Oldenburg, 1 hôtel

The Renaissance-style Oldenburg Palace is one of the city’s best-loved tourist attractions. The palace has seen a large number of Counts and Dukes come and go. It owes its current form to Count Anton Günther, who in the early 1700s commissioned remodelling work on the palace. Since 1923 the palace has served as the State Museum of Art and Cultural History. It is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00.

Not far from Oldenburg Palace you’ll find the Powder Tower, which was built in 1529. The tower is the last remaining part of the city fortifications. It has been a listed building since 1966. Inside you’ll find the "Ceramics in the Powder Tower" exhibition. Traditionally it displays works by up-and-coming artists as part of the Oldenburg Summer of Culture.

Today’s Oldenburg City Hall stands on the same spot on the market square where its predecessors stood. The first one was built in 1355, but due to its dilapidated state it had to be pulled down in 1635. The Renaissance-style building that took its place turned out to be too small as time went by, and so was pulled down in 1866. The current building has touches of both neo-Gothic and neo-Renaissance styles. To this day the City Hall serves as the Mayor’s office. However, large parts of the city’s administration have been transferred elsewhere.

The Botanic Gardens, which are split between two sites, belong to Oldenburg University. The site in Philosophenweg has a public show garden, and the other one in Küpkersweg is there for research and vocational training purposes. Walking the circular trail through the garden you’ll see an array of native and foreign plant life, and also a few interesting animal species. There are regular events, children’s guided tours and themed guided tours. It’s worth taking a took at the programme!

With its five towers, you can’t miss St. Lambert’s Church on the market square. It was built between 1155 and 1234, but has since been remodelled several times. It’s worth taking a look at the classicist rotunda inside the church, which is of a kind rarely seen in Germany. The church is open to the public Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 18:00. Admission is free of charge. There’s also a guided tour every Saturday at 11:00.

The Augusteum, inaugurated in 1867, was Oldenburg’s first art museum which makes it the oldest in the city. The building itself was built in neo-Renaissance style and is reminiscent of Florence’s Renaissance palaces. The stairwell is adorned with murals and ceiling frescoes by painter Christian Griepenkerl. The museum houses the "Old Master Gallery" of the state museum of art and cultural history.

On the northern edge of the city centre you’ll find the Lappan, the oldest landmark in the city of Oldenburg. The 35-metre-high belfry was built in 1467. However, the Holy Ghost infirmary that was originally part of it was destroyed in the city’s major fire of 1676. The Lappan got its distinctive Renaissance-style hammered copper tower roof in 1709.

South of Oldenburg Palace you’ll find the Princes’ Palace. Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig commissioned the classicist building from court architect Heinrich Carl Slevogt. After five years’ building work the two-storey Princes’ Palace was completed in 1826. The Palace was the residence of the Russian Princes Peter and Alexander, grandsons of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig. Since 2003, like the Palace and Augustum, it has belonged to the State Museum of Art and Cultural History.

The Horst Janssen Museum is only about 500 metres away from the B&B Hotel Oldenburg. The museum is dedicated to the many talents of Horst Janssen, who worked not only as a sketch artist, but also as a woodcutter, poster artist and illustrator, among others. Across a total surface area of 1,000 m2 visitors can get a good idea of his works and also his personality. In addition, the works of other sketch and print artists through the ages are displayed in turn in varying special exhibitions.

The Degode House on the market square is one of the few buildings to have survived the city’s major fire of 1676. It was built in 1502, though its current appearance dates back to 1616-1617. The house is named after its former owner, tradesman Wilhelm Degode. The house’s painted wooden ceiling was commissioned by a subsequent owner of the property, Hermann Mylius von Gnadenfeld, in 1645, and bears witness to the world view of the time.