A year in Göttingen 2019

How to spend a year in Göttingen?

 

  Sometimes, we don't have to travel far away to find our happiness. Sometimes, we can find wonderful moments, just while going out and seeing the places around us. That's the reason why I decided to write about my second home - Göttingen - and some short trips in Lower Saxony and Bremen in 2019. When I came to Göttingen for my studies, Göttingen was just a normal city and to be honest it's maybe not the biggest tourist magnet. But that doesn't mean, that the city and the surroundings are boring. For me, the city has its special charm. One of the best moments in Göttingen always starts at the end of March, when the cherry blossoms start to bloom at the Central Campus. The whole city shines in a beautiful pink colorfulness and everyone comes out to take photos of this spectacle. It's also the time, when many flowers are starting to show their beauty and elegance in the Botanical Garden close to the city center.     

  During the summer months, Göttingen offers many amazing places to hang out with friends for a barbecue or for swimming in one of the surrounding lakes like the Northeimer Seenplatte or the Rosdorfer Baggersee. But it's also possible to go hiking in the forests or to explore the hiking trail to the Bismarck Tower. On a sunny day, the view over the city is just breathtaking and during staying in Göttingen, everyone should go up to the tower at least once. Also calm areas between Göttingen and Bovenden can be explored for beautiful sunsets or relaxing retreats to enjoy listening the sound of the water.

  Autumn starts and it's still not too cold for going out. Especially in September and October, there are still many warm days for doing bicycle tours. By bike, it's quite easy to reach the Plesse Castle in Bovenden or the old Castle Ruin in Nörten-Hardenberg. From both places, the views over the Leinetal are lovely and a pleasure for the eyes. Also the sunflower fields are still alive and while it's getting colder in the autumn months, the colors of the trees are going to change. That's the perfect moment to go hiking in the forests or around the Kiessee in the South of Göttingen. 

  The highlight of the cold season is always the appearance of snow. Due to global warming, it's not snowing a lot, but there's always a little chance for a bit snow, especially in January or February. Then, the beautiful Christmas decoration at the Gänseliesel Fountain already disappeared and the New Year has started. But when it finally snowed, the area around Göttingen changes to be a Winter Wonderland, where it's possible to breathe the wonderful cold air in the nature!

  One of the positive things to be a student is definitely the semester ticket. So it's always possible to jump into a train and see some beautiful places in Lower Saxony. On a snowy, cold and windy winter day, I decided to take the train to visit the Marienburg Castle, a Gothic revival castle in Pattensen, which is 15 km north-west of Hildesheim and 30 km south of Hanover. Unfortunately, the castle was closed on that day, but at least, I could admire the beauty of the castle in a snowy landscape.

  In February, I took the train to Hamelin, a city on the Weser river, which is famous for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. I really enjoyed the Old Town of the city with its timbered houses and churches and I made a walk along the Weser. But the highlight of the day was the visit of the Hämelschenburg, a water castle 12 km in the South of Hamelin. Around the castle, there are also some hiking trails in the surrounding forest area.

  The folk tale of the pied piper from the Middle Ages is describing a piper, 

who was able to lure rats away with his magic flute. 

When the city hired the pied piper and refused to pay for his service 

to remove the rats from the town, 

he took revenge by using the magical power of his flute 

to lead away the children of the citizens.

  Another short trip, I made in February, was the visit of the Herrenhausen Gardens in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony. I always heard, that it's worthwile to go there, so I decided to make a photo session there for the exhibition "A beautiful blaze of colors in the Tropical Garden". Since I'm really enthusiastic about all kinds of orchids, it was such a pleasure for me to see the beautiful flowers and smell the blossoms. But not only the exhibition, also the different outside gardens - the Great Garden, the Berggarten, the Georgengarten and the Welfengarten - were special attractions. At the end of the day, I also was happy to take pictures of a cute squirrel, running around in the Berggarten.

 

  On Labor Day, I made a short excursion to Kassel. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of the city of Kassel, but the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013, is a wonderful place to enjoy the water arts. It's Europeans largest hillside park and has many interesting places like artifical waterfalls, the Hercules copper statue, the Devil's Bridge, the Lion's Castle or the orangery. Since it was a national holiday and also a sunny and warm spring day, the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe was really overcrowded with people, but nevertheless, it was amazing to see the water arts and make a picnic on the meadow in front of the orangery. 

  Luckily, the Harz mountain area isn't so far away from Göttingen. Since I really love the nature, I try to go hiking as often as possible. In July, I went to Bad Harzburg for the first time. There are a lot of amazing hiking trails, for example the path to the Rabenklippe, a granite rock formation a few meters away from the border to Saxony-Anhalt. Close to the crag, there is a lynx enclosure built by the Harz National Park authority, but unfortunately, I couldn't see the animals that day. After taking a nature trail, I decided to go up to the hill called Großer Burgberg. There were three different ways for hiking to the top and I wanted to take the shortest, but also most difficult and steepest one. After a little break, I enjoyed the view over the city of Bad Harzburg. Since I already hiked more than 25 km that day, I decided to take the famous Burgberg Cable Car for coming back to Bad Harzburg.     

  

  "Home is, where your heart is" - I was born in Hann. Münden, so it's always a special feeling to come back. One of my favorite places there is the Weserstein, a stone that reminds on the confluence of the Werra and Fulda to the Weser river with a little poem:   

 "Wo Werra sich und Fulda küssen,

Sie ihre Namen büssen müssen,

Und hier entsteht durch diesen Kuss

Deutsch bis zum Meer der Weser Fluss."

   The Old Town is rich in restored timbered houses and medieval churches with the Town Hall as one of the highlights. On the Northern facade of the Town Hall, there is a carillon, which shows a figure circulating three times a day with scenes from the life of the artisian surgeon Doctor Eisenbarth. About 90 meters above of the city, there is the Tillyschanze, a 25 meter high observation tower on the hill of the forested Rabanenkopf, from where it's possible to have a great view over the city on a sunny day. 

  After a conference in Oldenburg, I spend an afternoon in Bremen. In 2017, I stayed in Bremen with my research group, so it was already 2 years ago, since I stayed there. On the way to the beautiful Old Town of the city, I walked along a park with its wonderful colored trees. After taking a coffee break at the "Raths-Konditorei" by relaxing in the sunshine, I started the sightseeing tour with two symbols of the city, the statue of the Town Musicians of Bremen - the donkey, dog, cat and rooster - and the Bremer Roland, who is shown as protector of the city. In the Böttcherstraße, I went to the "Bonbon Manufactory" for buying some candies for friends and family.