Braunschweig, the Lion City, is celebrating the 800th anniversary of the coronation of emperor Otto IV. this year. Otto, the son of Henry the Lion and Mathilda of England, was crowned on October 4th 1209 and remained the first and only Guelph emporer ever. Even without having a clue what that means, it is quite impressive to walk around the medieval city center with the cathedral, the old town hall, the lion statue and the half timbered houses.
Just look at this cannonball in the cathedral wall. It was fired on August 20th MDCXV! That was almost CVD years ago! Or more than MIIV? XMVI? I guess I have to calculate that again.
Legend has it that Henry's lion scratched the door of the cathedral trying to get to his master who was entombed inside. Braunschweig born Detlef V. shows the spot. No animals were harmed in the making of this picture.
Smile, Mum! Just kidding. This is not one of my pictures. It's from around 1865 and shows the old town's town hall. Things haven't changed much, they just added some color recently, as you can see in the picture below.
This is one of the gargoyles on the roof of the old town's town hall. I understand that it is quite boring to sit on the roof for hundreds of years, especially when it's not even raining, but... please! 
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