Helmstedt
Germany
Helmstedt, on the eastern edge of Lower Saxony, preserves a dense concentration of Romanesque and Renaissance buildings alongside hundreds of timber-framed professors' houses from the 16th and 17th centuries — a legacy of its former life as a Hanseatic and university town. During Germany's Cold War division, the nearby Checkpoint Alpha on the A2 motorway was the most important crossing on the inner-German border; the former East German checkpoint grounds are now a memorial site with exhibitions and guided tours.
- Population25,515
- Nearest water from center0.3 km
- Nearest mountain from center1.4 km
- UNESCO within 50 km2