The old Guelph town of Braunschweig (better known in English as Brunswick), the second largest city in the Land of Lower Saxony, lies on the Oker in a fertile plain in the north of the Harz foreland area. In the old town a few "islands of tradition" bear witness to the rich history of the town, which suffered severe destruction in the Second World War. Braunschweig's Technical College (now the University) was the earliest in Germany (founded 1745).
Built between 1173 and 1195, The Cathedral of St. Blasius exudes elements of Romanesque and Gothic style. The Imerward Crucifix in the Cathedral is its most treasured item of furnishing.
Beside the Museumspark in Braunschweig stands the Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museum, with a collection of art and applied art (imperial robes of Otto IV; Rembrandt's "Family Group", c. 1668).
Two hundred m/220yd south, on the Löwenwall, is the interesting Municipal Museum (Städtisches Museum).
Lowenwall
On the Löwenwall in Braunschweig's Museumspark is the interesting Municipal Museum (Städtisches Museum).
Address: Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum / Burg Dankwarderode, Museumstrasse 1, D-38100 Braunschweig, Germany
Hours:
January 1 to December 31: 10am-5pm; Wed:1pm-8pm; Closed: Mon
Always closed on: Christmas - Christian (December 25), New Year's Eve (December 31), Christmas Eve - Christian (December 24)
In Braunschweig's eastern Riddagshausen suburb, beyond the Prinz-Albrecht-Park, can be found a notable church belonging to a former Cistercian monastery (13th C.). To the north and south are the Riddagshausen nature reserve and the Buchhorst landscape reserve.
The medieval Gewandhaus (restored) in Braunschweig is now occupied by a restaurant. Its east gable (1591) is the finest example of Renaissance architecture in Braunschweig.
The Markt in Braunschweig, southwest of the Burgplatz, forms the heart of the old Hanseatic commercial town. It originated as a street market in the 11th and 12th centuries.
The finely restored Magnikirche in Braunschweig was consecrated in 1031 (Protestant; modern sculpture). Behind the church there remains a corner of old Braunschweig, with fine half-timbered houses. In the churchyard of St Magnus's (700 m/750yd southeast) can be seen the tomb of the writer and philosopher G. E. Lessing (1729-81). On the east side of the churchyard is the Stadthalle (1965).
The Gothic church of St Ägidien or St Giles (R.C.; choir 13th C., nave 14th C.) is to the south of Braunschweig's Burgplatz. Adjoining the church, in the old Dominican monastery, is the Braunschweig Provincial Museum (Landesmuseum; history, folk traditions).
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Cathedral of St Blasius
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Brunswick
