Heidelberg - Roman Foundations

Tuesday – Today it’s Heidelberg. Alarm went off at 07:00 followed by normal coffee and basic breakfast and a shower. Martin has the travel timing down to a tee; we were waiting only a few minutes before the tram arrived and were at the railway station in quick time. The German railway (DB) system is in a mess at the moment but eventually we got a train to Heidelberg. First impressions are that there’s not much left of the old town, after the second war bombings, as we walked along the main pedestrian street. Many similar shops to Australia. We never found the old quarter but located a lovely hotel for lunch. During lunch the weather turned to a sleety rain. After lunch we walked through the Christmas market, had a warming glass of gluhwein and continued to the castle atop of the hill. It’s a long steep slope up but well worth the effort. Inside it has a stark beauty, heavy with history and the story of the huge wine barrel. As dark was falling and the castle closing, we returned to the railway station and caught the train home at 17:30 to enjoy another meal of Martin’s soup and a glass of wine. In bed and asleep by 22:30.

The first settlement of Heidelberg can be traced back to Roman and Celtic times. First mentioned in 1196, Heidelberg was planned and built, together with the castle, in the 13th century. Heidelberg's heyday as the capital of the Electoral Palatinate began not least with the foundation of the university – the oldest in Germany – in 1386. Towards the end of the 17th century, during the War of the Palatinate Succession, the city and the castle were destroyed by the French. The city retained its medieval ground plan but was rebuilt in the Baroque style. In 1803 Heidelberg passed to Baden and became an important university town and a popular tourist destination – also for poets and philosophers, such as Friedrich Hölderlin, Clemens Brentano, and Joseph von Eichendorff, who made Heidelberg the "City of Romanticism". In 1945 Heidelberg was taken by American forces without major destruction and subsequently became the headquarters of the US Army in Europe and of NATO. The building of the university campus at "Neuenheimer Feld" in 1951 finally sealed its claim to being a city of science. It was only logical that this was followed by the establishment of a technology park in 1984. Around 80 companies and research establishments make this science campus one of the world's foremost biotechnology centres. In the last few years, a new district took shape near the city centre on the site of the old freight station: hence its name Bahnstadt which means "Railway City". Bahnstadt is currently the biggest passive house settlement in the world: 12,000 people will live, work and do their research here in the near future. Many projects are in the process of implementation. Some, like the Zollhofgarten day-care centre, have been realised already. Others are just about to begin. The conversion areas of the US Army, for example, provide unique opportunities for housing, cultural events or the resettlement of companies. The development of an area of almost 200 hectares needs careful planning - the assistance of the citizens of Heidelberg is therefore of great importance.Read more