Local information
Oldenburg
Oldenburg is a city located in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, 50 km west of Bremen. It has about 170,000 inhabitants, the vicinty is plain rural countryside and it is close to the North Sea and the popular East Frisian Islands. Distances in Oldenburg are short, buses and cycling are very convenient. Oldenburg has a moderate climate due to the nearby north sea. The temperature during July is between about 23° C (74° F) day highs and 12° C (54° F) night lows. Oldenburg has a rich history, dating back more than 800 years. Further information can be found here.
The conference is hosted by the University
of Oldenburg. The conference site is Campus Wechloy, where the
faculty of mathematics and natural sciences is located. Below are some pictures of Campus Wechloy and the city of Oldenburg.
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Aerial view of Campus Wechloy
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Main entrance
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Lamberti church
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Old city hall
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Degode house
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Side street
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Pedestrian zone
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Oldenburg castle
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Practical local information on Oldenburg can be found at oldenburg.de, including more photos.
Travel
The standard ways to get to Oldenburg from outside of Germany is by taking air travel to one of the major European hubs or bigger German airports, then either continue by plane to the airport of Bremen and from there to Oldenburg using a local train, or by taking a direct intercity train instead of the flight to Bremen.
Some rough travel itineraries and times are as follows:
Travel by train from
- Bremen: 1h
- Hamburg, Hannover, Groningen: 2h
- Amsterdam, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Cologne: 4h
- Frankfurt: 6h
- Paris (via Amsterdam and Groningen), Munich: 8h
Travel by plane from European airport, last leg is by train:
- Amsterdam, Frankfurt via Bremen: 2h
- London, Paris, etc. via Hamburg or via Hannover: 4h
Be aware that there is another town in Germany also called Oldenburg, in Schleswig-Holstein. The precise search term for Oldenburg of ISSAC is "Oldenburg, Niedersachsen", "Oldenburg in Oldenburg" or "Oldenburg (Oldb)". Fortunately, this is also the one which usually shows up in search requests.
Accomodation
Hotels cost about 90 to 130 euros per night, private accomodation often less. Useful booking sites are booking.com, check24.de, hrs.de, or oldenburg-tourismus.de and, with a focus on private accomodation, airbnb.de or fewo-direkt.de, for example.Getting around
Getting around in Oldenburg is by bus, bike or foot. The buses from the city center to the conference site at Campus Wechloy take about 15min. Schedules with maps can be found at vbn.de. Riding a bike instead takes about 20min. There are options to rent a bike at the central train and bus station ZOB, at local shops or via Vosgerau am damm (12 Euros per day). A sample route from the city center to the conference site at Campus Wechloy can be seen here. The university provides general maps and directions.Possible Activities
Below are some suggestions for activities in Oldenburg or its vicinity. If you are interested contact the local organisers for more information.- Explore the city center yourself or join a guided city tour at oldenburg-tourismus.de.
- Visit Oldenburg castle, the castle park or museums.
- Visit one of the events of Kultursommer Oldenburg.
- Take a tour of the local brewery ols-brauerei.de and a tasting of beers.
- Go to a theater, for example theater-laboratorium.org (needs very early booking, the plays are in German only).
- Rent a bike and do a bike tour, along the Hunte river or to one of the local lakes for a swim.
- Go to Bad Zwischenahn for dinner and participate in the regional "eel ceremony", a particular way of having a meal of eel.
- Rent a canoe and do a self-guided tour on the Hunte river. The leg Huntlosen to Astrup is particulary nice as it passes through a rather pristine forest. It is also possible to hike this part next to the river bed.
- Visit the museum village near Cloppenburg. This features original houses from earlier centuries and displays how living was back then in this area of Germany.
- Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Wadden Sea, possibly combined with a guided tour.
- Visit one of the east Frisian Islands.
Restaurants nearby
- Mensa Wechloy (map, web, menu, cash required, you may need to show your guest qr card, please keep it for the full week)
- Zum Drögen Hasen (map, web, by foot)
- Papa Rossi (map, web, by foot)
- Finca & Bar Celona (map, web, by foot)
- Mr. Aloul (map, web, by foot)
- Nami Shushi (map, web, by foot or bus 306 stop Grotepool)
- Ali Baba (map, web, by foot, or bus 306 stop Uni / Campus Haarentor A,B)
- Rice Guys (map, web, by foot, or bus 306 stop Uni / Campus Haarentor A,B)
- Mensa Uhlhornsweg (map, web, menu, same as Mensa Wechloy, but more choice, by foot or bus 306 stop Uni / Campus Haarentor A,B)
- Food Court Shopping Mall Famila (map, web, by foot, or bus 306 stop Grotepool then bus 310 stop Famila)
Supermarkets nearby
- Combi (map, by foot, or bus 306 stop Uni / Campus Haarentor A,B)
- Lidl (map, by foot)
- Netto (map, by foot)
- Denn's (map, by foot, or bus 306 stop Uni / Campus Haarentor A,B)
- Shopping Mall Famila (map, web, by foot, or bus 306 stop Grotepool then bus 310 stop Famila)
Award Ceremony
The award ceremony takes place within Park der Gärten at Gastronomie Glashaus (map, web). The park features various forms of gardens, flower beds and other displays.Directions
- There is a bus transfer for us from the conference site to Park der Gärten leaving at 17:45, and later from Park der Gärten to Oldenburg Main Station leaving at 22:20 (on request a stop at Grotepool is possible, please let us know before departure). You will need to present your badge to get free access to the park.
- It is also possible to go (or return) on your own, taking bus 350, or a local train and bus 370. See VWG Fahrplaner with start/Start "Oldenburg(Oldb) Uni/Campus Wechloy" for the conference site and destination/Ziel "Rostrup Park der Gärten".
- A map of the park can be found here or as pdf. The bus stop and entrance to the park are at "Busse" and "Eingang/Ausgang", bottom left corner.
Excursion Wednesday evening - Eel meal
We offer to guide an excursion to Bad Zwischenahn on Wednesday evening for a regional eel meal. The restaurant is Spieker Ammerländer Bauernhaus (map, web). If you are interested please let us know as soon as possible, ideally before Saturday, by filling in the form this form" Only a limited amount of people can be accommodated. There are also other dishes available, but it is all rustic local style. See the menu.Directions
- We meet at the conference site in the foyer close to the concierge at 17:35 and leave at 17:40. We walk to the train stop Oldenburg Wechloy and take the train to Bad Zwischenahn departing at 18:02. We then walk through and enjoy the spa park where Spieker is located. A group train ticket will be organised.
- There are some old farm houses and a mill on display in the park. An audio guide is available at Ammerländer Bauernhaus.
- The dinner starts at 19:15. Everybody pays at the restaurant for themselves please.
- We take the train departing 21:45 back to Oldenburg.
- You can of course also go for yourself and meet at the restaurant, but please let us know so we do not buy an extra train ticket. It is safest to buy the ticket online to avoid queues at the ticket vending machine and missing a connection.