Göttingen

Göttingen (German pronunciation: [ˈɡœtɪŋən]  listen ; Low German: Chöttingen) is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The River Leine runs through the town. In 2011 the population was 116,052.

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.

Göttingen (district)

Göttingen (German pronunciation: [ˈɡœtɪŋən]) is a district (German: Landkreis) in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Northeim and Osterode, and by the states of Thuringia (district of Eichsfeld) and Hesse (districts of Werra-Meißner and Kassel).

History

In 1885 the Prussian government established the districts of Göttingen, Münden and Duderstadt within the Province of Hanover. These districts existed for 88 years, before they were merged in 1973 to form the present district of Göttingen. In 2016, it will be reformed by the addition of the Osterode District.

Geography

The western half of the district is occupied by the Weserbergland mountains. The Weser River receives it name near the town of Hannoversch Münden, where the Fulda joins the Werra. Further east the Leine river runs through the district from south to north.

Coat of arms

In the upper part is the heraldic lion of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Below is a combination of the arms of the former districts, which were merged in 1973 to form the present district: the shield of Münden, the anchor of Göttingen, and the wheel of Duderstadt.

I. SC Göttingen 05

I. SC Göttingen 05 is a German football club based in Göttingen, Lower Saxony. The club was actually the second to go by that name.

History

The first incarnation of 1898 was disbanded by 1903 and a new club was started up in 1905 as Göttinger FC 05. In 1920 it was renamed to VfR 05 Göttingen and in 1921, to 1. SC Göttingen 05. For the most part, the club lived out its existence as a side known only locally in northern Germany. They played in the Westdeutscher Spielverband between 1921 and 1933, and after the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich, joined the Gauliga Niedersachsen. After World War II, the team was disbanded and re-formed as Schwarz-Gelb Göttingen. They took on the name 1. SC Göttingen 05 again in 1948 and at the same time joined first-class Oberliga Nord. The club spent ten years there, with their best result being a fifth-place finish, before slipping to the Amateurliga Niedersachsen-Ost (III).