Spar- und Bauverein eG, which uses the name spar+bau, is a housing cooperative based in Hannover, Germany. It was founded in 1885, when 65 members of a tenants’ association in Hannover’s Oststadt established the city’s first building cooperative in response to housing shortages linked to industrialisation and rural migration.1 Their stated purpose was to build affordable, healthy homes to rent to members and to accept members’ savings deposits.1
Members—many of them workers and tradespeople—helped build the cooperative’s first homes along Lister Straße; the first apartments were occupied in 1887.1 By 1935 the cooperative had about 3,000 homes and 9,000 members, but air raids during the Second World War destroyed roughly half of its housing stock.1 Members contributed to reconstruction after the war, and from the 1970s the organisation shifted emphasis from new construction towards maintaining and modernising its existing properties.1
The cooperative’s activities remain focused on housing in Hannover. It develops, manages and maintains homes for its members; the organisation also reports neighbourhood facilities and work to support local meeting spaces and activities.15 In its 2025 anniversary year, spar+bau reported more than 27,500 members and over 8,200 apartments, describing itself as Hannover’s largest housing cooperative.1 Its current registered contact address is Arndtstraße 5, Hannover.2 The website lists Rainer Detjen and Udo Frommann as members of the board and Sieglinde Lohrey-Harré as chair of the supervisory board.2