Göttingen (German pronunciation: [ˈɡœtɪŋən]
listen ; Low German: Chöttingen) is a university
city in Lower Saxony, Germany.
It is the capital of the district of Göttingen.
The River Leine runs through the town.
At the start of 2017, the population was 134,212.
== 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 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 1734 (first classes in
1737) and became the most visited university
of Europe.
In 1837, seven professors protested against
the absolute sovereignty of the kings of Hanover;
they lost their offices, but became known
as the "Göttingen Seven".
Its alumni include some well-known historical
figures: the Brothers Grimm, Heinrich Ewald,
Wilhelm Eduard Weber and Georg Gervinus.
Also, German Chancellors Otto von Bismarck
and Gerhard Schröder 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, 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.
She is considered 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 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, Inc., and a main site
for Sartorius AG which specialises in bio-technology
and measurement equipment—the region around
Göttingen advertises itself as "Measurement
Valley".
Göttingen is also the home to NextPharma
GmbH one of Germany's largest pharmaceutical
contract manufacturers.
The company undertakes pharmaceutical development,
Clinical trial logistics and Microbiology
services.
NextPharma manufactures a large volume of
pharmaceutical products, for the German and
also for international markets such as the
USA, Brazil and the rest of Europe.
Unemployment in Göttingen was 12.6% in 2003
and is now 7% (March 2014).
The city's railway station to the west of
the city centre is on Germany's main north-south
railway.
Göttingen has two professional basketball
teams; both the men's and women's teams play
in the Basketball-Bundesliga.
For the 2007-08 season, both teams will play
in the 1st division.
== History ==
=== 
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 stream, called the Gote, that once
flowed through it.
Since the ending -ing denoted "living by",
the name can be understood as "along the Gote".
Archaeological evidence points towards a settlement
as early as the 7th century.
It is first historically mentioned in a document
by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I in 953 AD,
in which the emperor gives some of his belongings
in the village to the Moritz monastery in
Magdeburg.
Archaeological findings point to extensive
commercial relations with other regions and
a developed craftsmanship in this early period.
=== Imperial palace of Grona ===
In its early days, Gutingi was overshadowed
by Grona, historically documented from the
year 915 AD as a newly built fortress, lying
opposite Gutingi on a hill west of the River
Leine.
It was subsequently used as an Ottonian imperial
palace, with 18 visits of kings and emperors
documented between 941 and 1025 AD.
The last Holy Roman Emperor to use the fortress
of Grona (said to have been fond of the location),
Heinrich II (1002–1024), also had a church
built in the neighbouring Gutingi, dedicated
to Saint Alban.
The current church building that occupies
this site, the St. Albani Church, was built
in 1423.
The fortress then lost its function as a palace
in 1025, after Heinrich II died there, having
retreated to it in ill health.
It was subsequently used by the lords of Grone.
The fortress was destroyed by the citizens
of Göttingen 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, Duke of
Saxony and Bavaria, founded the city.
The configuration of the streets in the oldest
part of the town is in the shape of a pentagon,
and it has been proposed that the inception
of the town followed a planned design.
At this time, the town was known by the name
Gudingin or also Gotingen.
Its inhabitants obeyed welfish ownership and
ruling rights, and the first Göttingen burghers
are mentioned, indicating that Göttingen
was already organised as a true city.
It was not, however, a Free Imperial City
(German: Reichsstadt), but subject to the
Welf dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
Henry the Elder (V) of Brunswick, eldest son
of Henry the Lion and brother of the Holy
Roman Emperor Otto IV, 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, and hence forcing the Welf town lords
to make certain compromises with the town.
In a document from 1232, Duke Otto the Child
gave the citizens of Göttingen the same rights
which they had held at the time of his uncles
Otto IV and Henry the Elder of Brunswick.
These included privileges concerning self-governance
of the town, protection of traders, and trading
facilitation.
The document also promises that the town is
not to fall into the hands of other powers.
It is to be assumed that at this time Göttingen
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 of the fortification in front of the
Geismar city gate lay the old village with
the Church of St. Alban, which was subsequently
known as Geismarer altes Dorf (old Geismar
village).
This village was only to a limited extent
under welfish control and thus could not be
included in the town's privileges and fortification.
The town was initially protected by a rampart,
as of the late 13th century then also by walls
on top of the mound-like ramparts.
Of these, only one tower with a short stretch
of the wall survives in the Turmstraße (tower
street).
The thus protected area included maximally
600 m by 600 m, or about 25 hectares.
This made it smaller than contemporary Hanover,
but larger than the neighbouring Welfish towns
of Northeim, Duderstadt and Hann.
Münden.
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.
After the death of Otto the Child in 1257,
his sons Albert I of Brunswick (the Great)
and Johann inherited their father's territories.
Duke Albrecht I governed for his brother,
a minor, at first.
Subsequently, the brothers agreed to divide
the territory between themselves in 1267,
effective 1269.
The city of Göttingen 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 in 1318.
After the failure of the new town, the city
council bought up the uncomfortable competition
to the west in 1319 for three hundred Marks,
and obtained the promise from the Duke that
he would not erect any fortress within a mile
of the town.
Two monasteries were also founded on the edge
of the town at the end of the 13th century.
To the east, in the area of today's Wilhelmsplatz,
a Franciscan monastery was built as early
as 1268, according to the city chronicler
Franciscus Lubecus.
Since the Franciscans walked barefoot as part
of their vow of poverty, they were known colloquially
as the barefoot people, hence the name Barfüßerstraße
(Barefoot People's Street) for the road that
led to the monastery.
In 1294, Albert the Fat permitted the founding
of a Dominican monastery along the Leine Canal
opposite the Neustadt, for which the Paulinerkirche
(Pauline church), completed in 1331, was constructed.
Jews settled in Göttingen 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" (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.
The 14th and 15th centuries thus represent
a time of political and economic power expansion,
which is also reflected in the contemporary
architecture.
The expansion of the St. Johannis Church to
a Gothic hall church began in the first half
of the 14th century.
As of 1330, a Gothic structure also replaced
the smaller St Nikolai Church (St. Nicholas's).
After completion of the work on St. John's
Church, the rebuilding of St James's was begun
in the second half of the 14th century.
The original, smaller church that preceded
this building was probably initiated by Henry
the Lion 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 power increase
in the late Middle Ages was the growing economic
importance of the town.
This depended largely on its good connection
to the north-south trade route, particularly
the north-south trade route that followed
the Leine Valley, which greatly aided the
local textile industry in particular.
Next to the guild of linen weavers, the guild
of wool weavers gained in importance.
The wool for the weaving originated in the
immediate surroundings of the town, where
up to 3000 sheep and 1500 lambs were kept.
Woollen cloth was successfully exported all
the way to the Netherlands and Lübeck.
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 textiles.
Göttingen's traders also profited from the
important trade route between Lübeck and
Frankfurt am Main.
Göttingen's market became important beyond
the region.
Traders from other regions would come in great
numbers four times a year.
Göttingen 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 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.
In 1584 the city came into the possession
of the dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, also
of the Welf dynasty, and in 1635 it passed
to the house of Lüneburg, which ruled it
thenceforth.
In 1692 it was named as part of the indivisible
territory Electoral State of Hanover (officially
the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg).
==== 
University ====
The University of Göttingen was founded in
1737 by George II Augustus, who was king of
Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
and prince-elector of Hanover.
During the Napoleonic period, the city was
briefly in the hands of Prussia in 1806, turned
over in 1807 to the newly created Napoleonic
Kingdom of Westphalia, and returned to the
State of Hanover in 1813 after Napoleon's
defeat.
In 1814 the prince-electors of Hanover were
elevated to kings of Hanover and the Kingdom
of Hanover was established.
During the Austro-Prussian War (1866), the
Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain
a neutral position.
After Hanover voted in favour of mobilising
confederation troops against Prussia on 14
June 1866, Prussia saw this as a just cause
for declaring war.
In 1868, the Kingdom of Hanover was dissolved
and Göttingen became part of the Prussian
Province of Hanover.
The Province of Hanover was eventually disestablished
in 1946.
==== Railway ====
In 1854 the city was connected to the new
Hanoverian Southern Railway.
Today, Göttingen railway station is served
by (ICE) high-speed trains on the Hanover–Würzburg
high-speed line.
==== Third Reich era ====
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 and Edward
Teller.
This faculty was not tolerable to the Reich,
however, and the University of Göttingen
suffered greatly as a result.
The Göttingen eight were expelled, and these
men were forced to emigrate to the West in
1938.
Szilárd and Teller went on to become key
members of the Manhattan Project team.
Ironically, the Nazi insistence on a "German
physics" prevented German scientists from
applying Albert Einstein's breakthrough insights
to physics, a policy which stifled the further
development of physics in Germany.
After the end of World War II, the famous
university had to be reorganised almost from
scratch, especially in the physics, mathematics
and chemistry departments, a process which
has continued into the 21st century.The population
of Göttingen supported Hitler and Nazism
from an early date.
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.
The absorption of Nazi culture into the everyday
life of the citizens of Göttingen has been
documented by historian David Imhoof.
The synagogue in Göttingen was destroyed
during Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938.
Many of the Jews were killed in Nazi German
extermination camps.
Also, there was a concentration camp for adolescents
in Moringen, which was not liberated until
1945.
During the widespread British, Canadian and
American air raids on Nazi Germany, Göttingen
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 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, were heavily damaged.
The Institute of Anatomy and 57 residential
buildings, especially in Untere Masch Street
in the centre of the city, were completely
destroyed.
Overall, only about 107 deaths were caused
by the air raids, a comparatively small number.
However, the neighbouring cities of Hanover
and Brunswick experienced many impact of 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 soldiers and airmen during
World War II.
Göttingen was also fortunate in that before
troops of the U.S. Army 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
bombardments or other major combat.
==== Contemporary history ====
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.
== Cultural relevance ==
Prior to the period of German romanticism,
a group of German poets that had studied at
this university between 1772 and 1776, formed
the Göttinger Hainbund or "Dichterbund" ('circle
of poets').
Being disciples of Klopstock, they revived
the folksong and wrote lyric poetry of the
Sturm und Drang period.
Their impact was essential on romanticism
in the German-speaking area and on folklore
in general.
Since the 1920s, the town has been associated
with the revival of interest in the music
of George Frideric Handel.
The Göttingen International Handel Festival
is held each summer with performances in the
Stadthalle Göttingen and a number of churches.
In the mid-1960s, the song named after the
city by the French singer Barbara created
a considerable popular impetus towards post-war
Franco-German reconciliation.
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.'
== 
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 the GöVB
(Göttinger Verkehrsbetriebe).
Buses run throughout the city and to the neighboring
villages, as well as intercity bus services
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.
Bicycles can be rented at a shop next to the
train station.
== Religion ==
After the Middle Ages, the area of Göttingen
was part of the archbishopric of Mainz, and
most of the population were Roman Catholic.
Starting in 1528, the teachings of church
reformer Martin Luther became more and more
popular in the city.
In 1529 the first Protestant sermon was preached
in the Paulinerkirche, a former Dominican
monastery church.
For many centuries, nearly all the people
in the city were Lutherans.
As of today, the area of Göttingen 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 congregation
since 1894, a Mennonite congregation since
1946, as well as a congregation of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
There is a documented Jewish community dating
back to the 16th century.
During the Third Reich, the synagogue was
destroyed in the Reichsprogromnacht on 9 November
1938, as were many others throughout Germany.
The Jewish community was persecuted, and many
of its members met their deaths in the concentration
camps.
In recent years, the Jewish community has
again been flourishing, with the immigration
of Jewish people from the states of the former
Soviet Union.
In 2004, the first Shabbat 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 Turks during the Wirtschaftswunder
in the 1960s and 1970s.
They constitute the majority of Muslims in
Göttingen.
Other Muslims are of Arab origin or come from
Pakistan, Iran and India.
There are two mosques in the city.
There is a secular trend in Germany, especially
in Eastern Germany, but also in the West,
where a growing number of people are not baptised
or leave the church.
This trend is especially noticeable since
the 1990s, percentagewise between 1990 and
2014 the Protestants in Göttingen 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 (September 29).
Starting in 1611 all citizens were able to
elect the 24 councillors.
Previously this right was restricted and depended
on income and profession.
Afterwards, the council elected the Bürgermeister
(mayor).
In 1669 the number of councillors was reduced
to 16, and later to 12.
In 1690 the city administration was reorganised
again.
Then the council consisted of the judge, two
mayors, the city lawyer (Syndikus), the secretary
and eight councillors.
All of these were appointed by the government.
During the Napoleonic era the mayor was called
Maire, and there was also a city council.
In 1831 there was another reform of the constitution
and the administration.
The title of the mayor changed to Oberbürgermeister.
In the following decades there were more reforms
to the city administration, which reflected
the constitutional and territorial reorganisations
of Germany.
During the Third Reich the mayor was appointed
by the Nazi Party.
In 1946 the authorities of the British Occupation
Zone, to which Göttingen 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 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 ==
=== 
Twin towns – sister cities ===
Göttingen is twinned with:
Cheltenham, UK, since 1951
Toruń, Poland, since 1978
Pau, France, since 1982
Wittenberg, Germany, since 1988There has been
a solidarity agreement with La Paz Centro
in Nicaragua since 1989 which has, as of 2013,
not yet led to a formal twinning agreement.
The city is also the namesake of Göttingen
Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
== 
Notable people born in Göttingen ==
Arthur Auwers (1838-1915), astronomer,
Robert Bunsen, chemist (1811-1899)
August Wilhelm Dieckhoff (1823-1894), theologian
Heinrich Ewald, theologian and orientalist
(1803-1875)
Herbert Grönemeyer, musician and actor (born
1956)
Uta Hagen, actress (1919-2004)
Kai Engelke, writer, singer-songwriter and
teacher (born 1946).
Juliane Köhler, actress (born 1965)
Rudolf Kohlrausch (1809-1858), physicist
Sandra Nasić, singer (born 1976)
Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (1845-1923), classical
philologist
Johannes Heinrich Schultz (1884-1970), psychiatrist,
developed autogenic training
Thomas C. Südhof, biochemist, Nobel laureate
(born 1955)
Andreas Staier, Pianist and performer of Historically
Informed Performance (born 1955)
Bernhard Vogel, politician (CDU) (born 1932)
Hans-Jochen Vogel, politician (SPD) (born
1926)
Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen, geologist
(1809-1876)
Heidi Lippmann, politician (The Left), (born
1956)
Suzanne Jovin, United States murder victim
of the unsolved 1998 Yale University murder
case (1974-1998)
Christian "TheFatRat" Büttner, electronic
dance music producer (born 1979)
== Notable people who died in Göttingen ==
Max Born, (1882-1970), physicist, mathematician
and Nobel laureate
Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, (1805-1859),
mathematician
Carl Friedrich Gauss, (1777-1855), mathematician
and scientist
Friedrich August Grotefend, (1798-1836), philologist
Otto Hahn, (1879-1968), chemist and Nobel
laureate 1944
David Hilbert, (1862-1943), mathematician
Theodor Kaluza, (1885-1954), mathematician
and physicist
Felix Klein, (1849-1925), mathematician
Hermann Minkowski, (1864-1909), mathematician
Max Planck, (1858-1947), physicist and Nobel
laureate 1918
Helmuth Plessner, (1892-1985), philosopher
and sociologist
Ludwig Prandtl, (1875-1953), scientist
Kurt Reidemeister, (1893-1971), mathematician
Lou Andreas-Salomé, (1861-1937), psychoanalyst
and author
Carl Ludwig Siegel, (1896-1981), mathematician
Wilhelm Eduard Weber, (1804-1891), physicist
== 
Sport ==
Göttingen has:
some football (soccer) teams, playing in amateur
leagues Sparta Göttingen Bezirksoberliga
http://www.spartagoettingen.de/
a cricket club
a bowling alley
a driving range
an American football team
a baseball team
at least two skittles alleys.
an indoor swimming complex and a number of
outdoor pools.
a sports stadium (Jahn-Stadion)
a basketball team (playing since 2007 in the
first league in Germany)
== Universities and colleges ==
Göttingen is officially a 'University town'
and is known particularly for its University.
Georg-August University of Göttingen, http://www.uni-goettingen.de/
German Aerospace Centre, http://www.dlr.de/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-343/470_read-664/
Private University 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
Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious
and Ethnic Diversity
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
German Primate Center, http://www.dpz.eu
== Cultural establishments ==
=== Theatre ===
Göttingen has two professional theatres,
the Deutsches Theater and the Junges Theater.
In addition, there is Theater im OP Göttingen
('ThOP'), which mostly presents student productions.
=== 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 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
gardens:
Alter Botanischer Garten der Universität
Göttingen
Neuer Botanischer Garten der Universität
Göttingen
Forstbotanischer Garten und Pflanzengeographisches
Arboretum der Universität Göttingen, an
arboretum and botanical garden.
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 provide
specific local newscasts on their affiliate
local frequencies.
The regional newspaper Hessisch-Niedersächsische
Allgemeine has editorial offices in Göttingen.
Its local news service is available for free
on the internet and competes directly with
the "Stadtradio" news service:
local news from Stadtradio Göttingen
local news from HNA newspaperThe Göttinger
Tageblatt, is published by the Hannoversche
Allgemeine Zeitung on Mondays through Saturdays.
== See also ==
Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg
Metropolitan Region
