Exit the auditorium from the entrance portal on Weender Street and immediately turn right to circulate the building. Do not proceed up the steps to the ramparts but rather stay close to the house façades and go through the gate next to the auditorium in order to get to the Old Botanical Garden. In 1736, the Old Botanical Garden was laid out during the foundation process of the Georg-August University by Albrecht von Haller who was the director of the garden for the subsequent seventeen years. At the time, medicinal herbs and sundry plants for cooking were principally cultivated but also flowers and fruit trees. The original garden was still located within the city wall but it was constantly being developed during the 18th and 19th centuries and extended to the area beyond the wall where you are currently standing. The sections inside and outside the wall are connected with each other through several small tunnels in the wall. Proceed along the path towards the garden and enjoy the nature surrounding you. But, to begin with, stay outside the wall. You will first come to an area with ponds that is regularly laid out with garden beds. If you are visiting in the spring, you can listen to a concerto of frogs and observe the little green fellows. When you leave this area, you will encounter the water lily pond which you can circulate from either the left or the right. There are giant water plants, dragonflies and butterflies here. Follow the garden path as you wish, and also climb up one of the hills in order to get an overview and discover which portion of the garden you have perhaps missed up to this point. Proceed to the wall and cut through one of the tunnels. You are now standing in the oldest section of the Old Botanical Garden; the majority of this garden was unfortunately paved over in 2013 after the decrepit trees located here had to be felled. There are numerous hothouses, such as the rainforest house or the cacti house, which you are welcome to enter and look around. On the left-hand side of the wall (when you exit the tunnel), you find the quaint Café Botanik where you can have a bite to eat and relax should you feel the need
Photo Alter Botanischer Garten der Universität Göttingen 006 by Valérie Chansigaud is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
