Göttingen

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Göttingen

Göttingen () is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2004 the population was 129,466.

General information

The origins of Göttingen lay in a village called Gutingi. This village was first mentioned in a document in 953. The city was founded between 1150 and 1200 to the north-west of this village and adopted its name. In medieval times the city was a member of the Hanseatic League and hence a wealthy town.

Today Göttingen is famous for its old university (Georgia Augusta, or "Georg-August-Universität"), which was founded 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 Seven". They include some well-known celebrities: the Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm Weber and Georg Gervinus. Also, German chancellors Otto von Bismarck and Gerhard Schröder went to law school at the Göttingen university. Among the most famous mathematicians in history, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Bernhard Riemann, and David Hilbert were professors at Göttingen. Karl Barth had his first professorship here.

Like other university towns, Göttingen has developed its own folklore. On the day of their doctorate, postgraduate 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). She is considered to be the most-kissed girl in the world.

Nearly untouched by allied bombing in World War II, 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 young face. In 2003, 45% of the inner city population was only between 18 and 30 years of age.

Economically, Göttingen is noted for its production of optical and fine mechanical machinery, including the light microscopy division of Carl Zeiss, Inc. — the region around Göttingen advertises itself as "Measurement Valley". Unemployment in Göttingen was at 12.6% (2003).

History

This section is to a large part based on a translation from the German wikipedia page on Göttingen.

Early History

The origins of 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 creek, 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 seventh century AD. 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 monestary in Magdeburg. Archaeological findings point to extensive commercial relations with other regions and a developed craftsmanship in this early period.

Palatinate Fortress of Grone

In its early days, Gutingi was overshadowed by Grona, historically documented from the year 915 AD as a newly built fortress, lying opposite Gutingi across the Leine river. It was subsequently used as an Ottonian palatinate fortress, with 18 visits of kings and emperors documented between 941 and 1025 AD. The last Holy Roman Emperor to use fortress Grona (said to have been fond of the location) Heinrich II (1002-1024), also had a church built in the neighboring 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 palatinate in 1025, after Heinrich II died there after having retreated to it in ill-health. It was subsequently used by the lords of Grone. The fortress was destroyed by the then citizens of Göttingen between 1323 and 1329 AD, and subsequently leveled to the ground by Duke Otto I during his feuds with the city of Göttingen in 1387 AD.

Founding of the City Göttingen

With time, a trading settlement started to form at the river crossing of the Leine to the west of the village, which took over its name. It is this settlement that was eventually given city rights. The original village remained recognizable as a separate entity until about 1360 AD at which time it was included within the town's fortification.

Likely between 1150 and 1180 AD the present city was founded, 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 are 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, indicating that Göttingen was already organised as a true city. It was not, however, an imperial free city (german: Reichsstadt), but subject to the welf dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Henry the Elder (V) of Brunswick, oldest son of Henry the Lion and brother of Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV is given as the lord over Göttingen between 1201 and 1208 AD. The original welf residency in the town consisted of a farm building and stables of the welf dukes, which occupied the oldest part of the city fortifications built prior to 1250 AD. In its early days, Göttingen got 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, which could use the political and military situation to be courted by various parties, and hence forcing the welf town lords to certain compromises with the town. In a document from 1232 AD, Duke Otto the Child gave the citizens of Göttingen the same rights they 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 the facilitation of trade. 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 possessed a city council of burghers. Names of council members are first given in a document from 1247 AD.

Expansion of Göttingen

The area secured by the initial fortification included the old market place, the old town hall, the two main churches, St. Johannes and St. Jacobi, the smaller church St. Nikolai, as well as the large Weender, Groner, and Rote streets. Outside of the fortification in front of the Geismar city gate lay the old village with the church St. Albani, which was subsequently known as Geismarer altes Dorf (the Geismar old village). This village was only to a limited extent under welfish control and thus could not be included in the town's priviledges and fortification.

The town was initially protected by a rampart, as of the late 13th century then also by walls on top of the moundlike ramparts. Of these only one tower with a short stretch of the wall survive in the Turmstraße (tower street). The thus protected area included maximally 600 by 600 meters (roughly 650 by 650 yards), or about 25 hectares. This made it smaller than contemporary Hannover, but exceded the neighboring welfish towns of Northeim, Duderstadt, and Münden.

The creek Gote 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-channel.

After the death of Otto the Child in 1257 AD, his sons, Albrecht I of Brunswick (the Great) and Johann inherited their father's territories. Duke Albrecht I first goverened in his underaged brother's stead. Since subsequently neither brother could hold himself against the other, the territory was split between them in 1267 AD, a division that came into effect in 1269 AD. The city of Göttingen remained with Duke Albrecht I as part of the new territory known as "the Older House Brunswick". It was inherited as such by his son Duke Albrecht II of Brunswick (the Fat)in 1286 AD, who chose Göttingen as his residency and moved into the welf residency, which he rebuilt into a fortress (known as Balrhus). The street name Burgstraße (fortress street) reminds of it to this day. Albrecht II attempted to gain further control over the economically and politically rapidly growing town by founding a new town (german: Neustadt) to the west of the town across the Leine-channel outside of the Groner city gate. This competing settlement consisted of a single, no more than 80 yard long street with houses to either side of the street. However, the duke could not prevent Göttingen's westward expansion nor the Göttingen city council's success to effectively limit all hopes of economic development of the new town. To the south of the new town a new church was erected, the St Marien church, which together with all adjoining farm buildings was given to the Teutonic Knights in 1318 AD. After the failure of the new town, the city councel bought up the uncomfortable competion to their west in 1319 AD for 300 Marks, and obtained the promise from the duke that he would not erect any fortress within a mile of the town.

Additionally, two monestaries were founded at the edge of the town at the end of the 13th century. In the east, in the area of todays Wilhelmsplatz a Franciscan monestary was erected, which settled there as early as 1268 AD according to the city chronicler Franciscus Lubecus. Since the Franciscans walked barefoot as an expression of their poverty, they were known colloquially as the barefooted, which accounts for the name Barfüßerstraße (barefooted street) of the road that led up to the monestary. Albrecht the Fat granted in 1294 the founding of a Dominican monestary along the Leine-channel opposite the new town, for which the Pauliner church was constructed. The church was completed in 1331 AD.

Jews settled in Göttingen as of the late 13th century. On march 1st of 1289 AD the Brunswick duke allowed the Göttingen city council to allow the first Jew, Moses, to settle inside the town limits. The subsequent Jewish population lived predominantly close to the St Jacobi church in what is today called the Jüdenstraße.

Growth and Independence

After the death of Albrecht the Fat in 1318, Göttingen came to Otto the Mild († 1344), who governed over both the Princedom Göttingen (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 citizen's of Göttingen succeeded to destroy the fortress of Grone between 1323 to 1329 AD, as well as the fortress of Rosdorf. Since Otto the Mild died without leaving children, his brothers Magnus and Ernst divided the land amongst each other. Ernst I received the Princedom Göttingen, the poorest of all welfish princedoms, which was now to be separate from Brunswick for a long time to come. At this time, the princedom consisted of the regions formerly owned by Northeim, the towns Göttingen, Uslar, Dransfeld, Münden, Gieselwerder and half of Moringen. Not much is known about the rule of Duke Ernst I, but it is generally assumed that he continued to fight against aristocratic knights.

Ernst I was succeeded after his death in 1367 AD by his son Otto I of Göttingen (the Evil; german: der Quade) († 1394), who initially lived in the city's fortress and attempted to make it a permanent welf residency. The by-name the Evil originiated from Otto I's incessant feuds. He broke with the policies of his predecessors and frequently aligned himself with the aristocratic knights of the surroundings in battles against the cities, whose blossoming power irritated him. It is under Otto the Evil that Göttingen gained a large degree of independence. After already losing control of the provincial court at the Leineberg in 1375 AD to Göttingen, Otto finally attempted to push through his influence over Göttingen in 1387 AD, but with little success. In April of that year Göttingen's citizens stormed and destroyed the fortress within the city walls. In retaliation, Otto destroyed villages and farms in the town's surroundings. However, Göttingen's citizens could garner a victory over the duke's armee in open battle between the villages of Rosdorf and Grone under their leader in battle Moritz from Uslar, forcing Otto to acknowledge the town's and its surrounding belongings' independence. The year 1387 thus marks an important turning point in the history of the town. Göttingen's relative autonomy is further strengthened under Otto's successor Otto II of Göttingen (the One-Eyed; german: Cocles/der Einäugige), not least because the Welf line of Brunswick-Göttingen dies out with Otto II, and the resulting questions surrounding his succession after his early resignation in 1435 cause a significant destabilization of the regional aristocratic powers.

After Duke Otto I of Göttingen relinquishes the right to jurisdiction over Jews to the town of Göttingen in the years 1369/70, the conditions for Jews in Göttingen greatly deteriorated, and it came to several bloody persecutions and evictions from the town's borders. Between 1460 to 1599 no Jews lived in Göttingen at all.

The trend towards ever diminishing welfish influence over the town continues until the end of the 15th century, although the town officially remains a Welf belonging. Nevertheless it is counted in some contemporaneous documents among the imperial free cities.

StJakobi.jpg The 14th and 15th century 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. After completion of the work on the St Johannis church, the rebuilding of the St Jacobi church is begun in the second half of the 14th century. The original, smaller church that preceded this building was likely 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 ha. 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.

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 trading route particularly the north-south trading route that followed the Leine valley, which greatly aided particularly the local textile industry. Next to the gild of linnen weavers, the gild 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 herded. Woolen cloth was successfully exported all the way into the Netherlands and to Lübeck. As of 1475 the textile production was augmented by the addition of new weavers that brought new weaving techniques to Göttingen and solidified the position of the town as a textile exporter for three generations. Only at the end of the 16th century came the decline of the local textile industry when Göttingen could not compete anymore with cheap English textiles.

Göttingen's traders also profited from the important trading route between Lübeck und Frankfurt am Main. Göttingen's market gained above-regional importance. Four times a year traders from other regions came to Göttingen in great numbers. 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 interior 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 the League already in 1572.

Loss of Independence

After several dynastic splits and power changes that followed with the death of Otto II the One-Eyed of Göttingen, Erich I (the Elder) of Calenburg-Göttingen took over the reign over the combigned princedom of Calenberg-Göttingen. The town of Göttingen initially refused to pay homage to Erich I in 1504. As a result, Erich I had The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, Maximilian I, declare the town of Göttingen as outlawed. The subsequent tensions led to an economic weakening of Göttingen so that the town finally paid its homage to Erich I. in 1512. Soon afterward the relationship between the town of Göttingen and Erich much improved, however, apparently because Erich was financially dependent on Göttingen.

In 1584 the city came into possession of the princes of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, also of the Welf dynasty, and in 1635 to the princes of Calenberg. In 1692 it became a possession of the prince-electors of Hanover.

The university of Göttingen was founded in 1737 by George II August, king of England 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 in 1813 after Napoleon's defeat. In 1814 the prince-electors of Hanover were elevated to kings of Hanover.

In 1854 the city was connected to the new railway system. Today, Göttingen station is served by the high speed trains (ICE).

After the defeat of Austria and her ally Hanover at the hands of Prussia in the war of 1866, Göttingen and the Kingdom of Hanover became part of Prussia.

During the Third Reich, the university suffered greatly as many of its greatest minds emigrated early after the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, or were forced to leave later. This was due to the anti-Semitic policies of the time, as many of the excellent professors and scholars were Jewish. Not to forget that the insistence in a "German physics" prevented researchers from applying Einstein's discoveries which was of course nearly impossible. After the war the once-famous university had to be rebuilt almost from scratch, especially the physics and mathematics departments, a process which continues until today. The Göttingen synagogue was destroyed in the Reichspogromnacht on November 9, 1938. Many of the Jews of Göttingen were executed in the concentration camps. Also, there was a concentration camp for adolescents in Moringen which was liberated in 1945.

After the war the city and district of Göttingen joined the administrative district (Regierungsbezirk) of Hildesheim. In a reform in 1973 the district of Göttingen was enlarged by incorporating the dissolved districts of Duderstadt and Hannoversch Münden.

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

Population

The city's population has increased since the Middle Ages. With the arrival of the early modern period, the growth rate accelerated extremely. In 1985, a peak of 132,100 inhabitants was reached. The population of 2004 was 129,466 inhabitants. Of those, around 24,000 were students.

Religion

Since the Middle Ages, the area of Göttingen has been part of the archbishopric of Mainz, and most of the population was 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 church Paulinerkirche, a former Dominican monastery church. For the following centuries nearly all the people in the city were Lutherans. As of today, the area of Göttingen is part of the Protestant Lutheran state church of Hanover. Apart from the Lutheran, there are several other Protestant churches in Göttingen (Freikirchen). In 1746 there were once again Catholic services in Göttingen, at first only for the students of the new university, but one year later for all the interested citizens. But it took until 1787 that the first Catholic church, Saint Michael, was built since the Reformation. In 1929 a second Catholic church, Saint Paul, was erected. Today, the major religions are Lutheran and Catholicism. Also, there has been a Baptist congregation since 1894, a Mennonite congregation since 1946, as well as a congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The existence of a Jewish community is documented since the 16th century. During the Third Reich, the synagogue was destroyed in the Reichsprogromnacht on November 9, 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 flourishes once again, with the immigration of Jewish people from the states of the former Soviet Union. 2004 the first Shabbat could be celebrated in the new Jewish comunity center.

Finally, there are many Islamic congregations. Islam gained a foothold in Göttingen, as it did in other German cities, with the immigration of Turkish workers during the Wirtschaftswunder in the 1960s and 1970s. They are the majority of Muslims in Göttingen. Other Muslims are of Arabic origin or come from Pakistan and India. There exists a representative mosque in the city district of Grone.

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 was especially noticeable in the last decade of the passed century. Nowadays the situation has stabilised for larger churches, though.

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 (September 29). Starting in 1611 all citizens could elect the 24 counsellors. 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 NSDAP. 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 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 towers there are four silver balls. The city towers represent the status as city which is imbued with certain rights. In the bottom field there 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 is documented for the first time in 1278. In some occasions the city used a more simple coat of arms. This was a black mayuscule "G" on a golden field. On top of the letter was a crown.

Twinnings

The town has been twinned with Cheltenham in England since 1951, with Toruń in Poland since 1978, with Pau in France since 1962 and with Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt since 1988. There has been a solidarity agreement with La Paz Centro in Nicaragua since 1989 which has as of now not yet led to a formal twinning agreement.

People born in Göttingen

People who died in Göttingen

Max Born (January 5, 1970)
Otto Hahn (July 28, 1968)
David Hilbert (February 14, 1943)

Sports

Göttingen has:

a cricket club
bowling alley
driving range
at least two skittles alleys.
indoor swimming complex and a number of outdoor pools.
a sports stadium (Jahn-Stadion)

Universities and colleges

Georg August University of Göttingen, http://www.uni-goettingen.de/
Private Fachhochschule Göttingen, http://www.pfh-goettingen.de/
University of Applied Sciences and Arts, http://www.fh-goettingen.de
Goethe-Institut Göttingen, http://www.goethe.de/goettingen/

City Partnerships

External links

City's own website, http://www.eng.goettingen.de/ (English) or http://www.goettingen.de/ (German)
Events and Nightlife Calendar for Göttingen
Webcams in Göttingen

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