Germany City Travel Guide: Tübingen

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Tübingen

Altes Rathaus and Neptune fountain - image courtesy of Tubingen Tourismus GmbH.

Picturesque university town
Located in Baden-Württemberg, south western Germany
Close to Stuttgart and the Black Forest
Population of 85,000 people
Historic center going back to medieval times
Within easy reach of France and Switzerland
Set on the banks of the River Neckar

Along with Heidelberg and Freiberg im Breisgau, Tübingen is another of southern Germany's must-see university towns.

The university, with over 25,000 students (making up almost a third of the population), dates back to 1477 and is the heart and soul of this picturesque town, beautifully situated on the Neckar and Ammer Rivers.

Tubingen makes for an easy day-trip from Stuttgart, or as a delightful place to relax for a few days, enjoying boating on the Neckar and sampling some of the town's many excellent cafes and pubs.

Umbrisch Market - image courtesy of Tubingen Tourismus GmbH.

Among Tubingen's main sights is the towering Hohentübingen Schloss (Castle), with its fine views of the Altstadt's brightly painted, half-timbered houses. The Castle now holds an Egyptology and Archeology Museum - one of the largest university museums in the world.

The fifteenth century gothic Stiftskirche (Collegiate Church) in the Holzmarkt square has a stunning interior and some fine stained-glass windows. Behind the church are the oldest parts of the university. Also on the Holzmarkt square are the Georgsbrunnen fountain and a bookseller's - Buchhandlung Heckenhauer - where the Nobel prize-winning author Hermann Hesse spent four years as an apprentice.

Tübingen's other major square, the Markt in the center of town, is famous for the nineteenth century baroque façade of the originally much older Rathaus (Town Hall) and the fountain dedicated to Neptune outside.

Boating on the River Neckar - image courtesy of Tubingen Tourismus GmbH.

Hölderlinturm, on the banks of the Neckar, is the former home of one of the university's most famous alumni, the poet Friedlich Hölderlin, who lived here from 1807-1843.

Tübingen's other sites of interest include the Kunsthalle museum, (Philosophenweg, 76) which holds no permanent exhibits, but its temporary exhibitions are of world standing; the Botanischer Garten (Botanical Gardens), just outside the city; and the Platanenallee, a narrow island in the Neckar.

Such famous figures as the astronomer Johannes Kepler and the philosophers Hegel and Schelling are associated with the town, as well as Goethe (who was reputedly sick from drinking too much in the local bars, one of which in the Münzgasse sports a plaque bearing the legend, "Goethe Puked Here" - Hier Kotzte Goethe).