The medieval settlement on the bank of the River Leine was located on a site which was safe from floods, close to a ford and the junction between two major thoroughfares. That same year, the townspeoplewere granted the right to use the forests of Eilenriede, which is now the largest city forest in Europe, covering an area of hectares. The 14th century saw the construction of a town wall with 34 fortified towers, many of which still exist today e.
The city gates e. Steintor and several Gothic churches Marktkirche, Kreuzkirche were also built around this time. Hannover enjoyed its first commercial boom, became a member of the Hanseatic League Hanse and had a population of around The town council attempted to thwart this trend, but the will of the townspeople was stronger and the council fled to the Catholic town of Hildesheim.
Hannover became a Protestant town. In , in the midst of the 30 Years War, Duke George of Calenberg made Hannover a royal seat in order to regain the territory he had conquered as a general for the Guelph dynasty. George of Calenberg was followed on the throne of the principality by his four sons.
The privy councillor and librarian, mathematician and philosopher lived in Hannover from to His wife, Electress Sophia of the Palatinate, appreciated pomp and ceremony and cultivated intellectual life at the court.
She devoted her life to the Great Garden, which was substantially enlarged and redesigned in the Dutch baroque style. Electress Sophia, the designated heir to the throne, died in , and the British Queen Anne shortly afterward s. George I moved his court to London and ruled over the electorate from there. Hannover, which depended on the court, and the gardens in Herrenhausen were neglected and were left to slumber unattended for decades.
