Flag of the Kingdom of Hanover
History
The Kingdom and associated House of Hanover have their origin in the medieval Duchy of Saxony that was led by the House of Welf. A long-term feud between the Welfs and the Hohenstaufen led to the defeat of the last Saxon duke Henry the Lion in 1180. Henry was spared but his duchy dissolved.
Most of the territories were either given to bishoprics or smaller dynasties, but Henry was allowed to keep his personal possessions. After the Welfs and the Hohenstaufens made peace, Henry's grandson was granted the title Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1235 for those lands.
It was a medieval tradition to divide the inheritance to multiple sons, and this led to many divisions of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. But when certain lines died without children, some areas were consolidated again into one. The first important split was between Brunswick and Lüneburg in 1265. Brunswick would remain a separate German state all the way up to the dissolution of the German Empire in 1918.
The House of Hanover developed from one the Lüneburg lines who owned the Principality of Calenberg from 1432. The city of Hanover was only incorporated to this principality during the Thirty Years' War in 1636 and made the capital.
Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1692-1807)
In 1692 the Principality of Calenberg was raised to an electorate in return for support in the Nine Years' War (1688-1697), when King Louis XIV of France faced a European coalition when he aggressively tried to expand France's territory. An elector gained imperial voting rights and the formerly insignificant princes of Calenberg were now on equal footing with the most important noble families of the Holy Roman Empire.
The territory of the new electorate expanded rapidly. In 1705 Elector George Louis inherited the Principality of Lüneburg and the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, and in 1715 acquired Bremen-Verden from Sweden. In 1714 George also inherited the British throne, as he was the closest non-catholic relative of Queen Anne who died without children. George, a great grandson of King James I, became the first English king of the House of Hanover, although heavily contested by the catholic Jacobites of James Stuart, Anne's half-brother.
Great Britain and Hanover were now in personal union, although ruled by separate institutions. The subsequent electors spent much more time ruling as King of Great Britain than as Elector of Hanover. By that time Brunswick-Lüneburg was colloquially known as Hanover, which was also more accurate considering that the city of Brunswick (Braunschweig) was part of the Duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
Kingdom of Hanover (1814-1866)
During the Napoleonic Wars Hanover was conquered and with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire it was reorganised into the Kingdom of Westphalia, a French client-state. This kingdom was only short-lived and after Napoleon's defeat the old electorate was raised to a kingdom and its territory expanded further. The Kingdom of Hanover was the fourth biggest in the German Confederation and due to its links to Great Britain it exerted quite some political influence, even though the personal union ended in 1837 with the accession of Queen Victoria. Her uncle Ernest Augustus became King of Hanover instead, as any living male relative was first in line of succession.
The Kingdom of Hanover with the German Confederation (1815-1866).
Hanover joined the German customs union in 1834, which Austria did not join. When Austria and Prussia went to war in 1866, Hanover initially tried to remain neutral, but when it mobilised its troops in name of the Confederation Prussia declared war on Hanover. Although the Hanoverian troops held their defense they were greatly outnumbered after Austria's defeat. Prussia retaliated by annexing Hanover and forcing its king George V (not to be confused with Victoria's grandson King George V of the UK) in exile. The ruling elites of Hanover objected this Prussian aggression and tried to reinstate some form of Hanoverian autonomy for decades to come. Nevertheless Hanover was nothing more than a Prussian province within the German Empire and its successor states until 1946. Its legacy was restored with Free State of Hanover and became the federal state of Lower Saxony in 1949, using the Hanoverian symbol of the gallopping horse on its state flag.
Currency
The City of Hanover minted its own coins from the 14th century until 1674, even though it became the residence of the Principality of Calenberg in 1636. The first coins were Hohlpfennige, which were very thin silver coins only struck on one side. In the 15th century the city of Hanover followed the Lübeck monetary standard of Schilling = 3 Witten = 12 Pfennige. Soon after the Schilling was replaced by the Groschen of the same amount, and the Rhenish Gulden (primarily used in southern Germany) became the unit of account.
In 1501 Hanover and surrounding cities and principalities agreed to a system of Rhenish Gulden = 12 Annengroschen = 24 Groschen = 36 Kreuzgroschen = 288 Pfennig. The Kreuzgroschen was soon replaced by the Mariengroschen of the same value, and remained a coin of 8 Pfennige until the early 19th century.
Reichsthaler (1570-1817)
The Thaler became the unit of account in 1570. The Thaler, also known as the Reichsthaler, was set at 1/9 of a Cologne Mark (approx. 233 grams) of pure silver. In most parts of Germany the Thaler was subdivided in 24 Groschen, but in Hanover two types of Groschen existed. The regular one was called Gute Groschen and the Mariengroschen remained at 8 Pfennige. The system therefore was Thaler = 24 Gute Groschen = 36 Mariengroschen = 288 Pfennige.
During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) Germany experienced a period of high inflation known as the Kipper and Wipper era, with many different debased coins issued by various (private) mints. Thereafter the old standard was restored but in 1667 the Reichsthaler was devalued to 10½ per Mark and again in 1690 again to 12 Thaler per Mark. The old Reichsthaler of 1/9 Mark was now known as the Speciesthaler and worth 28 Groschen and later 32 Groschen, but the Thaler of 24 Groschen remained the unit of account. Coins of ⅔ Thaler (16 Gute Groschen or 24 Mariengroschen) were known as Gulden.
Westphalian Franc (1807-1814)
During Napoleonic times of the Kingdom of Westphalia the Thaler circulated alongside the Westphalian Franc, which was at par with the French Franc. A Thaler was approximately equal to 4.25 Francs. Soon after Napoleon's defeat the Francs disappeared again.
Conventionsthaler (1817-1834)
In 1817 Hanover introduced the Conventionsthaler at 1/10 of a Mark, and devalued the Thaler to 13⅓ per Mark. A Conventionsthaler was therefore 1⅓ Thaler, 2 Gulden or 32 Gute Groschen. However, the kingdom still minted coins that to the old imperial standard of 12 Thaler per Mark as well. These coins can be distinguished as the Conventionsthaler coins had 'conventionsmünze' in their legend, whereas old standard coins had 'nach dem Reichsfuss' (after the imperial standard) on them.
Prussian Thaler (1834-1857)
Hanover joined the customs and monetary union led by Prussia in 1834. As Prussia was using the 14 Thaler per Mark standard, Hanover again devalued a slight bit, but it eased trade with neighbouring German states. The subdivisions remained 24 Groschen each of 12 Pfennig.
Vereinsthaler (1857-1866)
In 1857 the entire German Confederation agreed to make the Vereinsthaler, equal to 1/30 of a metric pound (500g). Hanover changed its subdivisions to Vereinsthaler = 30 Groschen = 300 Pfennige. Next to this the Goldkrone was set at 10 grams pure gold and was worth 9.3 Vereinsthaler. These were the last years that Hanoverian coins were minted until the Prussian annexation in 1866.
Gold coinage
Gold coins were minted by the electorate and kingdom. The Ducat was approximately 2 Reichsthaler in 1570, but increased in value over time following the devaluations of silver Thalers. With the 12 Thaler per Mark standard (from 1690) the Ducat was worth a bit more than 2⅔ Thaler. The Pistole was a gold coin of 5 Thaler.
Catalogue
Electorate of Hanover (1692-1807)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/brunswick_luneburg_calenberg_hannover-1.html
Kingdom of Hanover (1815-1866):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hannover_kingdom-1.html
Related states:
City of Hanover (1322-1676)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hannover_city-1.html
Brunswick-Calenberg:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/brunswick_calenberg-1.html
Brunswick-Lüneburg-Calenberg
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/brunswick_luneburg_calenberg-1.html
