Hanover Nightlife

Compared with Berlin, Hamburg or Munich, Hanover's nightlife is relatively subdued, with much of it geared to visiting businessmen (fine for those with a love of hotel bars). The city centre often feels very quiet at night - for the real action, head for the Old Town.

The minimum drinking age in bars and clubs in 18 years. Most venues stay open until around 0500.

Prinz Hanover magazine features up-to-date nightlife venues and is also available online (website: www.prinz.de).

Bars: The Brauhaus Ernst August, Schmiedestrasse 13, is one of Germany's most successful brewery-restaurants and one of Hanover's liveliest haunts, brewing its own tasty unfiltered beer and offering hearty German food. It is open 365 days a year, and nearly 24 hours a day. At the weekend, DJs are often brought in to spice things up. Broyhan Haus, Kramerstrasse 24, and Plümmeke, Vossstrasse 39, allegedly serve the best curried sausage in town, as well as lashings of good beer. One of the town's most attractive beer gardens is at the Vier Jahreszeiten, Waldhausenstrasse 1. For ultra-friendly service and a relaxed atmosphere try Georxx, Georgsplatz 3. Harry's New York Bar, Pelikanplatz 31, has a famous name and a reputation to live up to. Its impressive interior, live piano music, exotic cocktail menu and drinks make it slightly better than the usual Hanoverian hotel bar.

Espada, Theaterstrasse 14, is a modern bar in the city centre, serving up a good range of spirits and cocktails, including a fine selection of single malts. Whisky-lovers will also want to check out Oscar's, Georgstrasse 54, where 600 different varieties of whisky are on offer, accompanied by a selection of cigars and light meals. Bronco's, Schwarzer Bär 7, is a very successful mix of bar and club in a 1960s and 70s style with a small dance floor. Five, Knochehauerstrasse 30, is a straight-friendly gay bar with funky modern décor. It also has outside tables, for warm nights. Similarly trendy is Liquid, Raschplatz 11, with its invitingly hip and shrill atmosphere.

Clubs: One of the city's most popular clubs is Osho Discothek, Raschplatz 7 (website: www.osho-disco.de). House sounds, including guest appearances by international DJs, can be enjoyed at Kiez, Scholvinstrasse 4 (website: www.kiez-klub.de). For funk and soul, head to Palo Palo, Raschplatz 8A (website: www.palopalo.de), at the weekend, for a venue crammed to the rafters with a fun-loving crowd. In the small hours, the beautiful people flock to Zaza, Hamburger Allee 4A (website: www.zaza-club.de), which serves cocktails until breakfast time, against a musical background of house and pop tunes. Opposite Zaza is one of the three legendary Bagwan discos, relating to the famous religious sect and bizarrely a trendy hangout of the young and successful. For a more chilled-out crowd, Trinidad, Nikolaistrasse 1, spreads a Caribbean atmosphere with reggae and steel drum sounds.

Live Music: Major rock and pop concerts are usually held in the Niedersachsenstadion, Arthur Menge Ufer 5, or the accompanying Stadionsporthalle, near the Maschsee Lake, Ferdinand-Wilhelm-Fricke Weg 8. The Capitol, Schwarzer Bär 2 (website: www.capitol-hannover.de), and Flohzirkus, Am Hohen Ufer, in the Old Town, are the best of the smaller venues. Rocker, Reuterstrasse 5 (website: www.rocker-hannover.de), offers a well-chosen music programme. Eve Klub (website: www.eve-klub.de) has managed to keep the risqué atmosphere of the striptease days and combine music-culture with a relaxed party feel, and provides live concerts twice a month. Jazz can be enjoyed at the Jazz-Club, Am Lindener Berg 38 (website: www.jazz-club.de). Nashville, Weidendamm 8, is a popular country and western club that hosts great live acts, parties and events.

The philosopher, inventor and polymath par excellence, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716), was librarian to the Court from 1676 until his death. A replica of his house is located on Holzmarkt. Other key cultural figures connected with Hanover include painter and poet Kurt Schwitters, writers August and Friedrich Schlegel and composer George Friedrich Handel. The Niedersächsischen Staatstheater Hannover (website: www.staatstheater-hannover.de) oversees opera, ballet and major theatre in the city, although there are numerous other organisations and venues, including the Künstlerhaus, Sophienstrasse 2 (tel: (0511) 1684 2698; website: www.presse-hannover.de/khaus), which houses art exhibition space, a cinema, a theatre and a restaurant. The city has a thriving cultural scene that extends beyond the traditional season, with festivals and open-air concerts taking place in the Herrenhäusen Gardens during the summer months.

Advance tickets for major cultural events are available from the tourist information office (tel: (0511) 1234 5111; www.hannover.de). Other ticket agencies may also supply tickets to cultural events.

Listings of all cultural events, venues and contact numbers are available in the Hannoversche Allgemeine newspaper, especially in its theatre supplement, Spielzeit, which is also available online (website: www.haz.de).

Classical Music: The beautiful Kuppelsaal, at the Hanover Congress Centre, Theodor-Heuss-Platz 1-3 (tel: (0511) 81130; website: www.hcc.de), is the main concert venue for both classical and popular music. Opera is performed in one of Europe's grandest settings, the Opernhaus, Opernplatz 1 (tel: (0511) 999 900; website: www.staatstheater-hannover.de), designed by Georg Ludwig Laves. The entrance to the Opera House is watched over by the figures of Sophocles, Goldoni, Shakespeare, Lessing, Schiller, Goethe, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Calderón, Molière and Terence.

Theatre: After years of procrastination and financial difficulties, the Niedersächsischen Staatstheater Hannover (see above) was finally re-housed in 1992 in the Schauspielhaus, Prinzenstrasse 9 (tel: (0511) 999 900; website: www.staatstheater-hannover.de). The complex includes a theatre museum (tel: (0511) 9999 2040; website: www.theatermuseum-hannover.de) and the Cumberlandsche Galerie stage, which is a showcase for young authors and new plays from Germany and abroad. Smaller scale performances are held in the Ballhof Eins, Ballhofstrasse 5, and Ballhof Zwei, Knochenhauerstrasse 28. The building, which dates from 1649, was originally used as a ball court and later as a political forum by the likes of Rosa Luxembourg. Other theatrical venues in the city include Theater am Aegi, Aegidientorplatz 2 (tel: (0511) 989 3333; website: www.theater-am-aegi.de), which offers a mixed programme of drama, ballet, musicals, concerts and late-night cabaret, Landesbühne, Bultstrasse 7-9 (tel: (0511) 282 8280; website: www.landesbuehne-hannover.de), and the Neues Theater, Georgstrasse 54 (tel: (0511) 363 001; website: www.neuestheater-hannover.de).

Dance: Once a year, the Tanz- und Theaterbüro, Roscherstrasse 12 (tel: (0511) 343 919), organises an international festival of dance theatre. International ballet companies perform at the Opernhaus, Opernplatz 1 (tel: (0511) 999 900; website: www.staatstheater-hannover.de).