The museum, operated by the city of Hanover, opened on as Homeland Museum of the City of Hanover () in the The founding took place on the initiative of the In 1937 the museum was renamed as Lower Saxon Folklore Museum (). Destroyed in 1943 during the aerial bombings of World War II, provisional reconstruction began in 1950, adopting the temporary name of Lower Saxon Homeland Museum (). In 1966 the museum opened with its present name in a new building designed by the architect Dieter Oesterlen. The Association of the Friends of the Historical Museum () supports the work of the museum both materially and non-materially.
