"Medieval Academia" a Tübingen Travel Page by antistar

This was the first place I ever visited abroad, as a fresh faced 16 year old, just after I'd finished with school for my adult life, at least until I returned to college to continue it. I was visiting my sister who was studying in Tubingen, during a year out from her German degree at Leeds Univerisity. Tubingen is a university town in the vein of Oxford or Cambridge, where the students and the university dominate the town and its history.

Tubingen is more than just a university town, though, and is a fantastic example of medieval architecture preserved from the relentless bombings of the allies during World War 2. There may be few outstanding examples to pick out for a tourist guide, but there is so much of it that the town simply exudes history from its winding narrow streets, beneath the impossibly tall multicoloured gabled buildings. It rates alongside Bruges for medieval intactness, and is similarly relaxed and built for walking.

The highlights of the buildings include the Stiftkirche St Georg in the Marktplatz, which stands out in the views from all over the town, and the Rathaus with its outstanding ornate fresco. My favourite part of the entire visit to the town, however, was the walk along the Platanenallee, the man made island in the Neckar between the .. and Eberhardsbrucke, which on a late autumn day was thick with huge bronze and gold leaves falling from the trees, and kicking up in the breeze. The impossibly tall buildings of the town to the north reflect dreamily in the Neckar, and provide endless photographic opportunities.