Göttingen

Göttingen (German pronunciation: [ˈɡœtɪŋən]
listen (help·info); Low German: Chöttingen) is a
university city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the
district of Göttingen. The
River Leine

River Leine runs through the town. At the
start of 2017, the population was 134,212.
Contents
1 General information
2 History
2.1 Early history
2.2 Imperial palace of Grona
2.3 Foundation of the town
2.4 Expansion
2.5 Growth and independence
2.6 Loss of independence to the present day
2.6.1 University
2.6.2 Railway
2.6.3 Third Reich era
2.6.4 Contemporary history
3 Cultural relevance
4 Incorporations
5 Demographics
6 Transport
7 Religion
8 Politics
9 Coat of arms
10 International relations
10.1 Twin towns – sister cities
11 Notable people born in Göttingen
12 Notable people who died in Göttingen
13 Sport
14 Universities and colleges
15 Cultural establishments
15.1 Theatre
15.2 Museums, collections, exhibitions
15.3 Gardens
15.4 Local media
16 See also
17 References
18 External links
General information[edit]
The origins of
Göttingen

Göttingen lay in a village called Gutingi, first
mentioned in a document in 953 AD. The city was founded northwest of
this village, between 1150 and 1200 AD, and adopted its name. In
medieval times the city was a member of the
Hanseatic League

Hanseatic League and hence
a wealthy town.
Landmark
Gänseliesel

Gänseliesel fountain at the main market
Today,
Göttingen

Göttingen is famous for its old university (Georgia Augusta,
or "Georg-August-Universität"), which was founded in 1734 (first
classes in 1737) and became the most visited university of Europe. In
1837, seven professors protested against the absolute sovereignty of
the kings of Hanover; they lost their offices, but became known as the
"
Göttingen

Göttingen Seven". Its alumni include some well-known historical
figures: the Brothers Grimm, Heinrich Ewald,
Wilhelm Eduard Weber

Wilhelm Eduard Weber and
Georg Gervinus. Also, German Chancellors
Otto von Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck and Gerhard
Schröder attended law school at the
Göttingen

Göttingen University. Karl Barth
held his first professorship here. Some of the most famous
mathematicians in history, Carl Friedrich Gauss,
Bernhard Riemann

Bernhard Riemann and
David Hilbert, were professors at Göttingen.
Like other university towns,
Göttingen

Göttingen has developed its own quaint
traditions. On the day they are awarded their doctorate degrees,
students are drawn in handcarts from the Great Hall to the
Gänseliesel-Fountain in front of the Old Town Hall. There they have
to climb the fountain and kiss the statue of the
Gänseliesel

Gänseliesel (goose
girl). This practice is actually forbidden, but the law is not
enforced. She is considered the most kissed girl in the world.
Nearly untouched by Allied bombing in World War II, the inner city of
Göttingen

Göttingen is now an attractive place to live with many shops, cafes
and bars. For this reason, many university students live in the inner
city and give
Göttingen

Göttingen a youthful feel. In 2003, 45% of the inner
city population was only between 18 and 30 years of age.
Commercially,
Göttingen

Göttingen is noted for its production of optical and
precision-engineered machinery, being the seat of the light microscopy
division of Carl Zeiss, Inc., and a main site for
Sartorius AG which
specialises in bio-technology and measurement equipment—the region
around
Göttingen

Göttingen advertises itself as "Measurement Valley".
Göttingen

Göttingen is also the home to NextPharma GmbH one of Germany's
largest pharmaceutical contract manufacturers. The company undertakes
pharmaceutical development, Clinical trial logistics and Microbiology
services. NextPharma manufactures a large volume of pharmaceutical
products, for the German and also for international markets such as
the USA, Brazil and the rest of Europe.
Unemployment in
Göttingen

Göttingen was 12.6% in 2003 and is now 7% (March
2014). The city's railway station to the west of the city centre is on
Germany's main north-south railway.
Göttingen

Göttingen has two professional basketball teams; both the men's and
women's teams play in the Basketball-Bundesliga. For the 2007-08
season, both teams will play in the 1st division.
History[edit]
St. Alban's Church today
Memorial at Grona fortress site
Watermill from early 13th century
Early history[edit]
The origins of
Göttingen

Göttingen can be traced back to a village named
Gutingi to the immediate south-east of the eventual city. The name of
the village probably derives from a small stream, called the Gote,
that once flowed through it. Since the ending -ing denoted "living
by", the name can be understood as "along the Gote". Archaeological
evidence points towards a settlement as early as the 7th century. It
is first historically mentioned in a document by the Holy Roman
Emperor Otto I in 953 AD, in which the emperor gives some of his
belongings in the village to the Moritz monastery in Magdeburg.
Archaeological findings point to extensive commercial relations with
other regions and a developed craftsmanship in this early period.
Imperial palace of Grona[edit]
In its early days, Gutingi was overshadowed by Grona, historically
documented from the year 915 AD as a newly built fortress, lying
opposite Gutingi on a hill west of the River Leine. It was
subsequently used as an Ottonian imperial palace, with 18 visits of
kings and emperors documented between 941 and 1025 AD. The last Holy
Roman Emperor to use the fortress of Grona (said to have been fond of
the location), Heinrich II (1002–1024), also had a church built in
the neighbouring Gutingi, dedicated to Saint Alban. The current church
building that occupies this site, the St. Albani Church, was built in
1423.
The fortress then lost its function as a palace in 1025, after
Heinrich II died there, having retreated to it in ill health. It was
subsequently used by the lords of Grone. The fortress was destroyed by
the citizens of
Göttingen

Göttingen between 1323 and 1329, and finally razed to
the ground by Duke Otto I during his feuds with the city of Göttingen
in 1387.
Foundation of the town[edit]
With time, a trading settlement started to form at the river crossing
of the Leine to the west of the village, from which it took its name.
It is this settlement that was eventually given city rights. The
original village remained recognisable as a separate entity until
about 1360, at which time it was incorporated within the town's
fortification.
It is likely the present city was founded between 1150 and 1180,
although the exact circumstances are not known. It is presumed that
Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, founded the city. The
configuration of the streets in the oldest part of the town is in the
shape of a pentagon, and it has been proposed that the inception of
the town followed a planned design. At this time, the town was known
by the name Gudingin or also Gotingen. Its inhabitants obeyed welfish
ownership and ruling rights, and the first
Göttingen

Göttingen burghers are
mentioned, indicating that
Göttingen

Göttingen was already organised as a true
city. It was not, however, a
Free Imperial City

Free Imperial City (German: Reichsstadt),
but subject to the Welf dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Henry the Elder
(V) of Brunswick, eldest son of
Henry the Lion
.jpg/300px-Braunschweig_Brunswick_Heinrich_der_Loewe_(Dom_2005).jpg)
Henry the Lion and brother of the Holy
Roman Emperor Otto IV, is given as the lord over
Göttingen

Göttingen between
1201 and 1208. The original Welf residency in the town consisted of a
farm building and the stables of the Welf dukes, which occupied the
oldest part of the city's fortifications built prior to 1250. In its
early days,
Göttingen

Göttingen became involved in the conflicts of the Welfs
with their enemies. The initial conflicts in the first decades of the
13th century benefited the burghers of Göttingen, who were able to
use the political and military situation to be courted by various
parties, and hence forcing the Welf town lords to make certain
compromises with the town. In a document from 1232, Duke Otto the
Child gave the citizens of
Göttingen

Göttingen the same rights which they had
held at the time of his uncles Otto IV and Henry the Elder of
Brunswick. These included privileges concerning self-governance of the
town, protection of traders, and trading facilitation. The document
also promises that the town is not to fall into the hands of other
powers. It is to be assumed that at this time
Göttingen

Göttingen possessed a
city council of burghers. The names of council members are first given
in a document from 1247.
Geismar Tor.
Expansion[edit]
The area secured by the initial fortification included the old market
place, the old town hall, the two main churches, St. Johannes (St
John's) and St. Jacobi (St. James's), the smaller church St. Nikolai
(St. Nicholas's), as well as the large Weender Straße, Groner Straße
and Rote Straße (red street). Outside of the fortification in front
of the Geismar city gate lay the old village with the Church of St.
Alban, which was subsequently known as Geismarer altes Dorf (old
Geismar village). This village was only to a limited extent under
welfish control and thus could not be included in the town's
privileges and fortification.
The town was initially protected by a rampart, as of the late 13th
century then also by walls on top of the mound-like ramparts. Of
these, only one tower with a short stretch of the wall survives in the
Turmstraße (tower street). The thus protected area included maximally
600 m by 600 m, or about 25 hectares. This made it smaller
than contemporary Hanover, but larger than the neighbouring Welfish
towns of Northeim,
Duderstadt

Duderstadt and Hann. Münden.
The Gote stream that flowed south of the walls of the town was
connected to the
River Leine

River Leine via a channel at about this time and the
waterway has since been known as the Leine Canal.
Marienkirche.
After the death of Otto the Child in 1257, his sons Albert I of
Brunswick (the Great) and Johann inherited their father's territories.
Duke Albrecht I governed for his brother, a minor, at first.
Subsequently, the brothers agreed to divide the territory between
themselves in 1267, effective 1269. The city of
Göttingen

Göttingen went to
Albert I, and was inherited by his son Duke Albert II "the Fat" in
1286. Albert II chose
Göttingen

Göttingen as his residence and moved into the
Welf residency, which he rebuilt into a fortress known as the
Ballerhus, after which the Burgstraße (fortress street) is named.
Albert II attempted to gain further control over the economically and
politically rapidly growing town by founding a new town (German:
Neustadt) west of the original town, across the Leine Canal and
outside of the Groner City Gate. This competing settlement consisted
of a single street, no more than 80 yards long, with houses on either
side of the street. The Duke, however, could not prevent Göttingen's
westward expansion nor the success of the
Göttingen

Göttingen City Council in
effectively checking any hope of economic development in the Neustadt.
The St. Marien Church (St. Mary's) was built to the south of the
Neustadt which, together with all adjoining farm buildings, was given
to the
Teutonic Knights

Teutonic Knights in 1318.
After the failure of the new town, the city council bought up the
uncomfortable competition to the west in 1319 for three hundred Marks,
and obtained the promise from the Duke that he would not erect any
fortress within a mile of the town.
Two monasteries were also founded on the edge of the town at the end
of the 13th century. To the east, in the area of today's
Wilhelmsplatz, a
Franciscan

Franciscan monastery was built as early as 1268,
according to the city chronicler Franciscus Lubecus. Since the
Franciscans walked barefoot as part of their vow of poverty, they were
known colloquially as the barefoot people, hence the name
Barfüßerstraße (Barefoot People's Street) for the road that led to
the monastery. In 1294, Albert the Fat permitted the founding of a
Dominican monastery along the Leine Canal opposite the Neustadt, for
which the Paulinerkirche (Pauline church), completed in 1331, was
constructed.
Jews settled in
Göttingen

Göttingen in the late 13th century. On 1 March 1289,
the Duke gave the City Council permission to allow the first Jew,
Moses, to settle inside the town limits. The subsequent Jewish
population lived predominantly close to St. James's Church on the
Jüdenstraße.
Growth and independence[edit]
After Albert the Fat's death in 1318,
Göttingen

Göttingen passed to Otto the
Mild (d. 1344), who ruled over both the "Principality of Göttingen"
(German: Fürstentum Göttingen) and the territory of Brunswick. These
dukes joined
Göttingen

Göttingen and surrounding towns in battles against
aristocratic knights in the surroundings of Göttingen, in the course
of which the citizens of
Göttingen

Göttingen succeeded in destroying the
fortress of Grone between 1323 and 1329, as well as the fortress of
Rosdorf. Since Otto the Mild died without leaving any children, his
brothers Magnus and Ernest divided the land between themselves. Ernest
I received Göttingen, the poorest of all the Welf principalities,
which was to remain separate from Brunswick for a long time to come.
At this time, the territory consisted of the regions formerly owned by
Northeim, the towns of Göttingen, Uslar, Dransfeld, Münden,
Gieselwerder and half of Moringen. Not much is known about the rule of
Duke Ernest I, but it is generally assumed that he continued to fight
against aristocratic knights.
Ernest I was succeeded after his death in 1367 by his son Otto I of
Göttingen

Göttingen (the Evil; German: der Quade) (d. 1394), who initially
lived in the city's fortress and attempted to make it a permanent Welf
residency. The epithet the Evil came from Otto I's incessant feuds.
Breaking with the policies of his predecessors, he frequently aligned
himself with the aristocratic knights of the neighbourhood in battles
against the cities, whose growing power disturbed him. Under Otto the
Evil,
Göttingen

Göttingen gained a large degree of independence. After losing
control of the provincial court at the Leineberg to
Göttingen

Göttingen in
1375, Otto finally tried to impose his influence on
Göttingen

Göttingen in
1387, but with little success. In April 1387, Göttingen's citizens
stormed and destroyed the fortress within the city's walls. In
retaliation, Otto destroyed villages and farms in the town's
surroundings. However, Göttingen's citizens gained a victory over the
Duke's army in a battle between the villages of
Rosdorf

Rosdorf and Grone,
under their leader Moritz of Uslar, forcing Otto to acknowledge the
independence of the town and its surrounding properties. 1387 thus
marks an important turning point in the history of the town.
Göttingen's relative autonomy was further strengthened under Otto's
successor Otto II "the One-eyed" of
Göttingen

Göttingen (German: Cocles/der
Einäugige), not least because the Welf line of Brunswick-Göttingen
died out with Otto II, and the resulting questions surrounding his
succession after his abdication in 1435 destabilized the regional
aristocracy.
After Duke Otto I of
Göttingen

Göttingen relinquished his jurisdiction over
Jews to the town of
Göttingen

Göttingen in the years 1369-70, conditions for
Jews greatly deteriorated, and several bloody persecutions and
evictions from the town followed. Between 1460 and 1599, no Jews lived
in
Göttingen

Göttingen at all.
The trend towards ever diminishing Welf influence over the town
continued until the end of the 15th century, although the town
officially remains a Welf property. Nevertheless, it is counted in
some contemporaneous documents among the Imperial Free Cities.
St. John's Church.
St. James's Church.
The 14th and 15th centuries thus represent a time of political and
economic power expansion, which is also reflected in the contemporary
architecture. The expansion of the St. Johannis Church to a Gothic
hall church began in the first half of the 14th century. As of 1330, a
Gothic structure also replaced the smaller St Nikolai Church (St.
Nicholas's). After completion of the work on St. John's Church, the
rebuilding of St James's was begun in the second half of the 14th
century. The original, smaller church that preceded this building was
probably initiated by
Henry the Lion
.jpg/300px-Braunschweig_Brunswick_Heinrich_der_Loewe_(Dom_2005).jpg)
Henry the Lion or his successor, and functioned
as a fortress chapel to the city fortress that lay immediately behind
it. The representative old town hall was built between 1366 and 1444.
Around 1360, the town's fortifications were rebuilt to encompass now
also the new town and the old village. In the course of this
construction work, the four city gates were moved farther out, and the
town's area grew to roughly 75 hectares. The city council forged
alliances with surrounding towns, and
Göttingen

Göttingen joined the Hanseatic
League in 1351 (see below).
Göttingen

Göttingen also gained Grona (currently
Grone) and several other surrounding villages in the Leine Valley.
The reason for the progressive power increase in the late Middle Ages
was the growing economic importance of the town. This depended largely
on its good connection to the north-south trade route, particularly
the north-south trade route that followed the Leine Valley, which
greatly aided the local textile industry in particular. Next to the
guild of linen weavers, the guild of wool weavers gained in
importance. The wool for the weaving originated in the immediate
surroundings of the town, where up to 3000 sheep and 1500 lambs were
kept. Woollen cloth was successfully exported all the way to the
Netherlands

Netherlands and Lübeck. From 1475, textile production was augmented
by the addition of new weavers who brought novel weaving techniques to
Göttingen

Göttingen and consolidated the position of the town as a textile
exporter for three generations. Only at the end of the 16th century
did the decline of the local textile industry occur when Göttingen
could not compete anymore with cheap English textiles.
Göttingen's traders also profited from the important trade route
between
Lübeck

Lübeck and
Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main. Göttingen's market became
important beyond the region. Traders from other regions would come in
great numbers four times a year.
Göttingen

Göttingen also joined the Hanseatic
League, to the first meeting of which it was invited in 1351.
Göttingen's relationship with the
Hanseatic League

Hanseatic League remained distant,
however. As an inland town,
Göttingen

Göttingen enjoyed the economic
connections of the League, but it did not want to get involved in the
politics of the alliance.
Göttingen

Göttingen only became a paying member in
1426, and left as early as 1572.
Loss of independence to the present day[edit]
After several dynastic splits and shifts in power that followed the
death of Otto the One-Eyed, Duke Eric I "the Elder", Prince of
Calenberg, annexed the principality of Göttingen, which became an
integral part of the Principality of Calenberg. The town refused to
pay homage to Eric I in 1504, and as a result, Eric I had the Emperor
Maximilian I, declare the town of
Göttingen

Göttingen outlawed. The subsequent
tensions economically weakened Göttingen, leading to the town finally
paying its homage to Eric I in 1512. Afterward the relationship
between Eric and the town improved, because of Eric's financial
dependence on Göttingen.
Woodcut showing the town in the year 1585 as viewed from the west.
In 1584 the city came into the possession of the dukes of
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, also of the Welf dynasty, and in 1635 it
passed to the house of Lüneburg, which ruled it thenceforth. In 1692
it was named as part of the indivisible territory Electoral State of
Hanover

Hanover (officially the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg).
University[edit]
The
University

University of
Göttingen

Göttingen was founded in 1737 by George II
Augustus, who was king of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of
Brunswick-Lüneburg and prince-elector of Hanover. During the
Napoleonic period, the city was briefly in the hands of Prussia in
1806, turned over in 1807 to the newly created Napoleonic Kingdom of
Westphalia, and returned to the State of
Hanover

Hanover in 1813 after
Napoleon's defeat. In 1814 the prince-electors of
Hanover

Hanover were
elevated to kings of
Hanover

Hanover and the
Kingdom of Hanover

Kingdom of Hanover was
established. During the Austro-Prussian War (1866), the Kingdom of
Hanover

Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position. After Hanover
voted in favour of mobilising confederation troops against Prussia on
14 June 1866, Prussia saw this as a just cause for declaring war. In
1868, the
Kingdom of Hanover

Kingdom of Hanover was dissolved and
Göttingen

Göttingen became part
of the Prussian Province of Hanover. The Province of
Hanover

Hanover was
eventually disestablished in 1946.
Railway[edit]
In 1854 the city was connected to the new Hanoverian Southern Railway.
Today,
Göttingen

Göttingen railway station is served by (ICE) high-speed trains
on the Hanover–
Würzburg

Würzburg high-speed line.
"The Navel", centre of the pedestrian zone.
Third Reich era[edit]
During the 1930s,
Göttingen

Göttingen housed the top math-physics faculty in
the world, led by eight men, almost all Jews, who became known as the
Göttingen

Göttingen eight. Their members included Leó Szilárd and Edward
Teller. This faculty was not tolerable to the Reich, however, and the
University

University of
Göttingen

Göttingen suffered greatly as a result. The Göttingen
eight were expelled, and these men were forced to emigrate to the West
in 1938. Szilárd and Teller went on to become key members of the
Manhattan Project

Manhattan Project team. Ironically, the Nazi insistence on a "German
physics" prevented German scientists from applying Albert Einstein's
breakthrough insights to physics, a policy which stifled the further
development of physics in Germany. After the end of World War II, the
famous university had to be reorganised almost from scratch,
especially in the physics, mathematics and chemistry departments, a
process which has continued into the 21st century.[2]
The synagogue in
Göttingen

Göttingen was destroyed during
Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht on 9
November 1938. Many of the Jews were killed in Nazi German
extermination camps. Also, there was a concentration camp for
adolescents in Moringen, which was not liberated until 1945.
During the widespread British, Canadian and American air raids on Nazi
Germany,
Göttingen

Göttingen suffered comparatively little damage. Only about
2.1% of the city was destroyed.[3] Beginning in July 1944, the air
raids were sometimes heavier, but these mainly hit the area of the
main railway station last on 7 April 1945. The historic old town of
Göttingen

Göttingen remained practically undamaged.
The Junkernschänke, a historic half-timbered house was destroyed in a
1945 air-raid and the exterior was not properly reconstructed until
the 1980s. Two of the churches (Paulinerkirche and Johanniskirche) in
the old town, and several buildings of the university, were heavily
damaged. The Institute of Anatomy and 57 residential buildings,
especially in Untere Masch Street in the centre of the city, were
completely destroyed. Overall, only about 107 deaths were caused by
the air raids, a comparatively small number. However, the neighbouring
cities of
Hanover

Hanover and Brunswick experienced many impact of the bombing
raids.
Kassel

Kassel was destroyed several times.
Because the city had many hospitals, those hospitals had to take care
of up to four thousand wounded
Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht soldiers and airmen during
World War II.
Göttingen

Göttingen was also fortunate in that before troops of
the
U.S. Army

U.S. Army arrived in
Göttingen

Göttingen on 8 April 1945, all of the
Wehrmacht's combat units had departed from this area, hence Göttingen
experienced no heavy ground fighting, artillery bombardments or other
major combat.
Contemporary history[edit]
After the war the city and district of
Göttingen

Göttingen joined the
administrative district (Regierungsbezirk) of Hildesheim.[dubious –
discuss] In a reform in 1973 the district of
Göttingen

Göttingen was enlarged
by incorporating the dissolved districts of
Duderstadt

Duderstadt and Hannoversch
Münden.
Cultural relevance[edit]
Göttingen

Göttingen Nacht der Kultur (
Göttingen

Göttingen Cultural Night)
Prior to the period of German romanticism, a group of German poets
that had studied at this university between 1772 and 1776, formed the
Göttinger Hainbund

Göttinger Hainbund or "Dichterbund" ('circle of poets'). Being
disciples of Klopstock, they revived the folksong and wrote lyric
poetry of the
Sturm und Drang

Sturm und Drang period. Their impact was essential on
romanticism in the German-speaking area and on folklore in general.
Since the 1920s, the town has been associated with the revival of
interest in the music of George Frideric Handel. The Göttingen
International Handel Festival is held each summer with performances in
the Stadthalle
Göttingen

Göttingen and a number of churches.
In the mid-1960s, the song named after the city by the French singer
Barbara created a considerable popular impetus towards post-war
Franco-German reconciliation.[4] A street in the city - Barbarastraße
- is named after her.
Because of the city's long association with academics and scholarly
journals,
Göttingen

Göttingen has acquired the motto Die Stadt, die Wissen
schafft. The phrase is a pun: Die Stadt der Wissenschaft means 'the
city of science,' Die Stadt, die Wissen schafft (identical
pronunciation apart from der ~ die) means 'the city that creates
knowledge.'
Incorporations[edit]
The following communities were incorporated in the city of Göttingen:
1963: Herberhausen
1964: Geismar, Grone, Nikolausberg, and Weende
1973: Deppoldshausen, Elliehausen, Esebeck, Groß Ellershausen,
Hetjershausen, Holtensen, Knutbühren, and Roringen
Demographics[edit]
The city's population has increased since the Middle Ages. With the
arrival of the early modern period, the growth rate greatly
accelerated. The population peaked at 132,100 in 1985. In 2004, it
stood at 129,466, of which around 24,000 were students.
Transport[edit]
The
Göttingen

Göttingen bus system is run by the GöVB (Göttinger
Verkehrsbetriebe). Buses run throughout the city and to the
neighboring villages, as well as intercity bus services from the
station
Göttingen

Göttingen ZOB, adjacent to the railway station.[5]
Göttingen

Göttingen railway station lies west of the medieval town center and
provides links to several destinations in Germany.
Like most German cities, the town is bicycle-friendly, with bicycle
paths throughout the commercial areas (except for in pedestrian-only
shopping areas) and beyond. The time to pedal downtown from the
outskirts is fifteen to twenty minutes.[6] Bicycles can be rented at a
shop next to the train station.[7]
Religion[edit]
St. Michael Church
After the Middle Ages, the area of
Göttingen

Göttingen was part of the
archbishopric of Mainz, and most of the population were Roman
Catholic. Starting in 1528, the teachings of church reformer Martin
Luther became more and more popular in the city. In 1529 the first
Protestant sermon was preached in the Paulinerkirche, a former
Dominican monastery church. For many centuries, nearly all the people
in the city were Lutherans. As of today, the area of
Göttingen

Göttingen is
part of the Lutheran Church of Hanover. Apart from this state church,
there are several other Protestant churches in Göttingen, known as
Freikirchen. In 1746, Catholic services in
Göttingen

Göttingen were resumed, at
first only for the students of the new university, but a year later
for all citizens who wished to attend. However, it was not until 1787
that the first Catholic church since the Reformation, St. Michael's,
was built. In 1929 a second Catholic church, St. Paul's, was erected.
Today, the major religions are Lutheran and Catholicism. In addition,
there has been a
Baptist

Baptist congregation since 1894, a Mennonite
congregation since 1946, as well as a congregation of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
There is a documented Jewish community dating back to the 16th
century. During the Third Reich, the synagogue was destroyed in the
Reichsprogromnacht on 9 November 1938, as were many others throughout
Germany. The Jewish community was persecuted, and many of its members
met their deaths in the concentration camps. In recent years, the
Jewish community has again been flourishing, with the immigration of
Jewish people from the states of the former Soviet Union. In 2004, the
first
Shabbat

Shabbat could be celebrated in the new Jewish community centre.
Finally, there are many Islamic congregations.
Islam

Islam gained a foothold
in Göttingen, as it did in other German cities, with the immigration
of the Turks during the
Wirtschaftswunder

Wirtschaftswunder in the 1960s and 1970s. They
constitute the majority of Muslims in Göttingen. Other Muslims are of
Arab origin or come from Pakistan,
Iran

Iran and India. There are two
mosques in the city.
There is a secular trend in Germany, especially in Eastern Germany,
but also in the West, where a growing number of people are not
baptised or leave the church. This trend is especially noticeable
since the 1990s, percentagewise between 1990 and 2014 the Protestants
in
Göttingen

Göttingen dropped from 56.2 to 40.6% and the Catholics dropped
from 17.1 to 15.6%.[8]
Politics[edit]
A town council with 24 councillors dates from the 12th century. In
1319 this council took control of the new city district (Neustadt)
just in front of the wall. The council election took place on the
Mondays following
Michaelmas

Michaelmas (September 29). Starting in 1611 all
citizens were able to elect the 24 councillors. Previously this right
was restricted and depended on income and profession. Afterwards, the
council elected the Bürgermeister (mayor). In 1669 the number of
councillors was reduced to 16, and later to 12. In 1690 the city
administration was reorganised again. Then the council consisted of
the judge, two mayors, the city lawyer (Syndikus), the secretary and
eight councillors. All of these were appointed by the government.
During the Napoleonic era the mayor was called Maire, and there was
also a city council. In 1831 there was another reform of the
constitution and the administration. The title of the mayor changed to
Oberbürgermeister. In the following decades there were more reforms
to the city administration, which reflected the constitutional and
territorial reorganisations of Germany. During the Third Reich the
mayor was appointed by the Nazi Party.
In 1946 the authorities of the British Occupation Zone, to which
Göttingen

Göttingen then belonged, introduced a communal constitution which
reflected the British model.
Coat of arms[edit]
The coat of arms of
Göttingen

Göttingen shows in the top half three silver
towers with red roofs on a field of blue. The lateral towers possess
four windows each and are crowned by golden crosses. Around the
central tower are four silver balls. The city towers represent the
status as a city which has been granted certain rights. In the bottom
field is a golden lion on a red field. This lion represents the lion
of the Welf dynasty, which in its various branches ruled the area of
Göttingen

Göttingen for 850 years. This coat of arms was first documented in
1278. The city has sometimes used a simpler one, consisting of a black
capital "G" on a golden field, topped with a crown.
International relations[edit]
The twinning emblems for Cheltenham,
Göttingen

Göttingen and Toruń.
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany
Twin towns – sister cities[edit]
Göttingen

Göttingen is twinned with:
Cheltenham, UK, since 1951
Toruń, Poland, since 1978[9]
Pau, France, since 1982
Wittenberg, Germany, since 1988
There has been a solidarity agreement with
La Paz Centro

La Paz Centro in Nicaragua
since 1989 which has, as of 2013[update], not yet led to a formal
twinning agreement.
The city is also the namesake of
Göttingen

Göttingen Street, Halifax, Nova
Scotia, Canada
Notable people born in Göttingen[edit]
Arthur Auwers
.jpg/440px-Arthur_Auwers_1884_Theodor_Prumm_Prumm_Theodor_btv1b8452873q_(cropped).jpg)
Arthur Auwers (1838-1915), astronomer,
Robert Bunsen, chemist (1811-1899)
August Wilhelm Dieckhoff (1823-1894), theologian
Heinrich Ewald, theologian and orientalist (1803-1875)
Georg Heinrich August Ewald(1803-1875)
Herbert Grönemeyer, musician and actor (born 1956)
Uta Hagen, actress (1919-2004)
Kai Engelke, writer, singer-songwriter and teacher (born 1946).
Juliane Köhler, actress (born 1965)
Rudolf Kohlrausch

Rudolf Kohlrausch (1809-1858), physicist
Sandra Nasić, singer (born 1976)
Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (1845-1923), classical philologist
Johannes Heinrich Schultz

Johannes Heinrich Schultz (1884-1970), psychiatrist, developed
autogenic training
Thomas C. Südhof, biochemist, Nobel laureate (born 1955)
Andreas Staier, Pianist and performer of Historically Informed
Performance (born 1955)
Bernhard Vogel, politician (CDU) (born 1932)
Hans-Jochen Vogel, politician (SPD) (born 1926)
Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen, geologist (1809-1876)
Heidi Lippmann, politician (The Left), (born 1956)
Suzanne Jovin,
United States

United States murder victim of the unsolved 1998 Yale
University

University murder case (1974-1998)
Christian "TheFatRat" Büttner, electronic dance music producer (born
1979)
Notable people who died in Göttingen[edit]
Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
Max Born, (1882-1970), physicist, mathematician and Nobel laureate
Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, (1805-1859), mathematician
Carl Friedrich Gauss, (1777-1855), mathematician and scientist
Friedrich August Grotefend, (1798-1836), philologist
Otto Hahn, (1879-1968), chemist and Nobel laureate 1944
David Hilbert, (1862-1943), mathematician
Theodor Kaluza, (1885-1954), mathematician and physicist
Felix Klein, (1849-1925), mathematician
Hermann Minkowski, (1864-1909), mathematician
Wilhelm Eduard Weber
Max Planck, (1858-1947), physicist and Nobel laureate 1918
Helmuth Plessner, (1892-1985), philosopher and sociologist
Ludwig Prandtl, (1875-1953), scientist
Kurt Reidemeister, (1893-1971), mathematician
Lou Andreas-Salomé, (1861-1937), psychoanalyst and author
Carl Ludwig Siegel, (1896-1981), mathematician
Wilhelm Eduard Weber, (1804-1891), physicist
Sport[edit]
Göttingen

Göttingen has:
some football (soccer) teams, playing in amateur leagues Sparta
Göttingen

Göttingen
Bezirksoberliga

Bezirksoberliga http://www.spartagoettingen.de/
a cricket club
a bowling alley
a driving range
an American football team
a baseball team
at least two skittles alleys.
an indoor swimming complex and a number of outdoor pools.
a sports stadium (Jahn-Stadion)
a basketball team (playing since 2007 in the first league in Germany)
Universities and colleges[edit]
Göttingen

Göttingen is officially a '
University

University town' and is known particularly
for its University.
Georg-August
University

University of Göttingen, http://www.uni-goettingen.de/
German Aerospace Centre,
http://www.dlr.de/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-343/470_read-664/
Private
University

University of Applied Sciences, http://www.pfh.de/
University

University of Applied Sciences and Arts, http://www.fh-goettingen.de
Goethe-Institut

Goethe-Institut Göttingen, http://www.goethe.de/goettingen/
Max Planck

Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Max Planck

Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
Max Planck

Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
Max Planck

Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Max Planck

Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
German Primate Center, http://www.dpz.eu
University

University Library SUB.
View from
University

University Campus looking South
Cultural establishments[edit]
Theatre[edit]
Göttingen

Göttingen has two professional theatres, the Deutsches Theater and
the Junges Theater. In addition, there is Theater im OP Göttingen
('ThOP'), which mostly presents student productions.
Deutsches Theater.
Junges Theater, Wochenmarkt.
Museums, collections, exhibitions[edit]
Göttingen

Göttingen City Museum (Städtisches Museum Göttingen) has permanent
and temporary exhibitions of historical and artistic materials,
although most of the building is currently closed for renovation.
The university's Ethnographic Collection includes an internationally
significant South Seas exhibition (Cook/Forster collection) and mostly
19th-century materials from the
Arctic

Arctic polar region (Baron von Asch
collection) as well as major displays on Africa.
The Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus) has temporary art shows of local,
regional, and international artists.
The Paulinerkirche in the Historical
University

University Library building has
various temporary exhibitions, usually of a historic nature.
The university has a number of significant museums and collections.
Gardens[edit]
Göttingen

Göttingen is home to four intercultural gardens and the German
Association of International Gardens (Internationale Gärten e.V.).
The university maintains three major botanical gardens:
Alter Botanischer Garten der Universität Göttingen
Neuer Botanischer Garten der Universität Göttingen
Forstbotanischer Garten und Pflanzengeographisches
Arboretum

Arboretum der
Universität Göttingen, an arboretum and botanical garden.
The city cemetery, the Stadtfriedhof is planted with groves of trees.
Local media[edit]
The local radio station Stadtradio
Göttingen

Göttingen which is funded
indirectly by the state of
Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony broadcasts on FM
107.1 MHz and covers all parts of the city and some surrounding
towns and villages. Its hourly news bulletins are the population's
main source of local news. Additionally, the radio stations NDR 1,
Hitradio Antenne Niedersachsen and
Radio ffn

Radio ffn provide specific local
newscasts on their affiliate local frequencies.
The regional newspaper
Hessisch-Niedersächsische Allgemeine has
editorial offices in Göttingen. Its local news service is available
for free on the internet and competes directly with the "Stadtradio"
news service:
local news from Stadtradio Göttingen
local news from HNA newspaper
The Göttinger Tageblatt, is published by the Hannoversche Allgemeine
Zeitung on Mondays through Saturdays.
See also[edit]
Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–
Wolfsburg

Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region
References[edit]
^ Landesbetrieb für Statistik und Kommunikationstechnologie
Niedersachsen, 102 Bevölkerung - Basis Zensus 2011, Stand 31.
Dezember 2015 (Tabelle K1020014)
^ Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, Emigration of
Mathematicians and Transmission of Mathematics: Historical Lessons and
Consequences of the Third Reich, Report No. 51/2011; organized by June
Barrow-Green, Milton-Keynes, Della Fenster, Joachim Schwermer, &
Reinhard Siegmund-Schultze. (30 Oct - 5 Nov 2011). Retrievable from:
http://www.mfo.de/occasion/1144. Accessed July 13, 2014. DOI:
10.4171/OWR/2011/51
^ Ulrich Schneider: Niedersachsen 1945, p. 95. Hannover 1985
^ BBC News website, 22 January 2013
^ "Göttingen: Stations". Travelinho.com.
^ Kopietz, Thomas (2014-09-26). "HNA Kommentar zum E-Bike-Test in
Goettingen". HNA.
^ "Fahrrad Mieten".
^ Religion in
Göttingen

Göttingen 1990-2014
^ "Miasta bliźniacze Torunia" [Toruń's twin towns]. Urząd Miasta
Torunia [City of
Toruń

Toruń Council] (in Polish). Retrieved
2013-08-22.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Göttingen, Germany.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Göttingen.
Official website (in German)
Timber framing in Göttingen
Official website (in English)
Texts on Wikisource:
"Göttingen".
Encyclopædia Britannica

Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
"Göttingen". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
"Göttingen". Encyclopædia Britannica. 10 (9th ed.). 1879.
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Towns and municipalities in
Göttingen

Göttingen (district)
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WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 233669754
LCCN: n79065961
GND: 4021477-1
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