Tübingen

The university was founded in 1477 and the town has been shaped by it since; roughly a quarter of residents are students. The Neckar front, a row of tall houses above a narrow island planted with plane trees, is the standard image, and flat-bottomed punts called Stocherkähne are poled along the river by student groups, with an annual race in June. Friedrich Hölderlin, the poet, lived from 1807 until his death in 1843 in a tower on the riverbank, cared for by a carpenter's family after his mental collapse; the Hölderlinturm is now a museum. Hegel and Schelling shared rooms in the seminary here as students.

History

The area was probably first settled in the 12th millennium BC, and in AD 85 the Romans built a frontier wall on the Neckar; the castle of Hohentübingen is recorded from 1078, when Henry IV besieged it. In the middle of the 12th century the Counts of Zollern, raised to Counts Palatine, had their seat here, by 1231 Tübingen was a civitas with a market and court, and in the later 13th century Augustinian and Franciscan friaries and a Latin school were founded; in 1342 town and castle passed to Württemberg. In 1477 Count Eberhard im Bart founded the university, with St George's, built between 1430 and 1470, as its collegiate church, and it became one of the most influential centres of learning in the Empire, particularly in theology (Wikipedia, Tübingen).

What to look for

• The Neckar front - tall houses above a plane-planted river island.
• The Hölderlinturm - the tower where the poet spent his last 36 years.
• The punts - Stocherkähne poled by students, with a June race.
• The old town - steep lanes and a market square below the castle.

When to go

April to October; the punt race is in June and the town is liveliest in term time. It is noticeably quieter in the university holidays.

Good to know

Punt trips are mostly private student affairs; public rides are limited. The old town is steep. Museums close Mondays.

Nearby

Bebenhausen lies north; the Swabian Jura rises south.

Key facts