Göttingen, in the Leine valley, is one of the German university towns with the richest heritage of tradition, and many Nobel Prize winners have studied or taught here. The old town, with many half-timbered buildings, is surrounded by a ring of gardens on the line of its old walls.
Northeast of Göttingen's Markt, in Barfüsserstrasse, are the old Ratsapotheke (Municipal Pharmacy), a handsome half-timbered building of 1553; the Junkernschänke (No. 5; rebuilt 1547-49, with a richly decorated facade); and the Bornemannsches Haus of 1536 (No. 12; Early Renaissance, with Gothic elements).
17km/10.5mi east of Göttingen is Ebergötzen, where Wilhelm Busch lived during his childhood and, with his friend Erich Bachmann, played the pranks which later provided the material for his story about Max and Moritz. There are mementos of Busch in the Wilhelm-Busch-Mühle.
In front of the Old Town Hall in Göttingen is the graceful Gänseliesel-Brunnen (1901). The figure of the goose-girl on the fountain is "the most-kissed girl in Germany", since tradition requires that every new-fledged graduate must kiss her on the mouth.
In Göttingen's Wilhelmsplatz is the neo-classical Aula of the University (1835-37). In the pediment is sculpture by Ernst von Bandel (1800-76), who also created the Hermannsdenkmal near Detmold.
This annual week-long festival takes place in early June and is dedicated not only to Handel, but to other famous composers including Bach and Beethoven. There are usually about 35 performances every year, ranging from choral and chamber concerts, to symphonic performances and organ recitals.
The historic venues include St John's and St Jacob's churches, and the university, which give the concerts an authentic feel of period performances.
To the west of the Theater in Göttingen, on the Ritterplan, is the Hardenberger Hof (1592), the town's only Renaissance palace, with the Municipal Museum.
In the center of Göttingen's old town, in the Markt, stands the Old Town Hall (1369-1443), now a cultural center, with a fine Great Hall (wall paintings by Hermann Schaper, 1853-1911).
Just east of the Aula in Göttingen are the Albanikirche (15th C.), with a winged altar of 1499, and the Stadthalle (1964). Beyond this again, on the Reinsgraben, can be found the department of urban archaeology of the Municipal Museum.
In Weender Strasse, Göttingen's principal shopping street (partly pedestrianized), which bisects the town center from north to south, is the Gothic Jacobikirche (14th C.), with a 74 m/243ft high west tower of 1426 and a beautiful carved altar of 1402.
Address: St James Church, Jacobikirchhof 2 , D-37073 Göttingen, Germany
The Johanniskirche (14th C.), Göttingen's oldest church, situated to the west of the Old Town Hall has a Romanesque north doorway. The two towers have different types of roofs and from the north tower there are fine panoramic views.
Address: St John Church, Am Johanniskirchhof 2, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany
Set aside in the corner of the cemetery is a scientist's section. Many famous scientists have been buried here, including Otto Hahn, Max Planck and Walther Nernst.
To the north of St Alban's Church in Göttingen, on the line of the old town walls, lies Theaterplatz, with the Deutsches Theater (1890) and the University's Ethnographic Collection. Farther north is the Botanic Garden.
On the south side of Göttingen's town center, in Turmstrasse, can be seen a stretch of the old 13th century town walls. Also in this area are two old mills, the Odilienmühle and the Lohmühle, and the Bismarckhäuschen, an old bastion in which Otto von Bismarck lived as a student in 1832-33.
To the northwest of St John's Church in Göttingen is the Municipal and University Library, with some three million volumes and a collection of manuscripts.
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Ebergotzen, Germany
