GÖTTINGEN, the chief
town of a
circle of the same name in the
land-drostei of
Hildesheim and
province of
Hanover,
Prussia, is pleasantly situated at the foot of the
Hainberg in the fertile
valley of the
Leine, about 67
miles to the south of
Hanover, on the
Hanover and
Cassel railway. It is traversed by the
Leine, which separates the
Altstadt from the
Neustadt and
Masch; and it is surrounded by
ramparts which are planted with
lime trees and form an agreeable
promenade. The
streets in the older part of the
town are for the most part crooked and narrow, but the newer portions are spaciously and regularly
built. Apart from the
churches and the numerous
university buildings, it has few
structures of any public importance. There are several thriving
industries, including, besides the various branches of the
publishing trade, the
manufacture of
woollen and
cotton goods, and of physical and
mathematical instruments. The
university, the famous Georgia Augusta, founded by
George II. in
1734, and opened in
1737, rapidly attained a leading position, and in
the year 1823 its
students numbered 1547.
Political disturbances, in which both
professors and
students were implicated, lowered the attendance to 860 in
1834; and the expulsion of the famous seven
professors (
Albrecht,
Dahlmann,
Ewald,
Gervinus,
Weber, and the
brothers Grimm) in
1837 still
further reduced its prosperity. The
events of
1848, on the other hand, told somewhat in its favour; and since the annexation of
Hanover in
1866 it has been carefully cherished by the
Prussian Government. In the
winter session
1877–
78, its
students numbered 909, and the
teaching staff 124,—its numerical strength thus entitling it to rank as the eighth on the list of
German universities. The present
professoriate includes, among other distinguished
names, those of
Benfey,
Lagarde,
Lotze,
Ritschl, and
Weber. Amongst those who have been
teachers within its
walls may be mentioned, besides the seven already named,
Haller,
Gesner,
Gatterer,
Sprengel,
Heyne,
Blumenbach,
Herbart,
Heeren,
O. Müller,
K. F. Hermann, and
Eichhorn.
Neander,
Ewald, and the distinguished
chemist Bunsen, it may be added, were natives of Göttingen. The
university library contains upwards of 500,000
printed volumes and 5000
manuscripts. There is a good
chemical laboratory, as well as adequate
zoological,
ethnographical, and
mineralogical collections, the most remarkable being
Blumenbach’s famous collection of
skulls. The other establishments more or less connected with the
university, such as the
observatory,
botanical garden, and various
hospitals, do not call for special notice. The
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften publishes the long-established and well known
Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen. The
population in
1875 numbered 17,057.
