Göttingen

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:Foreignchar Template:Infobox Town DE Göttingen (Template:Audio) 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.

1 General information
2 History
3 Incorporations
4 Population
5 Religion
6 Politics
7 Coat of arms
8 Twinnings
9 People born in Göttingen
10 Sports
11 Universities and colleges
12 External links

[edit]

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.

Image:Göttingen Gänseliesel März06.jpg 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).

[edit]

History

Image:Goettingen - Ansicht der Stadt von Westen (1585).png

The origins of Göttingen lay in a village named Gutingi which was mentioned the first time in a document of the emperor Otto I in 953. Archaeological evidence points towards a settlement as early as in the seventh century. The findings in this village show the existence of extensive commercial relations with other regions and a developed craftsmanship. At an uncertain point in time between 1150 and 1200 the present city was founded to the north-west of the older village. The new city adopted the name of the village. As normally the founding of a city is a privilege granted by the ruler of the territory, and the ruler was the duke of Saxony and Bavaria, Henry the Lion, it is presumed that he founded the city. Around 1200 Göttingen possessed full city rights. With time the former Old village was fully integrated into the city, and with the construction of the new city walls in 1362, it was integrated in the city precinct.

Between 1351 and 1572 Göttingen was a member of the Hanseatic League. During this time it had gained considerable independence from its territorial rulers. The city council did not allow the construction of castles in the surroundings of the city, and moved to destroy these, for example in Rosdorf, Grone and the one inside the city as well. This independence later waned, and around the first half of the 16th century the princes of Calenberg-Göttingen, a branch of the Welf dynasty had taken back control.

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.

Image:Göttingen Nabel pano.jpg 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 by the dissolved districts of Duderstadt and Hannoversch Münden.

[edit]

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 und Roringen

[edit]

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.

[edit]

Religion

Image:Goe-Jacobikirche-front.JPG 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.

[edit]

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.

[edit]

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.

[edit]

Twinnings

The town has been twinned with Cheltenham in England since 1951, with Torun 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 lead to a formal twinning agreement.

[edit]