Etap Hotel Braunschweig

Make sure you pack everything!

by Colzy

Basically, you will find Braunschweig to have similar weather conditions to the rest of this region - entirely unpredictable! For example, the photo displayed here was taken at the very start of Autumn here outside my loungeroom window and you are looking at sleet. Sleet, for goodness sake! However, in saying that Braunschweig just experienced its hottset October day in something like 30 years.

So in retrospect, my advice is to layer, layer, layer. I dont know about you but I would much prefer to be hot than cold.

Of course, keep in mind that what you have is an Australian giving advice about weather conditons in Germany. My city in Oz has over 300 days of sunshine per year so perhaps my view is slightly skewed :)

The reconstructed Alte Waage

by Nemorino

This half-timbered Old Weighing Station was first built in 1553 and went through various phases of use, neglect, re-design and mis-use over the centuries, including a seven year stint as the headquarters of the "Hitler Youth" from 1937 to 1944, before it was completely destroyed, along with the rest of Braunschweig's Old Town, by bombing near the end of the Second World War.

Half a century later three local carpentry companies were chosen to rebuild the Alte Waage from scratch, using the same kinds of materials and techniques that their sixteenth-century forebears had used. They needed 360 cubic meters of oak beams (not as easy to obtain as in 1553, since there aren't so many oak trees anymore), which they joined together in over three hundred places without using a single iron nail or screw.

Since re-opening in 1994 the Alte Waage has been used as the main building of the Braunschweig Adult Education Center (see next tip).

Second photo: The text on the cornerstone says: "The Old Weighing Station was destroyed by bombs in the Second World War and was rebuilt fifty years later in 1994."

Third photo: Side view of the Alte Waage.

Fourth photo: Looking up at the Alte Waage. The top three windows are of the seminar room where I did a presentation and workshop in 1997.

Richmond Palace and Park

by Nemorino

Richmond Palace was built in 1768/69 for Princess Augusta of England (1737-1813) who was the wife of Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand and the sister of King George III of England. Richmond Park was laid out at the same time as the palace in the style of a classical English country garden.

Both the palace and the park were named after the English town of Richmond, which is now a part of London, because that is where Princess Augusta grew up.

The Palace had to be re-built after the Second World War. It is now in good repair and has been freshly painted. It was locked when I was there, but it can be rented for weddings, receptions and other events. On some Sunday mornings (every second Sunday more or less) there are guided tours through the palace.

Second photo: Looking in through the window.

Third photo: The gates to the palace grounds are all decorated with a golden crown and an ornate letter A for Augusta.

Fourth photo: Side view of the palace with a dead tree.

Fifth photo: Richmond Palace from across the river, with two cyclists on the river bank.

River Oker

by sabsi

Braunschweig stands on the river Oker . It's not directly at the city centre but goes around it in two parts.

You can rent a paddle boat or a canoe on the river (rental station is at Kennedyplatz). ´We sat in a beergarden next to the river for ages enjoying to watch the boats and the people here.

Braunschweig

by jayhawk2000

Originally a clutch of about a half dozen villages in an island in the river, these settlements merged over the years to form the city of Braunschweig (Brunswick, in English). Each neighbourhood retains its parish church, marketplace and guildhall.

At the centre is a cathedral and town hall, along with a couple small museums and a stately hotel.

Our main draw to visit the city was its art gallery, which houses a fine Vermeer.

Brunswick/Braunschweig is one corner of a triangle in Saxony that includes Hildesheim and Hannover. We added in excursions to Kassel and Celle for an interesting tour of the region over the 2006 Easter weekend. We went everywhere my train. From Hildesheim to Braunschweig a single ticket cost 7.60 euro for a journey that took 45 minutes. From Braunschweig on to Kassel on the high speed ICE train cost 38 euros for a trip that lasted 1 hour 15 minutes.

We also made a brief excursion from Brunswick to neighbouring Wolfenbuettel with its intact collection of half-timbered buildings and ducal schloss. A hop on the train only took 10 minutes and cost 2.60 euros.