# Göttingen, Prussia/Germany in the 1910s

> A Prussian university town of railways, lectures, soldiers, ration queues, and wartime scarcity under an old civic skin.

- Place: Göttingen, Prussia/Germany (51.534, 9.932)
- Years: 1910 to 1919
- Page: https://yorehistory.com/place/gottingen-prussia-germany/1910s
- Step into it (interactive): https://yorehistory.com/?step=G%C3%B6ttingen%2C%20Prussia%2FGermany&at=51.5344,9.9323&year=1915

## Looking around

You stand in a compact university town that counted 37,594 people in 1910[1]. Around the old streets are students, professors, craftsmen, shopkeepers, and officials[2], with the university close enough to shape the town’s daily rhythm. At the station side, the railway is no novelty: Göttingen had been on the rail network since 1854[5], and between 1908 and 1910 its railway facilities were rebuilt. In 1914, the promised modern streetcar remains unfinished: rails and material have been delivered, but war stops the work[6]. Wartime Göttingen is visibly managed by shortage: food, heating material, and electricity are rationed[9], and queues form for meat, milk, potatoes, and marked supplies. University life is still present but politicized; many professors sign a wartime declaration in 1914[3]. By late 1918, a Soldiers’ and People’s Council is chosen[5], while the mayor’s administration continues to function.

## Work: University and service town

The university was a major employer and social engine: 2,215 students were enrolled in winter 1910/11[2], and the students’ fathers point to the town’s world of merchants, teachers, pastors, physicians, lawyers, craftsmen, farmers, and officials[2]. Scientific and academic work sat beside shops, transport, administration, and wartime supply work.

## Faith: Pastors still mattered

The student body still drew strongly from Protestant educated families: among sampled students, pastors and teachers were common fathers’ occupations[2]. The war was also read through pulpit language; in August 1914 a Weende pastor wrote approvingly of the departing 82nd Regiment[5].

## Law & power: Prussian town, imperial war

Göttingen was in the Prussian Province of Hanover within the German Empire until the revolution. In November 1918, local authority briefly widened when a Soldiers’ and People’s Council was elected[5], yet Mayor Georg Calsow’s city administration continued almost undisturbed[5].

## In the air: War enters the university

Göttingen’s scholars were not outside politics: 46 student corporations and associations shaped university life[3], and wartime loyalties entered academic debate. In 1914, local enthusiasm accompanied the regiment’s departure[5], while university professors joined national wartime declarations.

## What people feared: Hunger, influenza, prisoners

The danger most civilians met was not battle in the streets but shortage: food, heating material, and electricity were rationed[9]. By 1917, official food rations were scarcely 1,000 calories[8], and a prisoner-of-war camp below the Lohberg held up to 10,000 prisoners at times[7].

## Home & table: Queues and ration cards

Households lived around cards, fuel, and substitutes: food could not legally be issued without ration cards[9]. A wartime recollection says rations fell from about 1,350 calories in 1916 to scarcely 1,000 from 1917[8], while local accounts mention queues for milk and marked supplies.

## Money: Fees in marks

For university families, cash costs were precise: a new Göttingen student paid 18 Mark to matriculate, and a transfer student paid 12 Mark[2]. For ordinary workers, local wages, rents, and bread prices for the decade were not found in this quick online search.

## Roads & news: Railway, papers, soldiers

News and strangers came easily by rail because Göttingen had been on the railway since 1854[5]. A modern tramway was planned, with three lines totaling 8.4 kilometres[6], but war stopped it before passengers could ride.

## Year by year

- **1910** (here): Otto Wallach received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work associated with Göttingen’s scientific reputation.
- **1910** (here): Göttingen counted 37,594 inhabitants at the 1 December census.[1]
- **1910** (here): The winter semester opened with 2,215 students at Georg-August-Universität, including 146 foreign students.[2]
- **1914** (here): The city resolved to build an electric tramway, but the First World War stopped construction before service began.[6]
- **1914** (here): War began in August, and Göttingen civilians watched the 82nd Regiment depart amid local patriotic enthusiasm.[5]
- **1914** (here): A prisoner-of-war camp was established below the Lohberg and eventually held thousands of prisoners.[7]
- **1917** (the country): The Hunger Winter and continuing blockade made urban food supply across Germany severe, and Göttingen rations were down to roughly 1,000 calories by this period.[8]
- **1918** (the country): The German Empire collapsed in the November Revolution, and Göttingen elected a Soldiers’ and People’s Council on 9 November.[5]

## What the sources say

- Göttingen had 37,594 inhabitants at the census of 1 December 1910, 39,387 in 1916, 36,162 in 1917, and 41,246 in 1919. (from the sources)[1]
- In the 1910s Göttingen belonged to the Prussian Province of Hanover and was governed within the German Empire until the November Revolution of 1918. (inferred)
- The Georg-August-Universität enrolled 2,215 students in the winter semester 1910/11. (from the sources)[2]
- Among the 672 Göttingen students in 1910/11 for whom fathers’ occupations were studied, common backgrounds included merchants, teachers, pastors, physicians, lawyers, craftsmen, farmers, and officials. (from the sources)[2]
- A new student in 1910/11 paid an 18 Mark matriculation fee at Göttingen, while a student transferring from another recognized university paid 12 Mark. (from the sources)[2]
- Göttingen had 146 foreign students in the winter semester 1910/11. (from the sources)[2]
- Student corporations and associations were prominent in Göttingen: 46 were registered in 1910/11, and 765 of 2,215 students belonged to one. (from the sources)[3]
- There were 193 women students at Göttingen in 1910/11, and 49 of them belonged to a student association. (from the sources)[3]
- From winter semester 1908/09 through summer semester 1914, Göttingen matriculated 9,800 men and 721 women. (from the sources)[4]
- Göttingen’s railway station had opened with the Alfeld–Göttingen railway on 31 July 1854, making the railway a long-established route for people, letters, goods, and news by the 1910s. (from the sources)[5]
- Göttingen planned an electric tramway in the 1910s: a 1914 scheme called for three lines totaling 8.4 kilometres, but the First World War interrupted construction before service began. (from the sources)[6]
- From August 1914 a prisoner-of-war camp was set up in the Ebertal below the Lohberg, and at times it held up to 10,000 prisoners. (from the sources)[7]
- At the beginning of the war in August 1914, local enthusiasm was strong enough that a Weende pastor described the departing 82nd Regiment as cheerful and heartening. (from the sources)[5]
- By the later war years, Göttingen civilians faced rationing of food, heating material, and electricity, and food could not legally be issued without ration cards. (inferred)[9]
- A Göttingen wartime account says food rations contained only about 1,350 calories in 1916 and scarcely 1,000 calories from 1917. (inferred)[8]
- On 9 November 1918 a large public meeting in the Bürgerpark elected a Soldiers’ and People’s Council and passed a resolution; the next day a red flag was raised on the town hall. (from the sources)[5]
- After the revolution, Göttingen’s city administration under Mayor Georg Calsow was able to continue work almost undisturbed. (from the sources)[5]
- The Göttingen Volkswehr formed in November 1918 to support order and ration enforcement; its payroll of 20 November listed 93 names, and by mid-December it had grown to 140 men. (inferred)[9]
- No single online source found in this quick search gives ordinary Göttingen household rents, bread prices, or weekly wages specifically for the 1910s. (not known)
- No detailed online street-by-street description of ordinary Göttingen housing interiors in the 1910s was found in this quick search. (not known)

## Sources

1. Einwohnerentwicklung von Göttingen. Wikipedia / figures attributed to Stadt Göttingen. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einwohnerentwicklung_von_G%C3%B6ttingen
2. Wintersemester 1910/11. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/681799.html
3. Wintersemester 1910/11: student associations section. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. https://wwwt4.uni-goettingen.de/en/681799.html
4. Frauen(studium) Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. https://uni-goettingen.de/en/693128.html
5. Stationen der Stadtgeschichte. Stadtarchiv Göttingen. https://stadtarchiv.goettingen.de/portal/seiten/stationen-der-stadtgeschichte-900001275-25480.html
6. Göttinger Verkehrsbetriebe. Wikipedia. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6ttinger_Verkehrsbetriebe
7. Göttingen. DeWiki. https://dewiki.de/Lexikon/G%C3%B6ttingen
8. Kriegsende. Rainer Driever, exhibition on Göttingen November Revolution. https://www.rainer-driever.de/ausstellungen/novemberrevolution/kriegsende/
9. Volkswehr. Rainer Driever, exhibition on Göttingen November Revolution. https://www.rainer-driever.de/ausstellungen/novemberrevolution/volkswehr/

## The same place in other decades

- [Göttingen in the 1920s](https://yorehistory.com/place/gottingen-lower-saxony-germany/1920s/md)

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Researched by Yore's AI historian (gpt-5.5) on 2026-10-12 from the sources listed. It is about the place and the time, not about any person. Statements marked "inferred" are conclusions, not records. Cite as: Yore, "Göttingen, Prussia/Germany in the 1910s", https://yorehistory.com/place/gottingen-prussia-germany/1910s