Every design for Göttingen

The Leine runs straight through Göttingen from south to north, and just east of the old centre the wooded slopes of the Göttinger Wald begin to climb towards the Hainberg and the Kleperberg. The town grew from a village called Gutingi, first recorded in the tenth century, and in the Middle Ages it traded as a member of the Hanseatic League.

The Altes Rathaus, the Old Town Hall, sets the tone of the place. In front of it stands the Gänseliesel, the little goose girl said to be the most kissed girl in the world: on the day they receive their doctorate, students are pulled there in a handcart, climb the fountain and kiss her, a custom that is officially forbidden and cheerfully ignored. That is Göttingen in one scene. The Georg-August-Universität has shaped the town for centuries; Gauss, Riemann and Hilbert taught here, the Brothers Grimm studied here, and the Göttingen Seven lost their posts for standing up to the King of Hanover. Today the Historische Sternwarte and the Alter Botanischer Garten sit among cafés and bars, and microscopes and measuring instruments are made nearby.

Come back after years away and the town fits again at once: the bicycles, the student crowd, the gentle green hills above it all.