The Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (German: Kurfürstentum Braunschweig-Lüneburg), colloquially Electorate of Hanover (Kurfürstentum Hannover or simply Kurhannover), was established in 1692 as the ninth Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire and formally approved in 1708.
It was ruled by the House of Hanover, a cadet branch of the House of Welf, which then ruled and earlier had ruled a number of principalities, which had several times been partitioned among several heirs from the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. After 1705, only two of these territories existed. One was the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, which remained independent as the Duchy of Brunswick (new title adopted in 1815) until 1918. The other, the new Electorate, was based on the dynastic line of the Principality of Calenberg.
With the ascension of its prince-elector as King of Great Britain in 1714, it became ruled in personal union with Great Britain. As a consequence, a reluctant Great Britain was forced time and again to become involved with the fate of the German possessions of its King. However, internally, it remained a separately ruled territory with its own government and bodies. Merged into the Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, it was re-established as the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814, with the personal union with the British crown lasting until 1837. |
