Hanover, Germany

Hanover (German: Hannover) is a city in north-west Germany. It is the capital of the German state (Bundesland) Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen), a state created after the Second World War out of the area of the Prussian province (German: Provinz) of the same name, as well as of Oldenburg and Brunswick.

The duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was made an electorate in 1692 and then informally known as Electorate of Hanover. Since 1714, the Prince elector of Hanover became in personal union the King of Great Britain. This unions split in 1837, when Queen Victoria mounted the British throne, while in Hanover Ernest Augustus became the ruler.

The current British royal family is descended from the Elector of Hanover, who became King George I in 1714. His dynasty adopted the style 'House of Hanover', which lasted until the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert in 1840; the dynasty was then known as the 'House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha' until 1917, when the present style, 'House of Windsor' was adopted.