HANAU, a town of Prussia, capital of a circle in the government district of Cassel, province of Hesse-Nassau, is situated at the confluence of the rivers Kinzig and Main, 12 miles E. of Frankfort. It consists of what are called an old and a new town. The streets of the former are narrow and irregular, but the latter, founded at' the end of the 16 th century by refugee Walloons and Netherlanders, is built in the form of a pentagon with broad streets crossing at right angles, and possesses several fine squares, among which may be mentioned the market-place, adorned with handsome fountains at the four corners. The town is the seat of a circle court, a head tax-office, a chamber of commerce, and a branch of the imperial bank. Among the principal buildings are the ancient castle, formerly· the residence of the counts of Hanau; the church of St John, dating from the 17th century, with a rather imposing tower; the old church of St Mary, formerly a collegiate church, and containing the tomb of the counts of Hanau; the church of the new town, built in the beginning of the 17th century, whose ground plan 13 in the form of two circles intersecting each other; the beautiful new Catholic church, the synagogue, the theatre, the barracks, the arsenal, the orphanage, and the infirmary. Its educational establishments include a gymnasium, a school of design, a real-school, and a higher girls’ school. There is a Wetteravian society of natural history and an historical society, both of which possess considerable libraries and collections connected with their respective branches of knowledge. Hanau is the birthplace of the brothers Grimm, and the house in which they were born is now adorned with a medallion. In the neighbourhood of the town are the electoral palace, with an extensive ...