Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a
university city in
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
, central
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, the
capital of
the eponymous district. The
River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911.
General information
The origins of 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
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
times the city was a member of the
Hanseatic League and hence a wealthy town.
![Göttingen Gänseliesel März06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/G%C3%B6ttingen_G%C3%A4nseliesel_M%C3%A4rz06.jpg)
Today, 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
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
; they lost their positions, but became known as the "
Göttingen Seven
The Göttingen Seven (german: Göttinger Sieben) were a group of seven liberal professors at University of Göttingen. In 1837, they protested against the annullment of the constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover by its new ruler, King Ernest Augus ...
". Its alumni include some well-known historical figures: the
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
,
Heinrich Ewald
Georg Heinrich August Ewald (16 November 18034 May 1875) was a German orientalist, Protestant theologian, and Biblical exegete. He studied at the University of Göttingen. In 1827 he became extraordinary professor there, in 1831 ordinary profess ...
,
Wilhelm Eduard Weber
Wilhelm Eduard Weber (; ; 24 October 1804 – 23 June 1891) was a German physicist and, together with Carl Friedrich Gauss, inventor of the first electromagnetic telegraph.
Biography of Wilhelm
Early years
Weber was born in Schlossstrasse i ...
and
Georg Gervinus. Also, German Chancellors
Otto von Bismarck and
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...
attended law school at the Göttingen University.
Karl Barth held his first professorship here. Some of the most famous mathematicians in history,
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; german: Gauß ; la, Carolus Fridericus Gauss; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and science. Sometimes refer ...
,
Bernhard Riemann and
David Hilbert, were professors at Göttingen.
Like other university towns, 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'' (''goose girl''). This practice is actually forbidden, but the law is not enforced. The statue is considered the most kissed girl in the world.
Nearly untouched by Allied bombing in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the inner city of 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 a youthful feel. In 2003, 45% of the inner city population was only between 18 and 30 years of age.
Commercially, Göttingen is noted for its production of optical and precision-engineered machinery, being the seat of the
light microscopy division of
Carl Zeiss
Carl Zeiss (; 11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Carl Zeiss AG. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted practica ...
, Inc., and a main site for
Sartorius AG
Sartorius AG is an international pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier, covering the segments of Bioprocess Solutions and Lab Products & Services. Recent history (since 2000)
In 2015, Sartorius Acquired cell line and process developme ...
which specialises in bio-technology and measurement equipment—the region around Göttingen advertises itself as "Measurement Valley".
Unemployment in Göttingen was 12.6% in 2003 and is now 7% (March 2014). The city's
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
to the west of the city centre is on Germany's main north–south railway.
Göttingen has two
professional basketball teams; both the men's and women's teams play in the ''Basketball-Bundesliga''. For the
2022–23 season, both teams will play in the 1st division.
History
Early history
The origins of Göttingen can be traced back to a village named ''Gutingi'' to the immediate south-east of the present 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
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...
in 953 AD, in which he gives some of his belongings in the village to the Moritz monastery in
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...
. Archaeological findings point to extensive commercial relations with other regions and a developed craftsmanship in this early period.
Imperial palace of Grona
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
The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...
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
Henry II may refer to:
Kings
*Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154
*Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1324), reigned from 1285; king of Jerusalem in name only from 1291
*Henry II of Castile (1334–79), reigned 1366–67 and ...
(1002–1024), also had a church built in the neighbouring ''Gutingi'', dedicated to
Saint Alban
Saint Alban (; la, Albanus) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs rec ...
. 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 Henry 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 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
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
Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180.
Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...
, Duke of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
and
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, founded it. 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
burghers are mentioned then, indicating that Göttingen was already organised as a true city. It was not, however, a
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
(german: Reichsstadt), but subject to the Welf dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
Henry the Elder (V) of Brunswick, eldest son of Henry the Lion and brother of the Holy Roman Emperor
Otto IV
Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218.
Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 119 ...
, is given as the lord over 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 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, thus forcing the Welf town lords to make certain compromises with the town. In a document from 1232, Duke
Otto the Child
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded f ...
restored to the citizens of Göttingen the rights that 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 facilitating trade. At this time Göttingen possessed a city council of burghers. The names of council members are first given in a document from 1247.
Expansion
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 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 fortifications.
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). This protected area included maximally 600 m by 600 m, or about 25
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...
s. This made it smaller than contemporary
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, but larger than the neighbouring Welfish towns of
Northeim
Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road.
History
Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document ...
,
Duderstadt
Duderstadt () is a city in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district of Göttingen.
It is the center and capital of the northern part of the Eichsfeld ("Untereichsfeld"). In earlier times it was the private wealth of the Roman Cat ...
and
Hann. Münden
Hann. Münden (short for Hannoversch Münden) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. Münden lies in the district of Göttingen (district), Göttingen at the confluence of the Fulda River, Fulda and Werra rivers, which join to form the Weser. It ha ...
.
The ''Gote'' stream that flowed south of the walls of the town was connected to the
River Leine via a channel at about this time and the waterway has since been known as the Leine Canal.
![ISH WC Goettingen21](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/ISH_WC_Goettingen21.jpg)
After the death of Otto the Child in 1257, his sons
Albert I of Brunswick
Albert the Tall ( lat, Albertus Longus, german: Albrecht der Große; 1236 – 15 August 1279), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1252 and the first ruler of the newly created Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbü ...
(the Great) and
Johann
Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious ...
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 went to Albert I, and was inherited by his son Duke
Albert II "the Fat" in 1286. Albert II chose 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 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
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...
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
Marks may refer to:
Business
* Mark's, a Canadian retail chain
* Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain
* Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members
* Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel ...
, and obtained a promise from the Duke that he would not erect any fortress within a mile of the town.
Two
monasteries
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
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
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
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
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
settled in 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
After Albert the Fat's death in 1318, Göttingen passed to
Otto the Mild (d. 1344), who ruled over both the "
Principality of Göttingen
The Principality of Göttingen (german: Fürstentum Göttingen) was a subdivision of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire, with Göttingen as its capital. It was split off from the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in ...
" (german: Fürstentum Göttingen) and the territory of Brunswick. These dukes joined Göttingen and surrounding towns in battles against aristocratic knights in the surroundings of Göttingen, in the course of which the citizens of 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 (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 gained a large degree of independence. After losing control of the provincial court at the Leineberg to Göttingen in 1375, Otto finally tried to impose his influence on 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 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 (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 relinquished his jurisdiction over Jews to the town of 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 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
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
.
![Goe Jacobi Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Goe_Jacobi_Church.jpg)
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
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
hall church
A hall church is a church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was invented in the mid-19th century by Wilhelm Lübke, a pioneering German art historian. In contrast to an archi ...
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 Church 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 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 joined the
Hanseatic League in 1351 (see below). Göttingen also gained ''Grona'' (currently Grone) and several other surrounding villages in the Leine Valley.
The reason for the progressive increase in importance in the late
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
was the growing economic strength of the town. This depended largely on its good connections with the north–south trade route, particularly the north–south trade route that followed the Leine Valley, which greatly aided the local
textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
industry in particular. Next to the
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
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
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
. From 1475, textile production was augmented by the addition of new weavers who brought novel weaving techniques to 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
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
textiles.
Göttingen's traders also profited from the important trade route between
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
and
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
. Göttingen's market became important beyond the region. Traders from other regions would come in great numbers four times a year. Göttingen also joined the
Hanseatic League, to the first meeting of which it was invited in 1351. Göttingen's relationship with the Hanseatic League remained distant, however. As an inland town, Göttingen enjoyed the economic connections of the League, but it did not want to get involved in the politics of the alliance. Göttingen only became a paying member in 1426, and left as early as 1572.
Loss of independence to the present day
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 Principality of Calenberg was a dynastic division of the Welf duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg established in 1432. Calenberg was ruled by the House of Hanover from 1635 onwards; the princes received the ninth electoral dignity of the Holy Roman ...
. 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 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.
![Goettingen - Ansicht der Stadt von Westen (1585)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Goettingen_-_Ansicht_der_Stadt_von_Westen_%281585%29.png)
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
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...
State of Hanover (officially the
Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg
The Electorate of Hanover (german: Kurfürstentum Hannover or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, located in northwestern Germany and taking its name from the capital city of Hanover. It was formally known as ...
).
University
The
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
was founded in 1737 by
George II Augustus, who was king of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
,
Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and
prince-elector of Hanover. During the
Napoleonic
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
period, the city was briefly in the hands of the
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
in 1806, turned over in 1807 to the newly created Napoleonic
Kingdom of Westphalia
The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the ...
, and returned to the
State of Hanover in 1813 after Napoleon's defeat. In 1814 the prince-electors of Hanover were elevated to kings of Hanover and the
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Ha ...
was established. During the Austro-Prussian War (1866), the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position. After Hanover voted in favor of mobilizing confederation troops against Prussia on 14 June 1866, Prussia saw this as a just cause for declaring war. In 1868, the Kingdom of Hanover was dissolved and Göttingen became part of the Prussian
Province of Hanover
The Province of Hanover (german: Provinz Hannover) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1868 to 1946.
During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position ...
. The Province of Hanover was disestablished in 1946.
Railway
In 1854 the city was connected to the new
Hanoverian Southern Railway
The Hanoverian Southern Railway (German: ''Hannöversche Südbahn'') is a historical term but it is still a common name for the line between Hanover and Kassel. It is a German main line railway in Lower Saxony and is one of the oldest lines in G ...
. Today,
Göttingen railway station is served by (
ICE
Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...
) high-speed trains on the
Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line.
Nazi era (1933-1945)
During the 1930s, Göttingen housed the top math-physics faculty in the world, led by eight men, almost all Jews, who became known as the Göttingen eight. Their members included
Leó Szilárd
Leo Szilard (; hu, Szilárd Leó, pronounced ; born Leó Spitz; February 11, 1898 – May 30, 1964) was a Hungarian-German-American physicist and inventor. He conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, patented the idea of a nuclear ...
and
Edward Teller
Edward Teller ( hu, Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" (see the Teller–Ulam design), although he did not care for ...
. This faculty was not tolerable to the Reich, however, and the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
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
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
team. Ironically, the Nazi insistence on "
German physics
''Deutsche Physik'' (, "German Physics") or Aryan Physics (german: Arische Physik) was a nationalist movement in the Germany, German physics community in the early 1930s which had the support of many eminent physicists in Germany. The term w ...
" prevented German scientists from applying
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
's breakthrough insights to physics, a policy which stifled the further development of physics in Germany. After the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the famous university had to be reorganised almost from scratch, especially in the
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
,
mathematics and
chemistry departments, a process which has continued into the 21st century.
There was considerable support in the population of Göttingen for Hitler and Nazism from the start of the National Socialist era. As early as 1933 the Theaterplatz (Theater Square) was renamed Adolf-Hitlerplatz, and by the end of World War II 70 streets had been renamed in reference to the Nazi regime or military topics.
[Tamke G. & Driever R. (2012). Göttinger Straßennamen (Veröffentlichung des Stadtarchivs Göttingen (http://www.stadtarchiv.goettingen.de/strassennamen/tamke-driever%20goettinger%20strassennamen_01.pdf2)] The absorption of Nazi culture into the everyday life of the citizens of Göttingen has been documented by historian David Imhoof.
[Imhoof, David (2013). Becoming a Nazi Town: Culture and Politics in Göttingen between the World Wars. University of Michigan Press.] The
synagogue in Göttingen was destroyed during ''
Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...
'' on 9 November 1938. Many of the Jews were killed in
Nazi German
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
extermination camps. Also, there was a concentration camp for
adolescents in
Moringen
Moringen is a town in the district Northeim (district), Northeim, in the southern part of Lower Saxony, Germany. The town consists of the center Moringen and eight surrounding villages, Fredelsloh being one of them.
History
The town and its villag ...
, which was not liberated until 1945.
During the widespread
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
,
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
and
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
air raids on
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, Göttingen suffered comparatively little damage. Only about 2.1% of the city was destroyed. Beginning in July 1944, the air raids were sometimes heavier, but these mainly hit the area of the main
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
last on 7 April 1945. The historic old town of 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
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
, 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
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
and
Brunswick experienced a much greater impact from the bombing raids.
Kassel was destroyed several times.
Because the city had many hospitals, those hospitals had to take care of up to four thousand wounded
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
soldiers and airmen during World War II. Göttingen was also fortunate in that before troops of the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
arrived in 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
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
bombardment
A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings.
Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...
s or other major combat.
Modern history
The
Göttingen Studios
The Göttingen Studios were film studios located in the German city of Göttingen. The studios were established in 1948 on a site that had previously been used as an aeroplane hangar on the outskirts of Göttingen. The studios were founded by the ...
were a significant centre of film production in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
from 1948 to 1961. In a reform in 1973 the district of Göttingen was enlarged by incorporating the dissolved districts of
Duderstadt
Duderstadt () is a city in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, located in the district of Göttingen.
It is the center and capital of the northern part of the Eichsfeld ("Untereichsfeld"). In earlier times it was the private wealth of the Roman Cat ...
and
Hannoversch Münden.
Cultural relevance
![Gottingenculturalnight](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Gottingenculturalnight.jpg)
Prior to the period of German
romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
, a group of German poets that had studied at this university between 1772 and 1776, formed the
Göttinger Hainbund
The ''Göttinger Hainbund'' ("Grove League of Göttingen") was a German literary group in the late 18th century, nature-loving and classified as part of the ''Sturm und Drang'' movement.
Origin and description
It was by means of a midnight ritual ...
or "''Dichterbund''" ('circle of poets'). Being disciples of
Klopstock
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (; 2 July 1724 – 14 March 1803) was a German poet. His best known work is the epic poem ''Der Messias'' ("The Messiah"). One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outsid ...
, they revived the folksong and wrote lyric
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
of the
Sturm und Drang
''Sturm und Drang'' (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto- Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particul ...
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
The Göttingen International Handel Festival (German, ''Internationale Händel-Festspiele Göttingen'') is a German festival of baroque music, based in Göttingen, Germany. The festival was established in 1919 by Oskar Hagen, art historian and f ...
is held each summer with performances in the Stadthalle Göttingen and a number of churches.
The city is home to several ensembles such as the Göttinger Sinfonie Orchester or the
Göttingen Boys' Choir, which are also performing nationwide.
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. A street in the city – Barbarastraße – is named after her.
Because of the city's long association with academics and scholarly journals, 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.'
Göttingen is a part of a
tourist
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
attraction in Germany, the
German Fairy Tale Route (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
: Deutsche Märchenstraße).
Incorporations
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
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
The Göttingen bus system is run by th
GöVB (Göttinger Verkehrsbetriebe) Buses run throughout the city and to the neighboring villages, as well as
intercity bus service
An intercity bus service (North American English) or intercity coach service (British English and Commonwealth English), also called a long-distance, express, over-the-road, commercial, long-haul, or highway bus or coach service, is a public tr ...
s from the station Göttingen ZOB, adjacent to the railway station.
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.
Religion
![Goettingen StMichael Oct06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Goettingen_StMichael_Oct06.jpg)
After the Middle Ages, the area of Göttingen was part of the
archbishopric of Mainz, and most of the population were
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
. Starting in 1528, the teachings of church reformer
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
became more and more popular in the city. In 1529 the first
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
sermon was preached in the Paulinerkirche, a former
Dominican monastery church. For many centuries, nearly all of the population of the city were
Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
. As of today, the area of 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 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
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
congregation since 1894, a
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...
congregation since 1946, as well as a congregation of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
.
There is a documented Jewish community dating back to the 16th century. During the Third Reich, the
synagogue was destroyed in the ''
Reichspogromnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
'' on 9 November 1938, as were many others throughout Germany. The Jewish community was persecuted, and many of its members were murdered in
Nazi concentration camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as con ...
. In recent years, the Jewish community has again been flourishing, with the immigration of Jewish people from the states of the former
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. In 2004, the first
Shabbat could be celebrated in the new Jewish community centre.
Finally, there are many
Islamic congregations. Islam gained a foothold in Göttingen, as it did in other German cities, with the immigration of the
Turkish ''
Gastarbeiter
(; both singular and plural; ) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally consider ...
'' during the ''
Wirtschaftswunder
The ''Wirtschaftswunder'' (, "economic miracle"), also known as the Miracle on the Rhine, was the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II (adopting an ordoliberalism-based social ma ...
'' in the 1960s and 1970s. They constitute the majority of Muslims in Göttingen. Other Muslims are of
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
origin or come from West Asia. There are two mosques in the city.
There is a
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
trend in Germany, especially in
Eastern Germany
The new states of Germany () are the five re-established states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) that unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with its 10 states upon German reunification on 3 October 1990.
The new st ...
, but also in the
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, where a growing number of people are not
baptised
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
or leave the church. This trend is especially noticeable since the 1990s, percentagewise between 1990 and 2014 the Protestants in Göttingen dropped from 56.2 to 40.6% and the Catholics dropped from 17.1 to 15.6%.
Politics
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 ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, ...
(29 September). 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
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
.
In 1946 the authorities of the British Occupation Zone, to which Göttingen then belonged, introduced a communal constitution which reflected the British model.
Coat of arms
The
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
of 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 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
The city is the
namesake
A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another.
History
The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake",
which originates in English Bible translations ...
of
Göttingen Street,
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Twin towns – sister cities
Göttingen is
twinned with:
*
Cheltenham, England, United Kingdom (1951)
*
Toruń
)''
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =
, image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg
, image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg
, nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town
, pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...
, Poland (1978)
*
Pau, France (1983)
*
Wittenberg
Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north o ...
, Germany (1988)
Cooperation and solidarity
Göttingen cooperates with:
[
* Hiroshima, Japan (1987)
* ]La Paz Centro
La Paz Centro () is a town and a municipality in the León Department of Nicaragua.
The town is located along the highway between Managua and León. The small municipality is known for its small shops and pottery. La Paz Centro is the home of ...
, Nicaragua (1989)
* Qixia (Nanjing), China (2010)
Notable people
* Arthur Auwers (1838–1915), astronomer
* Christian "TheFatRat" Büttner (born 1979), electronic dance music producer
*Robert Bunsen
Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (;
30 March 1811
– 16 August 1899) was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium (in 1860) and rubidium (in 1861) with the physicist Gustav Kirchhoff. The Bu ...
(1811–1899), chemist
*August Wilhelm Dieckhoff August Wilhelm Dieckhoff (5 February 1823, in Göttingen – 12 September 1894, in Rostock) was a German Lutheran theologian known for his studies on the history of evangelical doctrine during the Reformation.[Heinrich Ewald
Georg Heinrich August Ewald (16 November 18034 May 1875) was a German orientalist, Protestant theologian, and Biblical exegete. He studied at the University of Göttingen. In 1827 he became extraordinary professor there, in 1831 ordinary profess ...]
(1803–1875), theologian and orientalist
* Herbert Grönemeyer (born 1956), musician and actor
*Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...
(1919–2004), actress
*Kai Engelke
Kai Engelke (born 1 April 1946) is a German writer, music journalist, reciter, singer-songwriter and teacher.
Life
Kai Engelke is the son of journalist and author Jooschen Engelke (1918–1962) and painter Robin Mück-Engelke (1909–2000).
...
(born 1946), writer, singer-songwriter and teacher
* Suzanne Jovin (1977–1998), United States murder victim of the unsolved 1998 Yale University murder case
*Juliane Köhler
Juliane Köhler (born 6 August 1965) is a German theatre, television and film actress. She was born in Göttingen to a puppeteer. During the period from 1985 to 1988, she studied under Uta Hagen in New York City and attended HB Studio. She als ...
(born 1965), actress
*Rudolf Kohlrausch
Rudolf Hermann Arndt Kohlrausch (November 6, 1809 in Göttingen – March 8, 1858 in Erlangen) was a German physicist.
Biography
He was a native of Göttingen, the son of the Royal Hanovarian director general of schools Friedrich Kohlrausch. He ...
(1809–1858), physicist
* Heidi Lippmann (born 1956), politician (The Left)
*Sandra Nasić
Sandra Nasić (born 25 May 1976) is a German singer best known as the vocalist of the rock band Guano Apes.
Career
Nasić was born in Göttingen, West Germany, where she grew up with her Croatian mother and sister. After she received her high ...
(born 1976), singer
*Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher
Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (12 February 1845, in Göttingen – 9 March 1923, in Dresden) was a German classical scholar. He specialized in studies of Greek and Roman mythology.
He received his education at the Universities of Göttingen and Lei ...
(1845–1923), classical philologist
*Tresi Rudolph
Tresi Rudolph (18 August 1911 – 22 January 1997) was a German operatic soprano, actress and singing teacher.
Life
Born in Göttingen, Rudolph took singing lessons in her hometown with Ernst Grenzebach at the age of 15 and went to Berlin at 1 ...
(1911–1997), opera singer
* Johannes Heinrich Schultz (1884–1970), psychiatrist, developed autogenic training
* Michael Schneider (composer) (born 1964)
*Thomas C. Südhof
Thomas Christian Südhof (; born December 22, 1955), ForMemRS, is a German-American biochemist known for his study of synaptic transmission. Currently, he is a professor in the School of Medicine in the Department of Molecular and Cellular P ...
(born 1955), biochemist, Nobel laureate
* Andreas Staier (born 1955), Pianist and performer of Historically Informed Performance
*Hendrik Streeck
Hendrik Streeck (born 7 August 1977 in Göttingen) is a German researcher of human immunodeficiency virus, epidemiologist and clinical trialist. He is professor of virology and the director of the Institute of Virology and HIV Research at the U ...
(born 1977), leading HIV Researcher
* Peter Struck (1943–2012), politician (SPD)
*Anna Teichmüller
Anna Teichmüller (11 May 1861 – 6 September 1940) was a German composer and teacher who set the works of many poets, especially Carl Hauptmann, to music. She composed most of her works at the Schreiberhau artist colony.
Teichmüller was born i ...
(1861–1940), composer
*Bernhard Vogel
Bernhard Vogel (; born 19 December 1932) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was the 4th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1976 to 1988 and the 2nd Minister President of Thuringia from 1992 to 2003. ...
(born 1932), politician (CDU)
*Hans-Jochen Vogel
Hans-Jochen Vogel (3 February 192626 July 2020) was a German lawyer and a politician for the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as Mayor of Munich from 1960 to 1972, winning the 1972 Summer Olympics for the city and Governing Mayor of W ...
(1926–2020), politician (SPD)
*Woldemar Voigt
Woldemar Voigt (; 2 September 1850 – 13 December 1919) was a German physicist, who taught at the Georg August University of Göttingen. Voigt eventually went on to head the Mathematical Physics Department at Göttingen and was succeeded in ...
(1907–1980), engineer
*Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen
Wolfgang Sartorius Freiherr von Waltershausen (17 December 180916 March 1876) was a German geologist.
Life and work
Waltershausen was born at Göttingen and educated at this city's university. There he devoted his attention to physical and natur ...
(1809–1876), geologist
*Helmut Weiss
Helmut Weiss (January 25, 1907 – January 13, 1969) was a German actor, screenwriter, and film director. He was notable for directing '' Tell the Truth'' the first film produced in what was to become the future West Germany after the Second World ...
(1907–1969), German film director
* Max Born (1882–1970), physicist, mathematician and Nobel laureate
*Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (; 13 February 1805 – 5 May 1859) was a German mathematician who made deep contributions to number theory (including creating the field of analytic number theory), and to the theory of Fourier series and ...
(1805–1859), mathematician
*Manfred Eigen
Manfred Eigen (; 9 May 1927 – 6 February 2019) was a German biophysical chemist who won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on measuring fast chemical reactions.
Eigen's research helped solve major problems in physical chemistry and ...
(1927–2019), biophysical chemist and Nobel laureate 1967
*Carl Friedrich Gauss
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; german: Gauß ; la, Carolus Fridericus Gauss; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and science. Sometimes refer ...
(1777–1855), mathematician and scientist
* Friedrich August Grotefend (1798–1836), philologist
*Otto Hahn
Otto Hahn (; 8 March 1879 – 28 July 1968) was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and father of nuclear fission. Hahn and Lise Meitner ...
(1879–1968), chemist and Nobel laureate 1944
* David Hilbert (1862–1943), mathematician
*Theodor Kaluza
Theodor Franz Eduard Kaluza (; 9 November 1885 – 19 January 1954) was a German mathematician and physicist known for the Kaluza–Klein theory, involving field equations in five-dimensional space-time. His idea that fundamental forces can be ...
(1885–1954), mathematician and physicist
*Felix Klein
Christian Felix Klein (; 25 April 1849 – 22 June 1925) was a German mathematician and mathematics educator, known for his work with group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and on the associations between geometry and grou ...
(1849–1925), mathematician
* Hermann Minkowski, (1864–1909), mathematician
*Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1 July 1742 – 24 February 1799) was a German physicist, satirist, and Anglophile. As a scientist, he was the first to hold a professorship explicitly dedicated to experimental physics in Germany. He is remembered for ...
, (1742–1799), physicist
*Max Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (, ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.
Planck made many substantial contributions to theoretical p ...
(1858–1947), physicist and Nobel laureate 1918
*Helmuth Plessner
Helmuth Plessner (4 September 1892, Wiesbaden – 12 June 1985, Göttingen) was a German philosopher and sociologist, and a primary advocate of "philosophical anthropology".
Life & career
Plessner had an itinerant education in Germany betwee ...
(1892–1985), philosopher and sociologist
*Ludwig Prandtl
Ludwig Prandtl (4 February 1875 – 15 August 1953) was a German fluid dynamicist, physicist and aerospace scientist. He was a pioneer in the development of rigorous systematic mathematical analyses which he used for underlying the science of ...
(1875–1953), scientist
*Kurt Reidemeister
Kurt Werner Friedrich Reidemeister (13 October 1893 – 8 July 1971) was a mathematician born in Braunschweig (Brunswick), Germany.
Life
He was a brother of Marie Neurath.
Beginning in 1912, he studied in Freiburg, Munich, Marburg, and Götting ...
(1893–1971), mathematician
*Lou Andreas-Salomé
Lou Andreas-Salomé (born either Louise von Salomé or Luíza Gustavovna Salomé or Lioulia von Salomé, russian: link=no, Луиза Густавовна Саломе; 12 February 1861 – 5 February 1937) was a Russian-born psychoanalyst and a ...
(1861–1937), psychoanalyst and author
*Carl Ludwig Siegel
Carl Ludwig Siegel (31 December 1896 – 4 April 1981) was a German mathematician specialising in analytic number theory. He is known for, amongst other things, his contributions to the Thue–Siegel–Roth theorem in Diophantine approximation, ...
(1896–1981), mathematician
*Wilhelm Eduard Weber
Wilhelm Eduard Weber (; ; 24 October 1804 – 23 June 1891) was a German physicist and, together with Carl Friedrich Gauss, inventor of the first electromagnetic telegraph.
Biography of Wilhelm
Early years
Weber was born in Schlossstrasse i ...
(1804–1891), physicist
* Conny Wessmann (1965–1989), antifascist activist
* Friedrich Wöhler (1800–1882), chemist
*Richard Adolf Zsigmondy
Richard Adolf Zsigmondy ( hu, Zsigmondy Richárd Adolf; 1 April 1865 – 23 September 1929) was an Austrian-born chemist. He was known for his research in colloids, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1925, as well as for c ...
(1865–1929), chemist and Nobel laureate 1925
*Jean-Manuel Mbom
Jean-Manuel Mbom (born 24 February 2000) is a German professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen. He has represented Germany internationally at various youth levels.
Career
Mbom mad ...
(born 2000), football player
* Deniz Güney (born 1992), entrepreneur
*Timo Ochs
Timo Ochs (born 17 October 1981) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Club career Early years
Ochs was born in Göttingen, Lower Saxony. He joined Hannover 96 in 1996 and started his senior career with the ...
(born 1981), retired football player
*Adriano Grimaldi
Adriano Grimaldi (born 5 April 1991) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for 1. FC Saarbrücken.
Club career
Grimaldi started his career at FC Sachsen Leipzig in 2009, where he scored twice in 12 matches.
Grimaldi signe ...
(born 1991), football player
*Maximilian Beister
Maximilian Beister (born 6 September 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward. He is currently a free agent.
Club career
Hamburger SV
Beister began his career 2001 with VfL Lüneburg. In 2004, he joined the Hamburger ...
(born 1990), football player
* Ansgar Knauff (born 2002), football player
Sport
Göttingen has:
*some football (soccer) teams, playing in amateur leagues e.g. I. SC Göttingen 05 in the Bezirksliga
The Bezirksliga ( en, County League) is commonly a medium set of amateur divisions set at steps 7, 8 or 9 in the German football league system.
Structure
Depending on the structural organisation within each of the 21 state football associations ...
*a cricket club
Zee Marathi is an Indian general entertainment channel which carries programming in Marathi. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel was launched on 15 August 1999 and was known as Alpha TV Marathi until 28 March 2005, then ...
*
bowling alley
*a
American football team
*a baseball team
*at least two skittles alleys.
*a
and a number of outdoor pools.
*
sports stadium (Jahn-Stadion)
*some basketball teams, including ASC 1846 Göttingen
The ASC 1846 Göttingen is a German basketball club based in Göttingen. ASC and its predecessor societies ''SSV Hellas Göttingen'' and ''SSC Göttingen'' played 16 times in the Federal basketball league (1966–67, 1970–71, 1973–75 and 1976 ...
(national champions in 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84) and BG Göttingen (playing since 2007 in the first league in Germany and EuroChallenge
FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...
winners of 2009–10)
Universities and colleges
Göttingen is officially a 'University town' and is known particularly for its University.
* Georg-August University of Göttingen, http://www.uni-goettingen.de/
*Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Göttingen Academy of Sciences (german: Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen)Note that the German ''Wissenschaft'' has a wider meaning than the English "Science", and includes Social sciences and Humanities. is the second oldest of the se ...
, https://adw-goe.de/en/home/
*German Aerospace Centre
The German Aerospace Center (german: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany ...
, http://www.dlr.de/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-343/470_read-664/
*Private University of Applied Sciences, http://www.pfh.de/
*University of Applied Sciences and Arts, http://www.fh-goettingen.de
* Goethe-Institut Göttingen, http://www.goethe.de/goettingen/
*Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
The Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry (german: Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie), also known as the Karl-Friedrich Bonhoeffer Institute (german: Karl-Friedrich-Bonhoeffer-Institut), was a research institute of the Ma ...
*Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
The Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine (german: Max-Planck-Institut für Experimentelle Medizin) was a research institute of the Max Planck Society, located in Göttingen, Germany. On January 1, 2022, the institute merged with the Max ...
* Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
*Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
The Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Göttingen, Germany, is a research institute for investigations of complex non-equilibrium systems, particularly in physics and biology.
Its founding history goes back to Ludwig Pran ...
*Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (abbreviation: MPS; german: Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung) is a research institute in astronomy and astrophysics located in Göttingen, Germany, where it relocated in February 201 ...
*German Primate Center The German Primate Centre (German: Deutsches Primatenzentrum, DPZ, founded in 1977) is a non-profit independent research and service institute located in Göttingen. It is a member of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community and funded by ...
, http://www.dpz.eu
Cultural establishments
Theatre
Göttingen has two professional theatres, the '' Deutsches Theater'' and the
Junges Theater
'. In addition, there is , which mostly presents student productions.
Museums, collections, exhibitions
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
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
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 Library building has various temporary exhibitions, usually of a historic nature.
The university has a number of significant museums and collections.
Gardens
* Göttingen is home to four intercultural gardens and the German Association of International Gardens (Internationale Gärten e.V.).
* The university maintains three major botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
s:
** Alter Botanischer Garten der Universität Göttingen
** Neuer Botanischer Garten der Universität Göttingen Neuer may refer to:
* Neuer (surname)
Organizations
* Neuer Botanischer Garten der Universität Göttingen, Göttingen
* Neuer Botanischer Garten Marburg, Marburg
* Neuer Botanischer Garten Tübingen, Tübingen
Places
* Neuer Dom, Linz Cathedr ...
** Forstbotanischer Garten und Pflanzengeographisches Arboretum der Universität Göttingen, an arboretum and botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
.
*The city cemetery, the '' Stadtfriedhof'' is planted with groves of trees.
Local media
The local radio station Stadtradio Göttingen which is funded indirectly by the state of 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 is a commercial radio station operated by ''Funk & Fernsehen Nordwestdeutschland GmbH & Co. KG'' in Lower Saxony, Germany. It broadcasts from regional studios in Braunschweig, Göttingen, Hanover (station HQ), Lüneburg, Oldenburg, and ...
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
The Göttinger Tageblatt, is published by the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung
''Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung'' (abbreviated HAZ) is a German newspaper with a circulation of 158,000 (as of 2009) and a widespread resonance all over Germany. It is distributed in Hanover and in all Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: ...
on Mondays through Saturdays.
See also
*
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gottingen
Göttingen (district)
Members of the Hanseatic League
Holocaust locations in Germany