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Welcome to Göttingen!
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About Göttingen
Did you know that Göttingen is one of the oldest university towns of Germany? Did you know that the most popular transport vehicle here is a bicycle? Well ...there are lots of things to find out about Germany and Göttingen!
Göttingen is a nice college town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. In 2006 the population was 129,686.There is a small river which runs through the town called the Leine.
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 northwest of this village and adopted its name. In medieval times the city was a member of the Hanseatic League and hence a wealthy town. Landmark Gänseliesel fountain at the main market.
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, Heinrich Ewald, Wilhelm Weber and Georg Gervinus. Also, German chancellors Otto von Bismarck and Gerhard Schröder went to law school at the Göttingen university. Karl Barth had 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 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). This practice is actually forbidden by law, but the law is not at all enforced. She is considered to be the most-kissed girl in the world. The impressive lion statues which stand nearby at the steps of the town hall are celebrated in Stephen Clackson’s Märchen "Die Traurigen Löwen von Göttingen" [1] set eight years after the foundation of the University.
Nearly untouched by Allied bombing in World War II (the informal understanding during the war was that Germany wouldn't bomb Cambridge and Oxford and the Allies wouldn't bomb Heidelberg and Göttingen), 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).
Göttingen has two professional basketball teams; both the men's and women's teams play in the Basketball-Bundesliga. For the 2007/2008 season both teams will play in the 1st division.
Accommodation
Most of you will stay in a student dormitory. You may share a flat with other students (male and female), but you’ll have a room for your own. There will be a kitchen – you might want to bring a typical recipe of your region with you. You don’t need to bring sheets BUT towels please.
Hospitals
University Hospital Göttingen
Hospital Neu-Mariahilf
Hospital Neu-Betlehem
Hospital Weende
Professional Exchange
You are expected to work 5 days a week for a whole month. Usually there are other students on the ward with you. To be able to work it’s necessary to bring a proof of your foreign health-insurance with you!!! Don´t forget to bring a white coat and stethoscope with you.
Research Projects
These are our projects:
- Psychiatry: Treatment of Alzheimers disease
- Pathology: Research on stromal tumors, colon cancer and kidney cancer using the methodes CGH and RT-PCR
- Neurology: Scientific aspects and treatment of Neurodegeneration, neuronal repair, dementia, prion deseases and multiple sclerosis
Social life
There is always something going on!!!
Making new experiences at our hospital each day is great. Having the opportunity to spend your free time doing the things you like is even greater.
Göttingen offers a large variety of cultural events throughout the year! Theatre and literature, music, art or sport events – there is nothing you can’t do! Here are just some ideas how to join the social life and spend your free time: We also arrange different social programs with our exchange students each month …
(for more information you’ll find the web address of most of the locations and institutions) Just ask us, the LEOs, or other students if you need more information!!!
SPORTS:
The faculty of sports offers a monthly membership at the gym for about 25 €. You can use the gym and attend all fitness classes for free. Most of the team sports are free as well. Swimming hall and Sauna are available for an additional fee. (Make sure you quit your membership at the day you sign in otherwise you have to pay an additional month; ask the crew at the information desk…)
Hochschulsport Göttingen
If you like running, you can ether join other runners, running around the “Wall” that is surrounding the downtown area or you can run on the paths in the beautiful nature nearby.
During the winter you can even go ice skating or skiing in the region (called “Harz”)!
SWIMMINGPOOLS:
Göttingen has three outdoor swimming pools and at least two indoor swimming pools.
Use the reduced moonlight fee between 21-22.30h or the good-morning-fee between 6-8h for 1,70€ at Badeparadies Eiswiese
more information about all pools:
Swimming pools
CLUBS& BARS: just a very small choice (!!!)
… all of them have different specials like cocktail happy hours, half price offers …
- Thanner´s
(you want to get to know other students!? be there on WEDNESDAYS!) - Eins B
(night club that hosts many parties organised by medical students) - Irish Pub Göttingen
(live music by different performers, Irish beer …) - Savoy
(night club with lots of specials throughout the month) - Paulaner
(Bavarian restaurant, celebrates “Oktoberfest”,traditional germen food) - Rialto
(pizza and Italian food) - Rodeo Bar
- JT Keller
(night club that sometimes hosts medicine parties) - Alpenmax
- El Sol
(large variety of cocktails, great breakfast) - La Hacienda
(great Mexican Food and cocktails) - Ratskeller Göttingen
(some good typical German Food) - Mr. Jones
- Max L
- Villa Cuba
(great atmosphere, good food, delicious breakfast) - ZAK
(daily special offers, delicious but cheap food, lots of students) - Schucan
(Aprés Ski parties during winter season) - Monrose park
(Sports bar that hosts ERASMUS exchange parties once in a while) - Sausalitos
(great Mexican food (half price on mondays, wonderful cocktails, different special offers)
CINEMA/ MOVIE THEATER
offers movies in original language (mainly English) (this is not so good for improving your german language skills, of course :-)
- Cinemaxx
- Cinema
- “clubkino” made by students; shows movies that ran at regular cinemas a few month ago or classic movies; also shows important soccer games, final show of “Germany’s next topmodel” and much more …once a month in one of the universities reading halls, just 2 €, 19.30h;
GREAT HANG OUT PLACES:
During our “Semester” the whole town is crowded by students, especially the different campus areas of course but you can also go there just to grap a coffee or meet other students!
Medical students often having BBQs at the so called “RoKo-beach”, which is the lawn in front of the hospital next to the little pond.
The “Kiessee” is a nice lake in the south of Göttingen where you can go jogging or do paddle boat tours.
If the weather is good you can spend your time off at some of the nice coffee shops downtown, just watching people (or counting people kissing the our “Gänseliesl”)
rook beach
TRIPS surrounding area: (ask us for more information)
- Plesseburg (old castle)
- Bismarkturm (tower with nice view over Göttingen)
- Kassel (close bigger city with a nice Castle Wilmenshoehe)
- Noerten-Hardenberg (nice old ruin of a castle)
- Hannover (large city with great shopping opportunities)
- Hamburg (great habour city with about 2 mio inhabitants)
- Frankfurt (largest financial centre in continental Europe, seat of the European Central Bank)
- Heidepark (amusement park)
- Snowdome (indoor skiing)
- Sommerrodelbahn (summer slight)
- Brockenbahn (traditional train to the top of the mountain “Brocken”)
You want to know what’s up in Göttingen right now!? Check out the always updated ‘Schedule of events’ on www.goettingen.de, more information about sports http://www.goesf.de/ or events especially for students on www.studentenwerk-goettingen.de/termine
Travelling
Within Göttingen
There are local busses, but we will try to supply you with a student-like bicycle.
Around Göttingen
To get around in Germany use the good train system. Göttingen´s railway station at the west of the city centre is on Germany's main north-south railway. Traveling by train is quite expensive so if you have some travel plans already before coming to Germany check the special offers or try to purchase an Interrail-Ticket. For further informations please visit the main page of Germany.
Local Exchange Team
We are a team of about 10 students from all medical years and we are all looking forward to having you here!!! Please let us know the time of your arrival – we would like to pick you up from the train station. See you in Göttingen! Your bvmd-team
German cities offered for exchange
Aachen, Berlin, Bochum, Bonn, Cologne (Köln), Dresden, Düsseldorf, Erlangen, Essen, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Gießen, Göttingen, Greifswald, Halle, Hamburg, Hannover, Heidelberg, Homburg, Jena, Kiel, Leipzig, Lübeck, Magdeburg, Mainz, Mannheim, Marburg, Munich LMU (München), Munich TU (München), Münster, Regensburg, Rostock, Tübingen, Ulm, Witten-Herdecke, Würzburg