Freizeit In GMBH Hotel

First mentioned by Emperor...

by alexberlin

First mentioned by Emperor Otto I. in a deed dated 953, Göttingen enjoys a rich history spanning more than a millennium. Around the year 1200 Göttingen received town status. It flourished, as a member of the Hanseatic League, in the 14th an 15th centuries. In later years, war torn and prey to political battles, this once blossoming centre of trade became a sleepy provincial town.

Göttingen experienced a revival in 1734 as the result of the founding of the University Georgia Augusta by the Elector Georg August of Hanover. The university grew quickly into one of the largest academic institutions in Europe. The so-called 'Göttingen Seven' were a group of professors who came together to protest against King Ernst August's infringement of the Hanoverian Statute-Law in 1837. As a result of their disobedience they were suspended from their positions and some of them were banned from the Kingdom of Hanover.

Since its founding many renowned individuals have worked, studied or taught in Göttingen, amongst them more than 40 Nobel prize winners. Today the university has 14 faculties with approximately 24,000 students.

After World War II Göttingen has entered into important partnerships with twin towns such as Cheltenham in Great Britain (1951), Torun in Poland (1978) and Pau in France (1982). Further close relationships exist between our town and the Lutherstadt Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt, as well as La Paz Centro in Nicaragua, with which Göttingen formed a solidarity agreement in 1989.

The nucleus of the old town, surrounded by the medieval rampart, harbours many well-preserved or restored buildings. The landmark of the town is the Gänseliesel. On top of the fountain on the marketplace in front of the old town hall this art nouveau figure, portraying no more than a girl herding her geese, is a favourite of new doctoral graduates. It is customary that these, having passed their examinations, festoon this maiden with flowers and give her bronze cheek a kiss. Thus she has become 'the most kissed girl' in the world.

Duderstadt, The Hidden Gem

by RhineRoll

When in Göttingen, I strongly recommend to make the 30 km drive to Duderstadt, another one of those wonderful county towns teeming with half-timbered houses. Duderstadt has one of Germany's nicest half-timbered town halls. People here are predominantly Roman Catholic. They are friendly, but slightly conservative -- very different from liberal Göttingen with its cosmopolitan atmosphere. Nevertheless, a must-visit IMO

Goettingen - University town

by Bobek

"The most kissed girl in the world"

In the central market place - it is a pedestrian zone, of course - there is a fountain on which a small figure of a girl with a basket and a goose inside. This is the Gaenseliesel, Goettingens landmark. Each student finishing their PhD (no lesser degree than a doctorate!!) will have to climb up the fountain, kiss the girl and leave a bouquet of flowers up there. This has been going on since around 100 years now and it is easy to imagine that this small figure represents the most kissed girl in the world.

This custom is strongly reflected by a number of photos here. Have a look - and find out that Goettingen is a truely lovely place to live.

"The general location in Germany"

Where is it? As seen from satellite with an altitude of 1000 km above ground and 1260 km to the white cross (Goettingen), this is where the city can be found on every map of Germany. I chose to have this distance as it nicely displays the borders of the country as well. The heading is straight north and the viewing angle is almost 41°. Latitude and Longitude are also provided as red lines.

"The close-up view"

Of course the LandSat 7 satellite did not come that close - and the geometry of the image has been calculated by software. Lots of "artificial" calculation to exhibit this close-up view of Goettingen. This time I altered the heading to show the Harz mountains that lie about 50 km north-east of Goettingen. Unfortunately I forgot to write down the proper data of this viewing example but I hope that it may be sufficient to give approximate numbers: Altitude may be between 25 and 30 km and heading is about 50° degrees. The city itself is encircled here in this image, and the number 1 shows the Harz. Number 2 indicates the place to find one of Europe`s productive wells, the Rhume well. Find more about it in the appropriate tip section.

Even though I will try my best to provide you a good impression of the peculiarities of this city, I advise to use a supplement website to study various dynamic panoramic views all over Goettingen. Try www.goecam.de in particular, which presently features 12 select spots from where panoramas were taken. They also have quite a number of aerial views in high resolution - taken from a plane and not calculated from a distant satellite.... The only downside is, the site is in German only.

Nevertheless I would be happy if you read my descriptions first. :-)