HANOVER

In 1692 the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, elevated Duke Ernest Augustus to the rank of Elector of the Empire as a reward for aid given in the War of the Grand Alliance. There were protests against the addition of a new Elector, and the elevation did not become official (with the approval of the Imperial Diet) until 1708, in the person of Ernest Augustus' son, George Louis. Though the Elector's titles were properly Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he is commonly referred to as the Elector of Hanover after his residence.

The Electorate was legally bound to be indivisible -- it could add to its territory, but not alienate territory or be split up among several heirs; and its succession was to follow male primogeniture. The territory assigned to the Electorate included the Brunswick-Lüneburg duchies of Calenberg, Grubenhagen, and Celle (even though at the time Celle was ruled by Ernest Augustus' older brother) and the counties of Diepholz and Hoya.

George Louis of Brunswick-Lüneburg became king of Great Britain in 1714 (see House of Hanover). The influence of the Holy Roman Empire's electors in Germany grew also: they inherited the formerly Swedish territories of Bremen and Verden in 1719. As part of the German Mediatisation of 1803, the Electorate received the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück.

In 1803, the Electorate of Hanover was occupied by France. From 1807 to 1813, the Hanoverian territority was part of the Kingdom of Westphalia. However, the government of George III did not recognize the French annexation (being at war continuously with France through the entire period) and Hanoverian ministers continued to operate out of London. The Hanoverian government maintained its own separate diplomatic service, which maintained links to countries such as Austria and Prussia, with whom the United Kingdom itself was technically at war. The Hanoverian army was dissolved, but many of the officers and soldiers went to England, where they formed the King's German Legion . The KGL was the only German army to fight during the whole Napoleonic wars against the French. They played an important part in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Although the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806, George III's government did not consider the dissolution to be final, and he continued to be styled "Elector of Hanover" down to 1814. In 1813, George III was restored to his Hanoverian territories, and in October of 1814 they were erected into the independent Kingdom of Hanover at the Congress of Vienna. The Congress of Vienna instituted a territorial exchange between Hanover and Prussia, in which Hanover increased its area substantially, gaining the Bishopric of Hildesheim, East Frisia, the Lower County of Lingen and the northern part of the Bishopric of Münster. It lost those parts of the Duchy of Lauenburg to the right of the Elbe, and several small exclaves in the east.

The personal union with the United Kingdom ended in 1837 on the accession of Queen Victoria because the succession laws (Salic Law) in Hanover prevented a female inheriting the title if there was any surviving male heir (in the United Kingdom, a male takes precedence over only his own sisters). During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position, along with some other member states of the German Confederation. After Hanover voted in favour of mobilising confederation troops against Prussia on 14 June 1866, Prussia saw this as a just cause for declaring war; the Kingdom of Hanover was soon dissolved and annexed by Prussia. The private wealth of the dethroned House of Hanover was then used by Otto von Bismarck to finance his continuing efforts against Ludwig II of Bavaria.

In 1946, the British military administration made the Province of Hanover the main part of the Bundesland of Lower Saxony - along with the states of Oldenburg, Brunswick, and Schaumburg-Lippe – with the city of Hanover as the capital of this new state.

Key identification notes: The silver coins, especially larger one, will usually have "Hannover" on them. Smaller coins and the coppers may only have the ruler's monogram and no legend.

Thalers (not to scale with each other, or to the 10 pixel/mm scale of other coins on the site)