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Osnabrück’s enchanting old town

Osnabrück, with a population of around 160,000, is the third-largest city in Lower Saxony. It was founded more than 1,200 years ago by Charlemagne and is the only city in Germany located in a nature park. The 1,500-square-meter nature and geopark “TERRA.vita” surrounds the city and extends into the urban area. The old town of Osnabrück in particular bears witness to its eventful past, which saw a world-historical event in 1648 when, on October 25, after five years of negotiations and a total of 1,400 days of negotiations by European envoys, the Peace of Westphalia was proclaimed on the steps of the town hall. This ended the Thirty Years’ War in Germany and the Eighty Years’ War of Independence in the Netherlands. Since then, Osnabrück has also been known as the City of Peace. The gateway to this historic old town is the Waterloo Gate, known locally as the Heger Gate. From here, it is only a few steps along the cobblestone streets with their many shops and quaint pubs to the market square, the heart of the old town. This is framed by the more than 500-year-old ensemble consisting of the late Gothic town hall with its Peace Hall, the city scales, and St. Mary’s Church, as well as the colorful town houses with their stepped gables. In the immediate vicinity, on the Square of the Peace of Westphalia, is the Bürgerbrunnen fountain, which impressively depicts the most significant events in the city’s history. Just a stone’s throw away is the more than 1000-year-old medieval St. Peter’s Cathedral, the cathedral treasury, the diocesan museum, and the Carolinum Gymnasium, one of the oldest schools in Germany. Osnabrück’s old town, with its winding alleys, historic Rococo and half-timbered buildings, old churches, numerous cafés, restaurants, and craft shops, invites you to take a deep breath, enjoy yourself, and slow down in a relaxed yet lively atmosphere.

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