Station area, Mitte

- Hauptbahnhof, Ernst-August-Platz, Raschplatz, VW Tower, Lister Torl

Since Hannover was bombed by the allied forces in 1945, many of the old buildings are lost, especially in the area around Hauptbahnhof (the Central Station), where you find many grey modernist buildings. The station itself is very large, as Hannover is a major railway hub, and was built in 1879. It has six tracks. On the North side of the station is Raschplatz, with modernist buildings, hotels and cinemas, the tallest are the Hochhaus Lister Tor from 1974 and the 141m tall VW-turm from 1948. Sculptures with real cars hanging upside down can be seen underneath the highway passage, that passes by. On the other side of the stationis also modernist architecture, stretching from Ernst-August-Platz in front of the station along the partly underground Bahnhofstrasse/Karmarschstrasse (the underground shopping part is called Niki-de-Saint-Phalle-Promenade) and other pedestrian streets with shopping and stores that meet at the square Kröpcke, where you find the flatiron like Peek & Cloppenburg and the Bauhaus architecture like H&M department store. The area around the station is one of few sketchy areas in Hannover, where you have to take caution! The first older building you find when approaching from the station is the classical 19th century Staatsoper at Opernplatz.