the Ministry of Finance, the Garten Church, the Luther Church, the Gehry Tower (designed by the American architect Frank O. Gehry), the specially designed Bus Stops, the Opera House, the Hanover Central Station, the Maschsee lake and the city forest Eilenriede, which is one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

Some points of interest are the Planet M., the former German Pavillon, some nations' vacant pavilions, the Expowale, the EXPO-Plaza and the EXPO-Gardens (Parc Agricole, EXPO-Park South and the Gardens of change).

Furthermore, it offers the Convention Center with its 35 function rooms, glassed-in areas between halls, grassy park-like recreation zones and its own heliport.

The focus is put on the classical modernist art with the collection of Kurt Schwitters, works of German expressionism, and French cubism, the cabinet of abstracts, the graphics and the department of photography and media.

People who are interested in astronomy should visit the Observatory Geschwister Herschel on the Lindener Mountain or the small planetarium inside of the Bismarck School.

Hanover 96 (nicknamed Die Roten, literally 'the Reds') is the top local football team that currently plays in the 2.

Home games are played at the Niedersachsenstadion (Lower Saxony Stadium), which hosted matches in the 1974 and 2006 World Cups and the Euro 1988.

[47] Hanover is also host to the Schützenfest Hannover, the largest marksmen's fun fair in the world which takes place once a year from late June to early July.

Hanover also hosts one of the two largest spring festivals in Europe, with around 180 rides and inns, 2 large beer tents, and around 1.5 million visitors each year.

The Carnival Procession is around 3 kilometres (2 mi) long and consists of 3,000 participants, around 30 festival vehicles and around 20 bands and takes place every year.

The Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Transporter (VWN) factory at Hanover-Stöcken is the biggest employer in the region and operates a large plant at the northern edge of town adjoining the canal Mittellandkanal and the autobahn A 2.

Volkswagen shares a coal-burning power plant with a factory of German tire and automobile parts manufacturer Continental AG.

Since 2008 a take-over has been in progress:[needs update] the Schaeffler Group from Herzogenaurach (Bavaria) holds the majority of Continental's stock but were required due to the financial crisis to deposit the options as securities at banks.

The Institut für Integrierte Produktion Hannover is a spin-off from Leibniz University Hanover in the field of production technology that promotes transfer of scientific knowledge to business.