The Remains of EXPO 2000 in Hannover

Let's take a look around the sad place that was once the home of the EXPO 2000 in Hannover.
Info from Wikipedia:
The fair opened to the public on Thursday, June 1, 2000 and ran five months, ending on Tuesday, October 31.
The Expo site was situated on the original 1,000,000 square meters of the Hanover fairground; an additional 600,000 m² was also made available as a newly opened section to the grounds.
Some of the buildings on the EXPO site were sold after EXPO 2000 ended, but most of the exhibition area is still used for major fairs in Germany, as it has been since 1949. The southeastern area around Expo Plaza has been turned into Hanover's new centre of information technology, design, media and arts.
Most of the national pavilion buildings were demolished following the fair. Some buildings were retained, including the Netherlands Pavilion. The structure has now fallen into disrepair.

[@Rob-to4mu]

My parents took me on a trip to Germany when I was 8 years old, one of our stops was EXPO 2000! Seeing this video brought back many memories for me. Thank you for uploading this.

[@sankar261]

Thank you for taking down the memory lane. I was there at the expo. Obviously stunned with the magnificence and scale. Remember the sky car that I took to go from one end to the other. Sorry to see the state of Dutch pavilion which was a major attraction that time.

[@clydesight]

I remember the 1960's World's Fair in New York City. It had wonderful pavilions and exhibits, and I went several times. It was supposed to become a park after it closed as a fair and the buildings were to be re-purposed. But mostly, like your Expo, they were torn down or abandoned. I went back to the site in the early 1970's. it was very sad to see the derelict pavilions! There had been so much optimism when the Fair was running, but society changed and we grew dark. So sad! Sorry that you had a similar thing happen in Germany.

[@mariewegner4109]

Ich war damals mit meinen Eltern da, und es war eine wunderschöne Ausstellung! Schade zu sehen wie es einfach verfällt. Danke fürs Hochladen!

[@damirdamir1180]

Wahrend des Kriegs in Bosnien habe ich in Salzwedel gelebt (Sachen-Anhalt), meine Tante wohnte in NRW, wir besuchten sie oft mit dem Zug der durch Hannover fuhr und uberall waren Expo 2000 billboards. War ein kind, damals "gab es kein Internet" und ich habe mich jedes mal gefragt "was zum Teufel ist Expo 2000" 😄

[@dykodesigns]

I remember the expo quite well. I was there too. I was 17 and we went there with a school trip. First year of building engineering college. I remember it beeing quite nice and modern and futuristic. We had to drive there with a bus from Enschede in the east of the netherlands (about 10 km from Bad Bentheim) and it took over 2 hours to get there. Seeing the expo now makes me a bit nostalgic but also feel old. Those buildings are only about 15+ years old and totally neglected. It was so crowded and vibrant back then.

[@DrCassette]

This is mostly due to bad planning. This place is out in the middle of nowhere, it takes over half an hour to get there from the city center. There are no people, and therefore no businesses are interested in those places.

[@Jan-23]

I was at the Expoo 2000 and remember how stunning it all was! It's a shame it has not been utilised for some good things

[@MrTribal15]

Wow I was spending a month working in the CVJM/ YMCA whale of Hope (the whale shaped building) back in July of 2000, I am from Costa Rica and was wondering what happened about that Expo place. Nice time I had there but sad to see how it is now... Thanks for this vid.

[@ridethewomble]

I had dinner at the Peppermint Pavilion during HMI 2019. We walked from the Messe grounds to dinner past all that stuff at night. Very creepy. The Dutch Pavilion was particularly unsettling. Everything was very dark and ominous. Dinner was great, though. Almost like art.

[@vivalapsych]

Thank you for this. Very interesting.

[@umajunkcollector]

same here, too many empty buildings. so sad, even Sears

[@andreandre7055]

Nice Video, i liked it, and like it. Just one thing: The Roads are not overdimensioned, like you said. They are dimensioned for major Events taking place there, AND for the Hannover Fairgrounds exactly next to that place, with 100.000's visitors a day, during some of the world leading Fairs. Anyway thx For your good work!

[@btread8875]

Thanks for doing this video. It is sad to see that the expo site has fallen into disrepair. Unfortunately I didn't have the money (and at the time I had a fear of flying) so I was unable to make the Trans-Atlantic voyage to see the expo. Now that I have overcome my fear of flying, I would like to visit Hanover. I just hope that the buildings are still standing by the time I can get there. :O

[@DrCassette]

Unfortunately since making this video, some more original pavilions have disappeared. But on a few others they are finally undertaking some repair efforts. I should go back there and make an updated video.

[@andrewblack293]

OMFG.......COMING DOWN THOSE STAIRS I HEARD IM BLUE SONG 😢 TIME IS FLYING!!!

[@fgtujhxf85]

Quite an interesting video!

[@lamargot2201]

I came across this video of yours by happenstance and I was happy to hear your voice. I used to listen to you when my husband Cogsinister would watch your channel. How are you doing? Are you finished school? Is everything going well for you? I hope you have a Happy 2018!

[@onemanband3579]

I was there!

[@DrCassette]

When was that? During Expo2000, or more recently?

[@andrewblack293]

Bro me 2!!!

[@onemanband3579]

@@DrCassette During the expo. We drove from Osnabrueck, the weather was foul.

[@STKSOUND]

my soul lives in the netherlands pavilion

[@DrCassette]

Apparently they are now working on reviving the Netherlands pavilion as part of a new hotel. The pavilion has been partially disassembled for some structural repairs.

[@allws9683]

juli 2020 decision to renovate the Holland Pavilion as a start-up office, mostly in original style. The plans to use the building were halted due to the dotcom crisis early 2000s. It will be surrounded by two buildings : a (student) micro studio complex and an office. The project will be done by bureau MVRDV, who designed it back then for EXPO 2000. www.detail.de/blog-artikel/umgestaltung-des-niederlaendischen-expo-pavillons-in-hannover/

[@qedqubit]

i hope they revive it soon :-D !

[@UkuleleCreations]

I went to the world expo in 1999. I loved the Netherlands Pavillion. All the flowers on the top floor were beautiful.

[@benbaselet2026]

What a waste of effort and materials. Reminds me of the numerous olympic venues built spending billions and then used for a few months and abandoned to rot. Complete stupidity.

[@kbhasi]

Like the one in Beijing?

[@victorkoot]

It happens actually quite often with World Expo sites unfortunately. I've visited quite some of them. Sevilla is for instance also a complete mess whilste Genoa didnt impress me that much either. Lisbon is still doing quite good and added a nice modern part to the historical city.

[@Urbex-Adventures]

it's cool and everything but let's be honnest, it's just modern concrete shit. We love it because of nostalgia and memories around it. Love this video noneless !

[@DrCassette]

That's a question of taste. I find concrete more interesting than 100 year old bricks ;)

[@raymondleggs5508]

The Lithuania building looks like something Minions would live in.

[@rarbiart]

polish pavillion standing? I was confused... but the embossed date "2015" revealed it fast.

[@DrCassette]

In fact both the Polish and the Spanish Pavillons are now gone. And the Netherlands Pavillon is in even worse condition. I had originally uploaded this video to the xtv4u channel which I deleted yesterday. This video was the only one good enough to be re-uploaded to this channel.

[@kbhasi]

12:55 Oh wow, even some of them blown out. I'm willing to bet those lights are still on their original bulbs, and it would've been hard for maintenance crew to repair them.

[@DrCassette]

I never looked at these lights closely, I have no idea how you would change a lightbulb in these...

[@BenHelweg]

I would love to see what's inside that yellow thing.

[@DrCassette]

Nothing, probably. The yellow building has been abandoned since 2000, and with all the doors boarded up, it's safe to say whatever was left behind inside fell victim to vandalism.

[@phebusphebus1546]

3:28 ikea was there in 2000 I remember riding my bicycle in this place though I live in Paris my uncle lives nearby

[@pliedtka]

Hmm, with ever increasing move to make manufacturing in places like China, European and North American cities are dying slowly and painfully. I'm old enough to remember the 14bit CD players from Philips. Ottawa now builds Light Train service, but with Hi-tech companies like Nortel, Newbridge, JDS gone city has to pick up most of the cost, hopefully it will serve the public well and reduce traffic. The Ottawa's college also has seen better days. Grudziadz - Graudenz, the city I was born, had East Prussia Expo in 1880's. The Tramway was build for this occasion and it still in service until now, but most of the factories that functioned for almost a century that springed up after the Expo are gone. The Technical school I attended in 1980's, the Goetheschule built almost century ago is still there serving the public. What are waist of money and space for Hannover. BTW, do you have any 1990's Nakamichi 3header decks in your collection.

[@DrCassette]

No, I never had a Nakamichi cassette deck. I never found one for a decent price.

[@raymondleggs5508]

You have a hard time walking up the stars while talking to the camera. Don't worry I do too Same as when trying to talk on the cell phone. I tend to run into things.

[@TheHighlander71]

What a sad and post-apocalyptic sight. I'm sorry my country left such an eyesore behind. These world expos are always the hottest thing when they're open. Much like Olympic villages around the world they invariably fall into complete or partial decay and still this Expo monster rears its ugly head again and again. Hope IKEA opens on Sundays as well.

[@DrCassette]

No need to apologize, the city of Hannover had plans for the use of pavillons after EXPO, but those failed. It's their fault that the area is such a desaster. Businesses typically don't open on sundays here in Germany.

[@Oldgamingfart]

Interesting. It's almost like a visual metaphor for the EU! 😏

[@DrCassette]

You got a point.... the place is in shambles due to bad planning and administration. But let's not forget, without the EU, things would be a lot worse for Europe...

[@steven03048]

I was 12 or 13 and I have the same problem, that I don't remember much! -.- The few things I remember are, that I tried Schnupftabak and it was disgusting, the other thing is the weird mascot named "Twipsy" and that it had it's own cartoon.

I missed your videos :-)

[@DrCassette]

I don't have much time right now, and nothing interesting to make videos about, so there haven't been many uploads lately...

[@winogronek1290]

i like thiz year 2000

[@leostechnikkanal]

Do you live in germany?

[@DrCassette]

Ja, in der Nähe von Hannover in Niedersachsen.

[@leostechnikkanal]

Cool ,ich fande ihr video gut wo sie einen mikrowellentransformator an Lautsprecher angeschlossen haben ,ich finde aber auch ihre videos im gesamten interessant ! Ps . Amazing englisch for someone that lives in germany!

[@andrewblack293]

I was there and stayed un Kriesnen

[@williamstaten8102]

No videos in a while. Hope your ok!

[@DrCassette]

I'm fine, thanks! I just haven't had the time to produce new videos...

[@Immoking]

Ich wohne unmittebar am Expogelände. Jeden Tag bin ich dort und alles verfällt immer mehr. Das ist wirklich traurig mit anzusehen!

[@DrCassette]

Aber in den letzten Jahren sind doch dort zumindest einige neue Gebäude entstanden? Und mit dem neuen Stadtteil den sie dort bauen wird sicher nochmal alles anders. Schade nur, dass es für viele der alten Expo-Pavillons dann zu spät sein wird...