Wolfenbuttel used to be the residence of the Dukes of Brunswick and Luneburg who were profound lovers of culture and arts. So it became the centre of ideas and fine arts.
View and book hotels in Wolfenbuttel. Click here.
The town, which escaped bombing during the war, still looks as it did during the times of the Dukes. The glory of its past is still mirrored in more than
600 lavishly restored half-timbered houses, venerable churches and
magnificent buildings like St. Maryâs.
The
Bibliotheca Augusta, Duke Augustâs Library, used to be the biggest collection of books in the Occident. In 1572, Duke Julius laid the cornerstone of this
unique treasure of the history of European ideas. In the museum, tourists from all over the world can see these bibliophilic treasures, some
800,000 books. Among them, there are almost 12,000 precious manuscripts from the Middle Ages, about 5,000 prints from the early days of printing, about 5,000 old land and sea maps, scores, single-page printings, topographical views and globes.
The most expensive book in the world,
Henry the Lionâs Gospel Book, is housed in the museum. In 1188, this great Guelph commissioned the monks of the Benedictine monastery Helmarshausen to create this Gospel Book. In 1983 it was auctioned at Sothebyâs in London for 32.5 million deutsche marks (about 16.6 million euros).
Lessingâs House, from 1777 to 1781,
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, who was a librarian in
Wolfenbuttel, used to live in this house. There he wrote the world-famous drama
Nathan the Wise Man. The charming three-winged civil servantâs house looks like a small Baroque French palace and has been transformed into a museum and memorial.
