On May 16, 1880, the Hanoverian Rowing Club Bahnfrei was founded by young merchants who had learned to row in the private Britania Rowing Club, which was already established in Hanover. The rowing club was founded as one of the first rowing clubs in Germany. A short time later the name suffix "Bahnfrei" was dropped, and since then the club has been called the Hannoverscher Ruder-Club von 1880. The Hannoversche Ruder-Club von 1880 was founded as a purely men's rowing club, in which only those who could not make a living could become a member with the hands work "earned. Each new member had to prove three guarantors in the club, who had to attest the applicant's lifestyle in keeping with their status and had to approve of admission. Women have only been officially welcome in the boathouse since 1969. At this time, the Blue-Gold Club, which had emerged from the Tanzclub Savoy and Tanzclub Gelb-Weiß in 1928, was integrated into the HRC as a dance sport department. A row of women and children was founded quickly. Since then, it has not been possible to maintain the academic demands on the members and would probably no longer have been in keeping with the times without this change. During the Nazi era, a parade ground was to be created in Hanover, today's Schützenplatz. For this purpose, the course of the Ihme was straightened and the original boathouse on Ohestrasse would have been on dry land and a move to the newly created Maschsee would have been an option. The rowing club moved into its new boathouse on the lake in 1936. After it was completely destroyed in the Second World War, the building was rebuilt according to the old plans and has since been expanded several times until it finally got its current appearance.