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Information About

Hanover Fairground




The Hanover fairground (in area in the ''Mittelfeld'' district of Hanover, Germany . Featuring 496,000 M&2 (5,3 mio sq.ft.) of covered indoor space, 58,000 m&2 (624,306 sq.ft) of open-air space, 27 halls and pavilions and a convention centre with 35 function rooms, it is the largest exhibition ground in the world.


HISTORY


The area of the fairground originally was an Aircraft works. After World War II , in which Hanover was badly damaged, the British Military Government of occupied Germany wanted to hold a trade fair and sought for a good place, since Leipzig , the traditional fairground of Germany, was unavailable, being in the Soviet occupation zone. The hangars in Laatzen , south of Hanover, were deemed suitable for this purpose, and so the Hanover Fair , then named ''Exportmesse 1947'' was first held in 1947 . The concept proved to be successful, and so a permanent fairground was established, growing over the years.


Timeline

  • 1947 :''Exportmesse'' held for the first time (August 18 - September 7).

  • .

  • 1950 :Exportmesse is renamed to ''Deutsche Industrie-Messe''

  • erected.

  • .

  • , a subdivision of the Hanover Industry Fair.

  • Computer Expo is held independently for the first time, after outgrowing the Industry Fair.

  • . Hall 13 is constructed, at its time of completion the largest hall in the world without internal structural beams.

  • world exhibition is held at the fairground and the surrounding areas.

  • , the fairground's operator. It is a 20-floor highrise that stands at 110 m (360 ft) with antenna.




CONNECTION TO PUBLIC TRANSIT



Northern light rail line


The fairground has been linked to the city's Tramway network since 1949. The original terminus, called ''Messegelände'', has been moved several times, the last time in 1982 , when the line was upgraded to Stadtbahn standards, and is now situated at the entrance ''Nord 2'', between halls 1 and 18. Service to the city centre is provided by the regular line 8 as well as the peak line '''18'''. During the large fairs, like CeBIT or Hannover Messe , there is a special peak hour express service, denoted by the letter '''E''', which only stops at the stations Hauptbahnhof , Kröpcke and Aegidientorplatz . By employing highly-efficient Dispatching methods, trains can run in intervals as little as 90 seconds, each train able up to carry as much as 700 passengers.


Eastern light rail line


For the Expo 2000 , a new line was built that connects the fairground to the ''Kronsberg'' city borough. It is currently served by the lines 6 and '''16''', there are no express trains.

As soon as the line was completed, the old terminus at Hall 1 was renamed to ''EXPO/Nord'' whist the new terminus carried the name of ''EXPO/Ost''. After the Expo, the terminuses were renamed to ''Messe/Nord'' (lines 8 and 18) and ''Messe/Ost'' (lines 6 and 16) respectively.


Railway

In the 1960s, a railway station was built near the halls, however this was soon found to be pretty impractical, as the station was constructed as a terminal of a branch line, making connections to and from main line trains rather difficult. However, it found its uses for dedicated services to the fairground.
For the Expo 2000, an entirely new railroad station was constructed some 500 metres west of the fairground. It is linked by the Skywalk , a Peoplemover that works like a horizontal Escalator .
The railway station is named ''Hannover Messe/ Laatzen '' after the Suburb of Laatzen, which has a common border with Hanover near the fairground. It is only notably used during CeBIT and Hannover Messe, outside of this period there are only regional services stopping at the station.

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