a town of Germany, capital of a cognominal province, in the electorate of Hesse-Cassel, on the Kinzig, near its junction with the Main, 12 miles E. of Frankfort-on-the-Main, with which it is connected by railway. It consists of an old and a new town; the former is ill-built, with narrow and irregular streets, but in the latter the buildings are of a better class, and the streets are generally broad and regular. Its ancient castle in the old town is now the seat of the Wetteravian Society of Natural History. The market-place in the new town is a large oblong parallelogram with handsome fountains in the four corners, and the large town-hall at one end. Hanau possesses four Calvinistic churches, a Roman Catholic church, synagogue, hospital, theatre, gymnasium, and several scientific and literary associations. This is the principal commercial and manufacturing town in the electorate. Its industrious products comprise silks, ribands, cottons, carpets, leather, gloves, stockings, hats, tobacco, gold and silver wares, musical instruments, carriages, &c. It has also a large trade in wine, timber, casks, carriages, &c. Here, on 30th October 1813, Napoleon, in his retreat from Leipzig, totally defeated a very superior force composed of Bavarians and other allied troops, under Marshal Wrede. Near Hanau are the electoral palace of Philippsruhe and the watering-place of Wilhelmshad. The province of Hanau has an area of 535 square miles, and contained 124,328 inhabitants in 1854.