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Church) and the 15th century Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) have been restored. The Leine flows past remnants of the medieval town walls and past the 17th century Leine castle, restored as the state parliament. The modern commercial heart of the city and the opera house lie in an area developed in the 19th century between the medieval town and the main railway station. Hannover is a green city; a belt of open land along the Leine River separates the Linden industrial quarter, an independent town until 1920, from the main part of the city.

GUILD, in economic history, a form of association of merchants or craftsmen in western Europe during the Middle Ages, organized for the self-protection and economic and social gain of its members. The medieval merchant and craft guilds regulated the local urban economy in many ways. They established monopolies over trade in the town markets, maintained stable prices under stable conditions, specified standards for the quality of goods, and exercised control over the town government to gain their economic objectives. The medieval guilds were the antecedents of modern associations of industrialists and bankers and also of labor unions.

Hanau was originally a small medieval town beside a moated castle. In the 17th century a "new town" was added for the Dutch and Walloon religious refugees. All the old parts of Hanau have beeu greatly altered following severe bomb damage in World War II. The 18th-century Philippsruhe and Wilhelmsruhe palaces are set in fine parks. The town was the birthplace of the brothers Grimm.