Franziskanerkloster Göttingen, genannt Barfüßerkloster

The Barfüßerkloster in Göttingen was a Franciscan monastery founded in the 13th century on the site of today’s Wilhelmsplatz. The friars arrived between 1246 and 1268, supported by a ducal gift, and belonged first to the Cologne Franciscan province before switching to Saxony in the 15th century. After decades of disputes with the town council during the Reformation, the monks left in 1533, ending nearly 270 years of presence. A brief attempt to return in 1628 failed when Protestant troops retook the city in 1632. The monastery stood close to the eastern town wall, its church facing Barfüßerstraße. A small forecourt gave a clear view of the west front, while the choir stretched towards the axis of today’s Aula building. Behind the church lay the burial ground reaching as far as Burgstraße, and to the south stood the claustral buildings pressed against the houses of Rote Straße. Archaeologists have uncovered parts of the cloister’s drainage system and found monastery remains whenever Wilhelmsplatz is disturbed. Visitors today walk across the former nave site where a 27-metre hall once rose to vaults 16.9 metres high. The choir added another 20 metres, lit by a large west window. Among the few surviving items is the tomb of Duke Bruno, who died in 1306, now preserved in Hanover. The great Barfüßeraltar, painted in 1424, was later moved to the Nikolaikirche and is now the largest Gothic altarpiece in Lower Saxony.