The Electorate of Hanover (formally the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg; , colloquially Kurfürstentum Hannover or simply Kurhannover) was the ninth Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. It was a monarchy in Northern Germany, ruled by the House of Hanover, cadet branch of the House of Welf, which then ruled and earlier had ruled a number of principalities, which had several times been partitioned among several heirs from an earlier unitary territory named Brunswick-Lüneburg after the pertaining cities of Braunschweig (Brunswick) and Lüneburg (Lunenburg). After 1705, only two of these territories left: One was the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, which remained independent as the Duchy of Brunswick (new title adopted in 1815) until 1918. The other, the new Elector