Area
192.13 km²
Population
245,895

Braunschweig is a city of 245,500 people (as of December 31, 2004), located in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser.

• The Burgplatz (Castle Square), comprised of a group of buildings of great historical and cultural significance: the Cathedral (built at the end of the 12th century), the Burg Dankwarderode (a 19th-century reconstruction of the old castle of Henry the Lion), the Neo-Gothic Town Hall (built in 1893-1900), as well as some picturesque half-timbered houses, such as the Gildehaus (Guild House), today the seat of the Craftsman's Association. On the centre of the square stands a copy of the Burglöwe, a Romanesque statue of a Lion, cast in bronze in 1166. The original statue can be seen in the museum of the Castle Dankwarderode. Today the lion has become the true symbol of Braunschweig.
  
• The Altstadtmarkt ("old town market"), surrounded by old town hall (built between the 13th and the 15th centuries in Gothic style), and the Martinikirche (church of Saint Martin, from 1195).
  
• The Kohlmarkt ("coal market"), a market with many historical houses and a fountain from 1869.
  
• The Magniviertel (St Magnus' Quarter), a remainder of ancient Braunschweig, lined with cobblestoned streets, little shops and cafés, centered around the 13th-century Magnikirche (St Magnus' Church). Here is also the Rizzi-Haus, a highly distinctive, cartoonish office building designed by architect James Rizzi for the Expo 2000.
  
• The Gothic Aegidienkirche (church of Saint Giles), built in the 13th century, with an adjoining monastery, which is today a museum.
  
• The "Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum", a world-wide important art museum and the oldest public museum in Germany (founded 1754).
  
• The Staatstheater (State Theater), newly built in the 19th century, goes back to the first standing public theater in Germany, founded in 1690 by Duke Anton Ulrich.
  
• The royal palace of Braunschweig was bombed in World War II and demolished in 1960. The exterior was rebuilt to contain a palace museum and shopping centre, which opened in 2007.
  

Recommended Day Trips:

• Celle: a town with old half-timbered houses and a castle.
  Hildesheim: a medieval town famous for its UNESCO-cultural heritage cathedrals, market place and old half-timbered houses.
  
• Hamelin: a town famous for the folk tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin
  
• Wolfenbüttel: the Residenzstadt (residential city) of the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg for several centuries, Wolfenbüttel is home to a Wasserburg (castle surrounded by a moat) and the Bibliotheca Augusta (Herzog-August Bibliothek, or the Duke August library) housing the largest collection of medieval manuscripts in Europe. The city is historically important also for its numerous half-timber houses, many of which date back several centuries since Wolfenbüttel was left largely untouched by WWII.
  
• Hanover the state capital of Lower Saxony. Sights include the New Town Hall, the State Opera House, the Maschsee, Christkirche and the Marktkirche