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.

Some of the most famous mathematicians in history, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Bernhard Riemann and David Hilbert, were professors at Göttingen.

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.

It is first historically mentioned in a document by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I in 953 AD, in which he gives some of his belongings in the village to the Moritz monastery in Magdeburg.

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.

This made it smaller than contemporary Hanover, but larger than the neighbouring Welfish towns of Northeim, Duderstadt and Hann.

After the death of Otto the Child in 1257, his sons Albert I of Brunswick (the Great) and Johann inherited their father's territories.

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.

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.

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.

On 1 March 1289, the Duke gave the City Council permission to allow the first Jew, Moses, to settle inside the town limits.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 (190 acres).

The subsequent tensions economically weakened Göttingen, leading to the town finally paying its homage to Eric I in 1512.

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.

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.

[8] The absorption of Nazi culture into the everyday life of the citizens of Göttingen has been documented by historian David Imhoof.

During the widespread British, Canadian and American air raids on Nazi Germany, Göttingen suffered comparatively little damage.

The Institute of Anatomy and 57 residential buildings, especially in Untere Masch Street in the centre of the city, were completely destroyed.

Being disciples of Klopstock, they revived the folksong and wrote lyric poetry of the Sturm und Drang period.

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.

[19] Göttingen railway station lies west of the medieval town center and provides links to several destinations in Germany.

The Greens were dissatisfied with the goals set forth in the more centrist SPD-CDU-FDP government's plan, citing insufficient investment in climate protection, specifically in terms of windmills in the city.

[24] The Alliance for Sustainable Urban Development (German: Bündnis für nachhaltige Stadtentwicklung; abbreviation BfnS), which was formed in September 2019, won a single seat in the elections.

The coat of arms of Göttingen shows in the top half three silver towers with red roofs on a field of blue.

[40] 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.