Braunschweig

Braunschweig is the second largest city in Lower Saxony. Until November 1918 it was the capital of the Duchy of Braunschweig. After the November Revolution and resignation of the Duke it became the capital of the republic of Braunschweig, which in 1946 became a part of Lower Saxony.

If you look at the city from above, you can see that the downtown is surrounded by the Oker river and a park as a circle, which is very suitable for quiet long walks. Such structure has a reaso: in the Middle Ages it strengthened the city's protection.

The city was founded by Bruno II, Saxon Earl. Originally the city was named Brunswick. Now many sources give a translation into English as Brunswick.

In the center there are five "islands" with restored old buildings. In the central square you can see a lion, which is the symbol of the city. During the reign of Henry the Lion (1129-1195) this sculpture was placed in the square outside the cathedral. Cast in bronze, it symbolized might and power of Henry the Lion. The sculpture weighs nearly 900 kilos. Currently, a copy of the sculpture stands on the Castle Square. The figure itself was moved to the Dankvarderode Castle to avoid destruction.

The city holds the fourth largest festival in Germany, which gathers more than 25 thousand people every year.




One of the most unusual and interesting buildings in Braunschweig is the "Happy Rizzi House" business center, which was built in 2001 by architect Konrad Kloster and designer James Rizzi.

2015

This time we visited Braunschweig for an evening stroll. The biggest discovery for us was the park Viewegsgarten, it is across the street from the train station. We've seen there about 100 rabbits! This is something incredible. It is logical to assume that this can not continue in such a way and rabbits have to be removed from there.


Also park is a house to a lot of squirrels, so we bought nuts in the supermarket and took nice pictures on the way back. Unlike rabbits, squirrels are not running away.














Also visited Bürgerpark.


Happy Rizzi House in the evening.




This time we paid attention to the back side. The house has uneven windows, so people here use external blinds to protect from the sun.


Braunschweig Palace was badly damaged during the war and stood until 1960.


Then it was dismantled and replaced with a park. In 2007 together with a construction of a large shopping complex, the original facade of the palace was restored.




Alte Waage on the eponymous square is an exact reconstruction of the building of 1534, which was used to weight and measure goods of the traders.


Walked on the most beautiful street in the city - Am Magnitor


And watched huge pencils near the railway station


Getting there: By regional train from Hannover, 45 minutes to go.