Göttingen, Germany

Göttingen sits in Lower Saxony along the Leine River, home to roughly 120,000 residents. The University of Göttingen, founded in 1737, has trained 47 Nobel laureates — more than any other German university — including brothers Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt. At its center stands the 1900 Gänseliesel fountain, whose bronze Goose Girl receives a kiss from every newly minted PhD graduate, earning her the title of the most kissed girl in the world. The 1270 Old Town Hall ranks among the oldest surviving in Lower Saxony, while the 1849 railway station once served the Hanover–Kassel line.