Description of the attraction
The old quarter of Auf dem Kreuz - one of the city's landmarks - is located about 1 km from Ulm Cathedral. It is now a carefully restored privileged area with limited traffic. About half of the buildings in Auf dem Kreuz were built before 1700. They were completely restored as a result of the complete reconstruction of the area, which began in 1974. After its completion in 1999, cobbled streets, luxuriously and carefully restored old houses, harmoniously complemented by new buildings, clearly demonstrate Ulm of the late Middle Ages and the changes that have occurred to it over several centuries.
The entire Auf dem Kreuz quarter can be walked around in a couple of tens of minutes, but you shouldn't be in such a hurry. Every residential building, every building is worthy of careful inspection and study. It is here that there are such sights as the Chapel of St. Sebastian, the first mention of which dates back to 1415, the historical building of the Arsenal built in 1433, the ancient towers of the former fortress wall Seelturm and the Gensturm.
It was here, in the Auf dem Kreuz quarter, that there was a house in which the great Ulm native Albert Einstein spent the first 15 months of his life. In 1984, a monument-fountain by the sculptor Jurgen Goertz was erected on the site of the building completely destroyed by the bombing of 1944. It consists of three parts: a rocket, meaning technological progress, a snail, symbolizing the wisdom of nature and tranquility, and Einstein's head peeping out of the snail's house with a crafty gaze.
