The State Museum in Cathedral Square.

This plan of Braunschweig  shows the shape of the medieval city surrounded by a wall and the River Oker, whose course was manipulated to provide a defensive barrier, for transport by boat  and to provide water for the inhabitants.  A closer look at the outer wall shows the names of the 12  gateways into the old city,  names which still exists today.  I travel once a week on the tram that passes over the river at Fallersleber Tor (gate,) I walk to my music group past the site of the Hohes Tor (High Gate,) and travel by  tram to the railway station that passes over the river at Magnitor (St Magni Gate.)   The names of the city's precincts also remain the same, and my favourite bookshop "Graff," can be found in "Sack,"  (poke/pocket,)  the smallest city precinct and the only one without  a  parish church.  The old Town Hall lies in "Altstadt" (old city,) and  in the centre of the map can be found  "Burg,"  the site of Henry the Lion's castle, the Cathedral and the State Museum.

The Royal regalia of spear head, sword, crown and orb,  from the time of Henry the Lion. (replicas)

Like all large museums, one visit is never enough.  After buying a guidebook, taking it home to read and realising what you have missed,  you need several more visits to "take it all in."  I  have chosen just a few objects that caught my eye during a recent visit, and one of the most interesting was the reconstruction of  Henry the Lion's ceremonial regalia, all reconstructed from contemporary, illuminated manuscripts,  those objects that have survived for almost 800 years, and from the remains of objects disovered  during archeological digs. 

This model of a medieval farmshouse, shows the construction of the roof and the thatching.  It's a typical, Lower Saxony farm house, which accommodated entire, extended families at one end and housed at the other, the animals and foul during the long, snowy mid European winter.  So many of these buildings remain, especially in the farming areas, where they were untouched by the war. 

German roofs are built with a steeper pitch than those in England, and I like the extended, overhanging eaves, built to allow snow to slide off at a distance and not block the front entrance.  Many roofs have what look like steps climbing up the roof.  These are positioned over the door and support the snow,  stopping it plopping onto your head as you go out in the morning to collect the daily newpaper.  

A silver and brass coach and six horses.  I have no information at the moment about this exhibit, and will find out more when I return for another visit.  It was totally enchanting and exquisitely made.  The two silver pistols lie in the foreground.