We offer three guided city tours through Göttingen's city center, in which the life and work of some well-known Göttingen personalities are presented. (2 in English, 1 in German)
Göttingen is famous for its old university (Georgia Augusta or "Georg August University"), which was founded in 1734 (first lectures in 1737) and became the most visited university in Europe. In 1837, seven professors protested against the absolute sovereignty of the kings of Hanover; they lost their posts but became known as the "Göttingen Seven". Among the university's graduates were well-known historical figures such as the Brothers Grimm, Heinrich Ewald, Wilhelm Eduard Weber and Georg Gervinus. Karl Barth held his first professorship here. Some of the most famous mathematicians and scientists in history, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Bernhard Riemann, David Hilbert, James Franck, Max Planck, Max Born,... lived and researched in Göttingen
The fact that 44 Nobel Prize winners have lived and/or conducted research in the university city is known as the Göttingen Nobel Prize miracle.
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| Landmark Gänseliesel fountain at the main market |
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.
(Source: wikipedia)
