Heidelberg is quite simply one of Germany’s most beautiful towns. A thousand year old, partially ruined castle sits on a hilltop overlooking cobbled streets and red tiled rooftops in the medieval Old Town. Those streets nestle on the southern bank of the River Neckar, which joins the mighty River Rhine a short distance to the west, down which centuries of trade, people and ideas have flowed.
One of those people with an idea, Baron Karl von Drais, studied mathematics, physics and architecture at the University of Heidelberg. While here he invented something that would revolutionise transport and put horses on notice that their days were numbered: the Laufmaschine. This early bicycle had no pedals or gears, but was an instant hit that spawned many imitators and become the modern day bike.
The Laufmaschine, or velocipede as it was also known, debuted in 1817 and was soon hugely popular in polite society. A model Laufmaschine sits in the lovely Kurpfälzisches Museum. Housed in a baroque palace, it had a sublime art installation: Found Subject by Raphaela Vogel. Setting to music psalms written by German Jewish playwright, Erich Hopp, Vogel records them as she walks through the Berlin house where Hopp hid during the Nazi era.
By the 17th century, endless wars had decimated Heidelberg’s population and economy. It was a forgotten place and might have remained so had it not been for the Romantic movement, and an array of artists and writers, including Germany’s greatest writer, Goethe. What they rediscovered here was a ruined castle with magnificent, overgrown gardens, and an ancient town surrounded by a vast expanse of forested hills. Catnip for Romantics.
It’s a glorious setting and once back on the map it has continued to lure visitors. We came over the long Easter weekend and despite the inconsistent weather, the town was busy. One of the downsides of all of the history and beauty is mass tourism, and Heidelberg has that in abundance as well. Luckily, most are day trippers bused in from elsewhere, so exploring in the mornings and evenings was pleasantly quiet.
In Heidelberg’s historic heart is the red stone Heiliggeistkirche in the Marktplatz, one of three attractive squares that link up through the centre of the town. The church has an unusual history – at one time it was divided down the middle so both Protestants and Catholics could pray there – and it retains the market stalls built into the base of its walls and still used today. A short walk away is Heidelberg’s 14th century university.
Established in 1386, Heidelberg University is Germany’s oldest and has helped make the town famous as one of Europe’s great centres of learning. The university occupies a large part of the town and boasts many fine old buildings around the Universitätsplatz, which has disappointingly been turned into a car park. Next door is the equally impressive Jesuit Church and seminary.
This is testimony to the role of the Jesuit Order in the university, but the Reformation also left an enduring mark on it and the town. Martin Luther gave a public defense of his Ninety-Five Theses here in April 1518, an event that became known as the Heidelberg Disputation. In the years following, under the patronage of Protestant Elector Otto Henry, the university gained a reputation as a Reformation stronghold.
The atmospheric jumble of streets wedged between the university and Marktplatz still seem to cater to the town’s student population. On a quiet Sunday morning you can feel the history as you wander through them. We strolled around the town – it’s not big but has a lot to see – before heading to Vetter’s Alt Brauhaus for a very German lunch washed down with local beer.
Suitably fortified for the afternoon ahead, we set off to ascend above the town on the Bergbahn, Germany’s oldest funicular…
I stopped off several times in Heidelberg, even visiting the castle ruins, but I haven’t walked enough in the streets of the old town yet.