A Saturday afternoon's hobble around Braunschweig.

The 12th century moated city of Henry the Lion.

I had a quiet day today, as on Friday evening I ran to catch a tram and pulled a muscle in my left ankle. I am hoping to walk 14km on Sunday with the walking group, so I needed an easy day.   Fortunately, most of the pain has gone, and I will dose up with painkillers, so as not to miss my walk in the beautiful Elm Forest.

Braunschweig was first established beside an easy crossing of the River Oker, which flows through the city.  The above photo shows how the river was manipulated to form a moat around Henry's castle and the twin towered cathedral.  The street names still bear witness to the number of gates that allowed access into the walled city.  The Louise Schroeder House stands in Hohetorwall, High Wall Gate, and the tram I use to travel to the English groups crosses the Fellersleber Tor.  The river was dammed in places, and these sites are also retained in the street names.  On the M3 or M5 tram, I enter Braunschweig along Waisenhausdamm.

The "Marien Fountain" in the Altstadtmarkt. 

The fountain of the Virgin Mary is an unique example of late Gothic art.  It was the centre of a busy market and social life in medieval Braunschweig.  Since its destruction in the last war, an copy, made in 1988 stands on the former site.  Parts of the original lead fountain, cast in 1408,  can be seen in the Altstadt Museum, to the left in the photo.  The fountain is decorated with motifs from the bible, the history of the city and the empire.

Half timbered houses in the Burgplatz, typical of old Braunschweig.  The various carved and painted patterns in the wood all have individual names.

Braunschweig once had the largest number of half timbered houses of any city  in Germany, and was crammed full of houses like those above, and all in very narrow streets.  The old trams had problems negotiating the overhanging buildings, and it was possible to lean out of a window and touch the tram roof as it passed by.  During the allied firebombing in October 1944, 90% of the old city was destroyed.  Many half timbered buildings have been reconstructed, and the city has "Traditional Islands," where you can get sit, watch the world go by, and get a taste of how the city once appeared.