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Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river
Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...
in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students. Located about south of Frankfurt, Heidelberg is the fifth-largest city in Baden-Württemberg. Heidelberg is part of the densely populated
Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (german: Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar, ), often referred to as Rhein-Neckar-Triangle, is a polycentric metropolitan region located in south western Germany, between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region to the North ...
. Heidelberg University, founded in 1386, is Germany's oldest and one of Europe's most reputable universities. Heidelberg is a scientific hub in Germany and home to several internationally renowned
research facilities A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
adjacent to its university, including the
European Molecular Biology Laboratory The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to molecular biology research and is supported by 27 member states, two prospect states, and one associate member state. EMBL was created in 1974 and ...
and four Max Planck Institutes. The city has also been a hub for the arts, especially literature, throughout the centuries, and it was designated a " City of Literature" by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Heidelberg was a seat of government of the former Electorate of the Palatinate and is a popular tourist destination due to its
romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
cityscape, including
Heidelberg Castle Heidelberg Castle (german: Heidelberger Schloss) is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demoli ...
, the Philosophers' Walk, and the
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
old town.


Geography

Heidelberg is located on the eastern edge of the Upper Rhine Plain (German: "Oberrheinebene"), at the place where the river
Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...
leaves its narrow valley through the
Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern section ...
mountains and begins the last leg of its journey across the plain towards Mannheim, where it merges into the Rhine about 20 kilometers downstream. A part of Heidelberg, including the historical old town and the famous
Heidelberg Castle Heidelberg Castle (german: Heidelberger Schloss) is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demoli ...
, is located in the narrow Neckar valley. Other parts (mostly quarters from around the 19th century or newer, or originally independent, later incorporated villages) sprawl out into the Rhine Plain and along the Bergstraße (route) ("mountain road"), the narrow strip of characteristic landscape along the sharp border between the plain and the Odenwald mountains. The town is bordered by the Königsstuhl (568 m), the
Gaisberg The Gaisberg is, at above sea level, a mountain to the east of Salzburg, Austria. It belongs to Salzkammergut Mountains, a range of the Northern Limestone Alps. The mountain is one of the Salzburg ''Hausberge'', a recreational area offering views ...
(375 m) and the Heiligenberg (445 m) mountains. Heidelberg is on European walking route E1 (
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
- Umbria).


Flora and fauna

Heidelberg is among the warmest regions of Germany and plants atypical of the central-European climate flourish there, including
almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...
and
fig trees ''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family (biology), family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few spe ...
, many kinds of
palm trees Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...
and olive trees. Alongside the ''Philosophenweg'' (Philosophers' Walk) on the opposite side of the Old Town,
winegrowing Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
was restarted in 2000. There is a wild population of African
rose-ringed parakeet The rose-ringed parakeet (''Psittacula krameri''), also known as the ring-necked parakeet (more commonly known as the Indian ringneck parrot), is a medium-sized parrot in the genus Psittacula, of the family Psittacidae. It has disjunct native ran ...
s, and a wild population of Siberian
swan geese The swan goose (''Anser cygnoides'') is a large goose with a natural breeding range in inland Mongolia, northernmost China, and the Russian Far East. It is migratory and winters mainly in central and eastern China. Vagrant birds are encountere ...
, which can be seen mainly on the islands in the
Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...
near the district of Bergheim.


Administrative structures

Heidelberg is a unitary authority within the Regierungsbezirk Karlsruhe. The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis rural district surrounds it and has its seat in the town, although the town is not a part of the district. Heidelberg is a part of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, often referred to as the Rhein-Neckar Triangle. This region consists of the southern part of the State of Hessen, the southern part of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate (''Vorderpfalz''), the administrative districts of Mannheim and Heidelberg, and the municipalities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis. The Rhein-Neckar Triangle became a European
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
in 2005. Heidelberg consists of 15 districts distributed in six sectors of the town. In the central area are Altstadt (the Old Town), Bergheim and Weststadt; in the north, Neuenheim and Handschuhsheim; in the east,
Ziegelhausen Heidelberg-Ziegelhausen is a residential district (of fourteen) at the eastern perimeter of the city of Heidelberg, Germany. Ziegelhausen lies on the northern banks of the Neckar River and extends northward into the Odenwald Forest. It has a sma ...
and Schlierbach; in the south, Südstadt, Rohrbach, Emmertsgrund, and Boxberg; in the southwest, Kirchheim; in the west, Pfaffengrund, Wieblingen, and a new district, named ''Bahnstadt'', is built on land in Weststadt and Wieblingen. The new district will have approximately 5,000–6,000 residents and employment for 7,000. Further, new residential space for 10,000–15,000 residents was made available in Patrick Henry Village following the departure of the US Armed Forces.


Neighbouring communes

The following towns and communes border the city of Heidelberg, beginning in the west and in a clockwise direction:
Edingen-Neckarhausen Edingen-Neckarhausen is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Neckar. Geography Edingen-Neckarhausen lies about 12 km south-east of Mannheim and somew ...
, Dossenheim, Schriesheim,
Wilhelmsfeld Wilhelmsfeld is a municipality in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geography Wilhelmsfeld is a state-certified climatic health resort in the hills of the southern Odenwald, between 260 and 533m above sea-level. The surrou ...
, Schönau, Neckargemünd, Bammental,
Gaiberg Gaiberg is a municipality in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis of Baden-Württemberg. Geography The state certified climatic health resort (''Luftkurort'') sits on the border of the Odenwald and the Kraichgau within the Neckartal-Odenwald national park, abo ...
, Leimen,
Sandhausen Sandhausen () is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of Heidelberg. Geography Location Sandhausen belongs to the Rhein-Neckar Metropolitan region. It is known for its sand ...
,
Oftersheim Oftersheim is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 8 km southwest of Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the St ...
,
Plankstadt Plankstadt () is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...
, Eppelheim (all part of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis) and Mannheim.


Climate

Heidelberg has a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
( Köppen climate classification ''Cfa''), defined by the protected valley between the Pfälzerwald and the Odenwald. The almost year round warm temperatures are usually determined by Atlantic air masses in the winter and increased influence from the western Mediterranean in summer. This results in drier summers and wetter, cloudier winters on average. In contrast to the nearby Upper Rhine Plain, Heidelberg's position in the valley leads to more frequent easterly winds than average. The hillsides of the Odenwald favour clouding and precipitation. Spring starts early and is one of the warmest in Europe besides the Mediterranean Coast. Especially April has a tendency to be also very dry, while the rising temperatures in May can create some thunderstorms with higher precipitation levels. Nights start cold and usually stay fresh throughout almost the whole spring, while day temperatures can already become hot from April on (30°C/86°F and higher). Summers are long, hot and mostly dry. Day temperatures are around 28-30 on average, but will often rise beyond 35°C (95°F) in midsummer. A few single evening thunderstorms are usually the only measurable precipitation. With almost 300 sunshine hours on average, July is also the sunniest month of the year. Nights can stay pleasant, although the rate of nights with lows up to 26°C (78°F) are increasing significantly in the recent years. Autumn starts very warm or even hot in September and cools down to typical winter temperatures for the region until the end of November. Precipitation levels are increasing and, due to the decreasing sunlight, the region gets affected by fog more frequently from the second part of October on. On the other hand, day temperatures will mostly stay around or above 20°C (68°F) until at least mid October (“Altweibersommer”). Nights cool down significantly during the month, but will usually remain above 10°C (50°F) until the second half of October. Winters are mostly mild, though light night frosts do occur in the coldest months. Snow is a rare event and precipitation normally falls as rain. Besides that, winters are the wettest time of the year with frequent western winds blowing from the Atlantic. Storms (“Orkane”) can create severe damage and the Neckar is often affected by floods. According to the
German Meteorological Service The () or DWD for short, is the German Meteorological Service, based in Offenbach am Main, Germany, which monitors weather and meteorological conditions over Germany and provides weather services for the general public and for nautical, avia ...
, Heidelberg was the warmest place in Germany in 2009. With around 2,100 hours of sunshine it is also one of the sunniest of the country.


History


Early history

Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, " Heidelberg Man" died at nearby
Mauer Mauer is the German word for ''wall''. It may also refer to: Places *Mauer, Vienna, a former village of Lower Austria that has been part of Vienna since 1938 * Mauer bei Amstetten, a village in the municipality of Amstetten, in Lower Austria * Ma ...
. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907. Scientific dating determined his remains as the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
fortress of refuge and place of worship were built on the ''Heiligenberg'', or "Holy Mountain". Both places can still be identified. In 40 AD, a fort was built and occupied by the 24th Roman cohort and the 2nd
Cyrenaican Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...
cohort (CCG XXIIII and CCH II CYR). The late Roman Emperor Valentinian I, in 369 AD, built new and maintained older ''
castra In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...
'' (permanent camps) and a signal tower on the bank of the
Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...
. They built a wooden bridge based on stone pillars across it. The camp protected the first civilian settlements and was eventually captured by Germanic tribes. The local administrative center in Roman times was the nearby city of Lopodunum, today known as Ladenburg.


Middle Ages

Modern Heidelberg can trace its beginnings to the fifth century. The village ''Bergheim'' ("Mountain Home") is first mentioned for that period in documents dated to 769 AD. ''Bergheim'' now lies in the middle of modern Heidelberg. The people gradually converted to Christianity. In 870 AD, the monastery of
St. Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
was founded on the Heiligenberg inside the double rampart of the Celtic fortress. Around 1130, the Neuburg Monastery was founded in the Neckar valley. At the same time, the bishopric of Worms extended its influence into the valley, founding Schönau Abbey in 1142. Modern Heidelberg can trace its roots to this 12th-century monastery. The first reference to Heidelberg can be found in a document in Schönau Abbey dated to 1196. This is considered to be the town's founding date. In 1156, Heidelberg castle and its neighboring settlement were taken over by the house of Hohenstaufen. Conrad of Hohenstaufen became Count Palatine of the Rhine (german: link=no, Pfalzgraf bei Rhein). In 1195, the Electorate of the Palatinate passed to the
House of Welf The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconia, Franconian family from ...
through marriage. In 1214, Ludwig I, Duke of Bavaria acquired the Palatinate, as a consequence of which the castle came under his control. By 1303, another castle had been constructed for defense. In 1356, the Counts Palatine were granted far-reaching rights in the Golden Bull, in addition to becoming Electors. In 1386, Heidelberg University was founded by Rupert I, Elector Palatine.


Modern history

Heidelberg University played a leading part in Medieval
Scholasticism Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translate ...
, Renaissance humanism, the German Reformation, and in the subsequent conflict between Lutheranism and Calvinism during the 15th and 16th centuries. In April 1518, a few months after proclaiming his ''
Ninety-five Theses The ''Ninety-five Theses'' or ''Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences''-The title comes from the 1517 Basel pamphlet printing. The first printings of the ''Theses'' use an incipit rather than a title which summarizes the content ...
'', Martin Luther was received in Heidelberg, to defend them. Heidelberg's library, founded in 1421, is the oldest existing
public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...
in Germany. In 1537, the castle located higher up the mountain was destroyed by a gunpowder explosion. The duke's palace was built at the site of the lower castle.
Elector Frederick III Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine (14 February 1515 – 16 October 1576) was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, branch Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Pala ...
, sovereign of the Electoral Palatinate from 1559 to 1576, commissioned the composition of a new
Catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...
for his territory. While the catechism's introduction credits the "entire theological faculty here" (at the University of Heidelberg) and "all the superintendents and prominent servants of the church" for the composition of the Catechism, Zacharius Ursinus is commonly regarded as the catechism's principal author.
Caspar Olevianus Caspar Olevian (or Kaspar Olevianus; 10 August 1536 – 15 March 1587) was a significant German Reformed theologian during the Protestant Reformation and along with Zacharius Ursinus was said to be co-author of the Heidelberg Catechism. That the ...
(1536–1587) was formerly asserted as a co-author of the document, though this theory has been largely discarded by modern scholarship. Johann Sylvan,
Adam Neuser Adam Neuser (c. 153012 October 1576) was a Protestant pastor of Heidelberg who held Antitrinitarian views. Neuser was born in Gunzenhausen and was a popular pastor and theologian in Heidelberg in the 1560s, serving at the ''Peterskirche'' and ...
, Johannes Willing,
Thomas Erastus Thomas Erastus (original surname Lüber, Lieber, or Liebler; 7 September 152431 December 1583) was a Swiss physician and Calvinist theologian. He wrote 100 theses (later reduced to 75) in which he argued that the sins committed by Christians shou ...
, Michael Diller, Johannes Brunner, Tilemann Mumius, Petrus Macheropoeus, Johannes Eisenmenger, Immanuel Tremellius and
Pierre Boquin Pierre Boquin (also known as Bouquin, Boucquin, or Petrus Boquinus; post 1518 –1582 in Lausanne) was a French Reformed Theologian who played a critical role in the Reformation of the Electoral Palatinate. Origins and early career Pierre ...
are all likely to have contributed to the Catechism in some way. Frederick himself wrote the preface to the Catechism and closely oversaw its composition and publication. Frederick, who was officially Lutheran but had strong Reformed leanings, wanted to even out the religious situation of his highly Lutheran territory within the primarily Catholic Holy Roman Empire. The Council of Trent had just concluded with its conclusions and decrees against the Protestant faiths, and the Peace of Augsburg had only granted toleration for Lutheranism within the empire where the ruler was Lutheran. One of the aims of the catechism was to counteract the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as well as Anabaptists and "strict"
Gnesio-Lutherans Gnesio-Lutherans (from Greek γνήσιος nesios genuine, authentic) is a modern name for a theological party in the Lutheran churches, in opposition to the Philippists after the death of Martin Luther and before the Formula of Concord. In t ...
like
Tilemann Heshusius Tilemann Heshusius (also ''Hesshus, Heßhusen, Hess Husen, Heshusen'') (3 November 1527 in Wesel — 25 September 1588 in Helmstedt) was a Gnesio-Lutheran theologian and Protestant reformer. Life Heshusius came from an influential family in W ...
and Matthias Flacius, who were resisting Frederick's Reformed influences, particularly on the matter of Eucharist ( the Lord's Supper). The Catechism-based each of its statements on biblical proof-texts, and Frederick himself would defend it as biblical, not reformed, at the 1566
Diet of Augsburg The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in the German city of Augsburg. Both an Imperial City and the residence of the Augsburg prince-bishops, the town had hosted the Estates in many such sess ...
when he was called to answer to charges of violating the Peace of Augsburg. This was the
Heidelberg Catechism The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), one of the Three Forms of Unity, is a Protestant confessional document taking the form of a series of questions and answers, for use in teaching Calvinist Christian doctrine. It was published in 1563 in Heidelberg, ...
, officially called the ″Catechism, or Christian Instruction, according to the Usages of the Churches and Schools of the Electoral Palatinate.″ In November 1619, the Royal Crown of Bohemia was offered to the Elector, Frederick V. (He was married to Princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of James VI and I of Scotland and England, respectively.) Frederick became known as the "Winter King", as he reigned for only one winter before the Imperial House of Habsburg regained Bohemia by force. His overthrow in 1621 marked the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. In 1622, after a siege of two months, the armies of the Catholic League, commanded by
Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly ( nl, Johan t'Serclaes Graaf van Tilly; german: Johann t'Serclaes Graf von Tilly; french: Jean t'Serclaes de Tilly ; February 1559 – 30 April 1632) was a field marshal who commanded the Catholic League's ...
, captured the town. Tilly gave the famous ''
Bibliotheca Palatina The Bibliotheca Palatina (" Palatinate library") of Heidelberg was the most important library of the German Renaissance, numbering approximately 5,000 printed books and 3,524 manuscripts. The Bibliotheca was a prominent prize captured during t ...
'' from the Church of the Holy Spirit to the Pope as a present. The Catholic and Bavarian
House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...
gained control over the Palatinate and the title of Prince-Elector. In late 1634, after the Swedish army had conquered Heidelberg, imperial forces attempted to recapture the city. They quickly took the city, but were unable to take the castle. As they prepared to blow up its fortifications with gunpowder the French army arrived, 30,000 men strong, led by Urbain de Maillé-Brézé, who had fought in many battles and participated in the Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628), and Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force. They broke the siege and drove off the Imperial forces. In 1648, at the end of the war, Frederick V's son
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine Charles Louis, Elector Palatine (german: Karl I. Ludwig; 22 December 1617 – 28 August 1680), was the second son of Frederick V of the Palatinate, the "Winter King" of Bohemia, and of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia and sister of Charl ...
, was able to recover his titles and lands. To strengthen his dynasty, Charles I Louis arranged the marriage of his daughter
Liselotte Liselotte is a feminine given name which may refer to: *childhood name of Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine (1652–1722), German princess, sister-in-law of King Louis XIV of France, and prolific letter writer *Liselotte Blumer (born 1957), Sw ...
to
Philip I, Duke of Orléans Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
, brother of Louis XIV, King of France. In 1685, after the death of Charles Louis' son, Elector Charles II, King Louis XIV laid claim to his sister-in-law's inheritance. The Germans rejected the claim, in part because of religious differences between local Protestants and the French Catholics, as the Protestant Reformation had divided the peoples of Europe. The War of the Grand Alliance ensued. In 1689, French troops took the town and castle, bringing nearly total destruction to the area in 1693. As a result of the destruction due to repeated French invasions related to the War of the Palatinate Succession coupled with severe winters, thousands of German Calvinist Palatines emigrated in the early 18th century. They fled to other European cities and especially to London (where the refugees were called "the poor Palatines"). In sympathy for the Protestants, in 1709–1710,
Queen Anne's Queen Anne's County is located on the Eastern Shore of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,874. Its county seat and most populous municipality is Centreville. The census-designated place of Stevensvil ...
government arranged transport for nearly 6,000 Palatines to New York. Others were transported to Pennsylvania, and to South Carolina. They worked their passage and later settled in the English colonies there. In 1720, after assigning a major church for exclusively Catholic use, religious conflicts with the mostly Protestant inhabitants of Heidelberg caused the Roman Catholic Prince-Elector
Charles III Philip Charles III Philip (4 November 1661 – 31 December 1742) was Elector Palatine, Count of Palatinate-Neuburg, and Duke of Jülich and Berg (state), Berg from 1716 to 1742. Until 1728 he was also Count of Megen. Biography Born in Neuburg an der Dona ...
to transfer his court to nearby Mannheim. The court remained there until the Elector Charles Theodore became Elector of Bavaria in 1777 and established his court in Munich. In 1742, Elector Charles Theodore began rebuilding the Palace. In 1764, a lightning bolt destroyed other palace buildings during reconstruction, causing the work to be discontinued.


1803 to 1933

Heidelberg fell to the
Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subs ...
in 1803. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden, re-founded the university, named "Ruperto-Carola" after its two founders. Notable scholars soon earned it a reputation as a "royal residence of the intellect". In the 18th century, the town was rebuilt in the Baroque style on the old medieval layout. In 1810 the French revolution refugee Count Charles Graimberg began to preserve the palace ruins and establish a historical collection. In 1815, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia formed the " Holy Alliance" in Heidelberg. In 1848, the German National Assembly was held there. In 1849, during the Palatinate-Baden rebellion of the
1848 Revolutions The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...
, Heidelberg was the headquarters of a revolutionary army. It was defeated by a Prussian army near Waghaeusel. The city was occupied by Prussian troops until 1850. Between 1920 and 1933, Heidelberg University became a center of notable physicians Czerny, Erb, and Krehl; and humanists Rohde, Weber, and Gandolf.


Nazism and the World War II-period

During the Nazi period (1933–1945), Heidelberg was a stronghold of the NSDAP/Nazi party, (the National Socialist German Workers' Party) the strongest party in the elections before 1933 (the NSDAP obtained 30% at the communal elections of 1930). The NSDAP received 45.9% of the votes in the German federal election of March 1933 (the national average was 43.9%). In 1934 and 1935 the ''Reichsarbeitsdienst'' (State Labor Service) and Heidelberg University students built the huge ''Thingstätte'' amphitheatre on the ''Heiligenberg'' north of the town, for Nazi Party and SS events. A few months later, the inauguration of the huge Ehrenfriedhof memorial cemetery completed the second and last NSDAP project in Heidelberg. This cemetery is on the southern side of the old part of town, a little south of the Königstuhl hilltop, and faces west towards France. During World War II and after, Wehrmacht soldiers were buried there. During the '' Kristallnacht'' on November 9, 1938, Nazis burned down synagogues at two locations in the city. The next day, they started the systematic deportation of Jews, sending 150 to
Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...
. On October 22, 1940, during the "Wagner Buerckel event", the Nazis deported 6000 local Jews, including 281 from Heidelberg, to
Camp Gurs Gurs internment camp was an internment camp and prisoner of war camp constructed in 1939 in Gurs, a site in southwestern France, not far from Pau. The camp was originally set up by the French government after the fall of Catalonia at the en ...
concentration camp in France. Within a few months, as many as 1000 of them (201 from Heidelberg) died of hunger and disease. Among the deportees from Heidelberg, the poet
Alfred Mombert Alfred Mombert (6 February 1872, in Karlsruhe – 8 April 1942, in Winterthur) was a Germans, German poet. Biography Mombert was the son of the Jewish-German merchant Eduard Mombert and his wife Helene Gombertz. The economist Paul Mombe ...
(1872–1942) left the concentration camp in April 1941 thanks to the Swiss poet Hans Reinhart but died shortly thereafter due to illness he contracted while held prisoner. From 1942, the deportees who had survived internment in Gurs were deported to Eastern Europe, where most of them were murdered. On March 29, 1945, German troops left the city after destroying three arches of the old bridge, Heidelberg's treasured river crossing. They also destroyed the more modern bridge downstream. The U.S. Army ( 63rd Infantry, 7th Army) entered the town on March 30, 1945. The civilian population surrendered without resistance. Heidelberg, unlike most German cities and towns, was spared from Allied bombing raids during the war. A popular belief is that Heidelberg escaped bombing because the U.S. Army wanted to use the city as a garrison after the war, but, as Heidelberg was neither an industrial center nor a transport hub, it did not present a tactical or strategic target. Other notable university towns, such as Tübingen and Göttingen, were spared bombing as well. Allied air raids focused extensively on the nearby industrial cities of Mannheim and
Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...
. The U.S. Army may have chosen Heidelberg as a garrison base because of its excellent infrastructure, including the Heidelberg–Mannheim Autobahn (motorway), which connected to the Mannheim–Darmstadt–Frankfurt Autobahn, and the U.S. Army installations in Mannheim and Frankfurt. The intact rail infrastructure was more important in the late 1940s and early 1950s when most heavy loads were still carried by train, not by truck. Heidelberg had the untouched Wehrmacht barracks, the "Grossdeutschland Kaserne" which the US Army occupied soon after, renaming it the
Campbell Barracks Campbell Barracks, in Heidelberg, Germany, was home to Headquarters, United States Army Europe (USAREUR) from 1948 to 2013. It was also home to Headquarters, V Corps and Headquarters, Allied Force Command Heidelberg. History As part of the Ge ...
.


History after 1945

In 1945, the university was reopened relatively quickly on the initiative of a small group of professors, among whom were the anti-Nazi economist Alfred Weber and the philosopher Karl Jaspers. The surgeon Karl Heinrich Bauer was nominated rector. On 9 December 1945, US Army General
George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...
was involved in a car accident in the adjacent city of Mannheim and died in the Heidelberg US Army hospital on December 21, 1945. His funeral ceremony was held at the Heidelberg-Weststadt ''Christuskirche'' (Christ Church), and he was buried in the 3rd Army cemetery in Luxembourg. During the post-war military occupation, the U.S. Army used the ''
Thingstätte A ''Thingspiel'' (plural ''Thingspiele'') was a kind of multi-disciplinary outdoor theatre performance which enjoyed brief popularity in pre-war Nazi Germany during the 1930s. A Thingplatz or Thingstätte was a specially-constructed outdoor am ...
'' for cultural and religious events. Civilian use started in the early to mid-1980s for occasional concerts and other cultural events. Today, the celebrations on ''Hexennacht'' ("Witches' Night"), also called Walpurgis Night), the night of April 30, are a regular "underground" fixture at the ''Thingstätte''. Thousands of mostly young people congregate there to drum, to breathe fire, and to juggle. The event has gained fame throughout the region, as well as a certain notoriety due to the amount of litter left behind. Officially, this event is forbidden due to security concerns. The City declares it will fence the Thingstätte and prosecute any trespassers. In 2022, a mass shooting occurred in the university, killing a woman and injuring three other people. The gunman then committed suicide.


Population

The population of the city of Heidelberg exceeded 100,000 for the first time in 1946. It is a city with an international population, including one of the largest American communities outside North America, but this is not analysed in the Heidelberg population statistics. At the end of December 2011, the city had 149,633 inhabitants with an official primary residence in Heidelberg (not including the soldiers and employees of the U.S. Army and their dependents, a total of about 20,000 people), a historic high. The following table shows the number of inhabitants within the boundaries of the city at the time. To 1833 they are mostly estimates, then census results or official updates of the statistical offices of the time or the city administration. The data refer from 1843 to the "local population", from 1925 to the resident population and since 1987 the "population at the site of their main dwelling." Prior to 1843 the population was determined by non-uniform collection procedures. ¹ Census results With a fertility rate of 1.1 children per woman in the ''Stadtkreis'' (county), Heidelberg had the lowest fertility rate in Baden-Württemberg in 2008.


Politics

Since 2006, the ''Oberbürgermeister'' (lord mayor) of Heidelberg has been the independent Eckart Würzner. From 1990 to 2006, the mayor was Beate Weber (
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...
). The council consists of 48 volunteer members with the mayor as chairman. The council is directly elected for a term of five years. The task of the council is to decide all the affairs of the city, with the mayor presiding. The council controls the city administration and oversees the enforcement of its decisions. Heidelberg has always been a stronghold of the Greens. For the municipal elections in 2009, they split into the Green Alternative List and Alliance 90/The Greens and each ran their own lists. Together they gained 10 seats to become the strongest force for the first time. In September 2011, two members of the GAL Group joined the Alliance 90/The Greens, so that together with the members of , they formed the largest group in the council. For elections to the Bundestag, part of the Heidelberg
constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
.


Cityscape


The old town

The "old town" (german: link=no, Altstadt), on the south bank of the
Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...
, is long and narrow. It is dominated by the ruins of
Heidelberg Castle Heidelberg Castle (german: Heidelberger Schloss) is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demoli ...
, 80 metres above the Neckar on the steep wooded slopes of the Königstuhl (''King's chair or throne'') hill. *The Main Street (''Hauptstrasse''), a mile-long pedestrian street, running the length of the old town. *The old stone bridge was erected 1786–1788. A medieval bridge gate is on the side of the old town, and was originally part of the town wall. Baroque tower helmets were added as part of the erection of the stone bridge in 1788. *The Church of the Holy Spirit (''Heiliggeistkirche''), a
late Gothic International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by t ...
church in the marketplace of the old town. *The Karls‘ gate (''Karlstor'') is a triumphal arch in honour of the Prince Elector Karl Theodor, located at Heidelberg's east side. It was built 1775–1781 and designed by Nicolas de Pigage. *The house ''Zum Ritter Sankt Georg'' (Knight St. George) is one of the few buildings to survive the War of Succession. Standing across from the Church of the Holy Spirit, it was built in the style of the late Renaissance. It is named after the sculpture at the top. *The ''Marstall'' (Stables), a 16th-century building on the Neckar that has served several purposes through its history. It is now a cafeteria for the university.


Heidelberg Castle

The castle is a mix of styles from
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
to Renaissance. Prince Elector Ruprecht III (1398–1410) erected the first building in the inner courtyard as a royal residence. The building was divided into a ground floor made of stone and framework upper levels. Another royal building is located opposite the Ruprecht Building: the Fountain Hall. Prince Elector Philipp (1476–1508) is said to have arranged the transfer of the hall's columns from a decayed palace of Charlemagne from Ingelheim to Heidelberg. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Prince Electors added two palace buildings and turned the fortress into a castle. The two dominant buildings at the eastern and northern side of the courtyard were erected during the rule of Ottheinrich (1556–1559) and Friedrich IV (1583–1610). Under Friedrich V (1613–1619), the main building of the west side was erected, the so-called "English Building". The castle and its garden were destroyed several times during the Thirty Years' War and the Palatine War of Succession. As Prince Elector Karl Theodor tried to restore the castle, lightning struck in 1764, and ended all attempts at rebuilding. Later on, the castle was misused as a quarry; stones from the castle were taken to build new houses in Heidelberg. This was stopped in 1800 by Count Charles de Graimberg, who then began the process of preserving the castle. Although the interior is in Gothic style, the King's Hall was not built until 1934. Today, the hall is used for festivities, e.g. dinner banquets, balls and theatre performances. During the Heidelberg Castle Festival in the summer, the courtyard is the site of open air musicals, operas, theatre performances, and classical concerts performed by the Heidelberg Philharmonics. The castle is surrounded by a park, where the famous poet
Johann von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
once walked. The
Heidelberger Bergbahn The Heidelberg Mountain Railway (german: Heidelberger Bergbahn) is a two-section funicular, funicular railway in the city of Heidelberg, Germany. The first section runs from a lower station at Kornmarkt in Heidelberg-Altstadt, Heidelberg's Altst ...
funicular railway runs from Kornmakt to the summit of the Königstuhl via the castle. The castle looks over the entire city of Heidelberg and the Neckar Valley.


Philosophers' Walk

On the northern side of the Neckar is located the Heiligenberg (''Saints' Mountain''), along the side of which runs the Philosophers' Walk (german: link=no, Philosophenweg), with scenic views of the old town and castle. Traditionally, Heidelberg's philosophers and university professors would walk and talk along the pathway. Farther up the mountain lie the ruined 11th-century Monastery of St. Michael, the smaller Monastery of St. Stephen, a Nazi-era amphitheater, the so-called Pagan's hole and the remains of an earthen
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
hill fort from the 4th century BC.


Heidelberg churches

There are many historical churches in Heidelberg and its surroundings. The Church of the Holy Spirit has been shared over the centuries since the Protestant Reformation by both Catholics and Protestants. It is one of the few buildings to survive the many wars during the past centuries. It was rebuilt after the French set fire to it in 1709 during the War of the Palatinian Succession. The church has remains of the tombs and epitaphs of the past Palatinate electors. This Church stands in the ''Marktplatz'' next to the seat of local government. In 1720, Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine came into conflict with the town's Protestants as a result of giving the Church of the Holy Spirit exclusively to the Catholics for their use. It had previously been split by a partition and used by both congregations. Due to pressure by the mostly Protestant powers of Prussia, Holland, and Sweden, Prince Karl III Philip gave way and repartitioned the church for joint use. In 1936 the separating wall was removed. The church is now exclusively used by Protestants. Furthermore, there is the Catholic Church of the Jesuits. Its construction began in 1712. It was completed with the addition of a bell tower from 1866 to 1872. The church is also home to the Museum für sakrale Kunst und Liturgie (Museum of
Ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor), such as Joseph von Eichendorff,
Johann Joseph von Görres Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...
,
Ludwig Achim von Arnim Carl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim (26 January 1781 – 21 January 1831), better known as Achim von Arnim, was a German poet, novelist, and together with Clemens Brentano and Joseph von Eichendorff, a leading figure of German Romanticism. ...
, and Clemens Brentano. A relic of Romanticism is the Philosophers' Walk (german: link=no, Philosophenweg), a scenic walking path on the nearby Heiligenberg, overlooking Heidelberg. The ''Romantik'' epoch of German philosophy and literature, was described as a movement against classical and realistic theories of literature, a contrast to the rationality of the Age of Enlightenment. It elevated medievalism and elements of art and narrative perceived to be from the medieval period. It also emphasized folk art, nature and an epistemology based on nature, which included human activity conditioned by nature in the form of language, custom and usage.


Old Heidelberg

In 1901
Wilhelm Meyer-Förster Wilhelm Meyer-Förster, also known as Samar Gregorow (12 June 1862, Hannover – 17 March 1934, Heringsdorf), was a German novelist and playwright. Biography The son of a bookseller, he first studied law, then the history of art. He later decided ...
wrote the play '' Old Heidelberg'' which was followed by a large number of film adaptations. It was the basis for Sigmund Romberg's 1924 operetta '' The Student Prince'' which was itself turned into a film of the same title.


I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg

The 1925 song "I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg" composed by
Fred Raymond Fred Raymond aka Raimund Friedrich Vesely (20 April 1900 – 10 January 1954) was an Austrian composer. Raymond, born in Vienna, was the third child (after two daughters) of Vinzenz Vesely, an employee of the Austrian state railway system, ...
was a major hit and inspired a stage musical and two films. It remains the theme song of Heidelberg.


Sport

Heidelberg is one of the centres of Rugby union in Germany, along with Hanover. In 2008–09, four out of nine clubs in the Rugby-Bundesliga were from Heidelberg, these being RG Heidelberg, who play at the
Fritz-Grunebaum-Sportpark The Fritz-Grunebaum-Sportpark is a rugby union stadium in Heidelberg, Germany. It is the home ground of the RG Heidelberg and also frequently used for international games of the Germany national rugby union team. In its 2008-2010 European Nati ...
,
SC Neuenheim The SC Neuenheim is a German rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Having won nine men's and twelve women's German championships as of 2013, the club is one of the most accomplished in Germany. History Form ...
,
Heidelberger RK The Heidelberger Ruderklub (Heidelberger RK or HRK for short) is a German rowing club and rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. The club is one of only two professional rugby clubs in Germany, the other bein ...
and
TSV Handschuhsheim The TSV Handschuhsheim is a German rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers other sports like association football, handball and tennis. History The club was formed in 188 ...
.
Heidelberger TV The Heidelberger TV is a German rugby union club from Heidelberg, currently playing in the Rugby-Bundesliga. Apart from rugby, the club also offers other sports like basketball, tennis and badminton. The club has three German rugby union champio ...
has a rugby department.
Rugby League Deutschland Rugby League Deutschland was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in Germany. The Association was formed in 2007. It folded in March 2015, and was replaced by the Nationaler Rugby League Deutschland e.V. (NRLD).https://ww ...
has two teams based in Heidelberg, Heidelberg Sharks formed in 2005 and Rohrbach Hornets formed in 2007. The city is also home to the
USC Heidelberg USC Heidelberg, for sponsorship reasons named MLP Academics Heidelberg, is a professional basketball club from Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The club's men's senior team currently plays in the German first division Basketball Bundeslig ...
, which won 9
German Basketball Championship The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...
s and remains the second most successful team in the history of German professional basketball. Today, the club plays in Germany's second division ProA. It is primarily known for its youth department which developed several members of Germany's senior national basketball team.
SG Heidelberg-Kirchheim SG Heidelberg-Kirchheim is a German association football club from the Kirchheim district of the city of Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg. The club's greatest success has been promotion to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg on three occasions, in 1 ...
is the local
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team. The city hosted
1972 Summer Paralympics The 1972 Summer Paralympics (german: Paralympische Sommerspiele 1972), the fourth edition of the Paralympic Games, were held in Heidelberg, West Germany, from 2 to 11 August 1972. The games ended 15 days before the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Mu ...
. They also hosted the 2019 WU24 Championships from July 13 to July 20. It was the fifth edition of this world championship and marked the third time Germany has hosted an ultimate frisbee tournament. Further, Germany's oldest tennis club, which was founded in the year 1890, is located in Heidelberg.


Twin towns – sister cities

Heidelberg is twinned with: *
Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
, France (1961) * Cambridge, United Kingdom (1965) *
Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...
, Israel (1983) * Bautzen, Germany (1991) * Simferopol, Ukraine (1991) * Kumamoto, Japan (1992) * Palo Alto, United States (2017) * Hangzhou, China (2017)


Friendly cities

Heidelberg also has friendly relations with: * Calamba, Philippines * Heidelberg, South Africa * Jelenia Góra, Poland * Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina


In popular culture


Popular movies, TV and games

* Heidelberg features in the 1968 film '' The Girl on a Motorcycle'', the university being the ultimate destination of Marianne Faithfull's character. * Heidelberg also features during a mission in the Electronic Arts strategy game '' Red Alert 3''. * '' Morris from America'' takes places in Heidelberg. * In the '' Watchmen'' TV series which serves as alternate direct sequels to the original ''Watchmen'' graphic novel, Dr. Manhattan aka Jonathan "Jon" Osterman aka Calvin "Cal" Abar (né Jelani), is said to be born in Heidelberg, Germany and immigrates to the US along with his father. * Heidelberg is also revealed to be the home town of
Sergeant Schultz The following is a list of characters from ''Hogan's Heroes'', an American sitcom television series which starred Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer and John Banner, and featured Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon, and Larry Hovis. It ran for six ...
on ''
Hogan's Heroes ''Hogan's Heroes'' is an American television sitcom set in a Nazi German prisoner-of-war (POW) camp during World War II. It ran for 168 episodes (six seasons) from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network, the longest broadcast ...
''.


Popular literature

*
Heidelberg Castle Heidelberg Castle (german: Heidelberger Schloss) is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demoli ...
forms the setting for the beginning of
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
's story ''
The Awful German Language "The Awful German Language" is an 1880 essay by Mark Twain published as Appendix D in ''A Tramp Abroad''. The essay is a humorous exploration of the frustrations a native speaker of English has with learning German as a second language. Backgroun ...
''. * Most of David Lodge's novel ''
Out of the Shelter ''Out of the Shelter'' (1970) is a novel by British author David Lodge. Plot Timothy Young, at five, enjoys having to go to his neighbor's shelter during the Blitz, partly because he gets to sleep with his friend Jill. However, Jill and her m ...
'' takes place in Heidelberg in 1951 during the American occupation after World War II. * Heidelberg is the home of a professional Quidditch team operating within the fictional Harry Potter universe: the
Heidelberg Harriers Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students. ...
have been described as “fiercer than a dragon and twice as clever”. * Heidelberg is the residence of fictional character Nina Fortner/Anna Liebert in the anime/
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series ''
Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...
'', by Naoki Urasawa. * Heidelberg also features in Somerset Maugham's '' Of Human Bondage'' and its film versions. * Heidelberg also is he setting of some German crime novels, for example by Wolfgang Burger (protagonist: Detective Gerlach) or Carlo Schäfer (protagonist: Detective Theurer).


Notable people

* Ernst Albrecht (1930–2014), politician (CDU), Minister-president of Lower Saxony, father of Ursula von der Leyen *
Jill Asemota Jill is an English feminine given name, a short form of the name Jillian (Gillian), which in turn originates as a Middle English variant of Juliana, the feminine form of the name Julian. People with the given name *Jill Astbury, Australian res ...
, German-Nigerian model * Bettina Belitz (born 1973), writer and journalist * Petar Beron (1799–1871), Bulgarian educator *
Arvid Boecker Arvid Boecker (born 1964) in Wuppertal) is a German painter and curator. He is a representative of concrete art and focuses on color field painting. Biography Arvid Boecker studied from 1987 to 1989 at the University of Trier Art history, co ...
(born 1964) painter and curator * Carl Bosch (1874–1940) chemist and engineer and Nobel Laureate in Chemistry *
Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...
(born 1948), singer-songwriter and musician born here * Robert Bunsen (1811–1899), German chemist * Hubert Burda (born 1940), journalist and publisher *
Marcel Cartier Marcel Cartier is an American hip-hop artist, journalist, filmmaker, writer, and political commentator based in Germany. His music features themes such as anti-colonialism, socialism, feminism and imperialism. He has reported on Kurdish nationalis ...
(born 1984 in Heidelberg), battlefield journalist, communist, expert of Kurdish politics, and hip-hop artist *
Antje Duvekot Antje Duvekot ( ; born 1974) is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Somerville, Massachusetts. She holds three top songwriting awards including the Kerrville New Folk Competition's Best New Folk Award, Boston Music Award for Outstanding ...
(born 1976), singer-songwriter * Friedrich Ebert (1871–1925), President of Germany 1919–1925 *
Marc S. Ellenbogen Marc S. Ellenbogen (born 6 February 1963 in Heidelberg) is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist and a diplomat. He is Chairman of the Global Panel Foundation and president of the Prague Society for International Cooperation. Ellenbogen´s ma ...
(born 1963), Member of National Advisory Board, U.S. Democratic Party (2004-2010), nominated by President Barack Obama to be U.S. Ambassador *
Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Award ...
(born 1977), German-Irish actor born here * Frederick V (1596–1632), Count Palatine and Elector of the Palatinate from 1610 to 1623 and King of Bohemia (as ''Frederick I'') from 1619 to 1620 * Bernhard Fries (1820–1879), painter *
Ernst Fries Ernst Fries (22 June 1801, Heidelberg – 11 October 1833, Karlsruhe) was a German painter, draftsman, watercolourist, etcher, printmaker, and lithograph. Besides Karl Philipp Fohr and Carl Rottmann, he was the youngest of the so-called triumvira ...
(1801–1833), painter *
Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 ''magnum opus'', '' Truth and Method'' (''Wahrheit und Methode''), on hermeneutics. Life Family an ...
(1900–2002), philosopher * Ian Harding (born 1986), actor *
Harald zur Hausen Harald zur Hausen NAS EASA APS (; born 11 March 1936) is a German virologist and professor emeritus. He has done research on cervical cancer and discovered the role of papilloma viruses in cervical cancer, for which he received the Nobe ...
(born 1936),
virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, their ...
,
Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...
* Nico Hofmann (born 1959), film director, film producer, screenwriter and businessman * Dietmar Hopp (born 1940), software entrepreneur SAP * Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), British Indian poet, philosopher * Ernst Jünger (1895–1998), German author, officer, botanist and entomologist, famous for his World War I memoir Storm of Steel * Wolfgang Ketterle (born 1957), physicist, professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...
*
Paul Kirchhof Paul Kirchhof (born February 21, 1943 in Osnabrück) is a German jurist and tax law expert. He is also a professor of law, member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and, a former judge in the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (' ...
(born 1943), former Judge in the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (''Bundesverfassungsgericht'') *
Hansi Flick Hans-Dieter "Hansi" Flick (born 24 February 1965) is a German professional football coach and former player who is the manager of the Germany national team. From August 2006 to July 2014, he was the assistant coach of Germany under manager Joac ...
(born 1965), football player and manager of the Germany national football team *
Hans Kroh __NOTOC__ Hans Kroh (13 May 1907 – 18 July 1967) was a German paratroop general in the Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. Kroh started his military caree ...
(1907–1967), German officer in Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr *
Karl A. Lamers Karl A. Lamers (born 12 February 1951, in Duisburg) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the German Parliament from 1994 until 2021. From 2010 to 2012 he was the President of the NATO Parliamen ...
(born 1951), politician, former President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly * Ananda Mahidol (1925–1946), King of Thailand * Helene Mayer (1910–1953), German and American Olympic champion fencer * Malaika Mihambo (born 1994), Olympic champion in long jump (
2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
) and twice world champion (
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
and
2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
) *
Heinrich Neal Heinrich Neal (September 11, 1870 – 1940) was a German Kapellmeister at Heidelberg,"History of Lowell and its people, Volume 2" By Frederick William Coburn, p.532 born to the artist David Dalhoff Neal and Marie Ainmiller, and brother to dramatist ...
(1870–1940), composer, directed the Heidelberg Conservatory of Music * Nelson Piquet Jr. (born 1985), Brazilian race car driver and former Formula One driver born here * Vasil Radoslavov (1854–1929), Bulgarian Prime Minister *
José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered the national he ...
(1861–1896), national hero of the Philippines * Khalid Robinson (born 1998), American singer *
Christiane Schmidtmer Christiane Schmidtmer (24 December 1939 – 13 March 2003) was a German actress, fashion model, nude model, and memoirist. Biography Early life Christiane Schmidtmer was born in Mannheim, Germany, to Gertrud and Jakob Schmidtmer on Christmas E ...
(1939–2003), Hollywood actress and model *
Bernd Schmitt Bernd Herbert Schmitt is a professor of international business in the marketing department at Columbia Business School, Columbia University in New York. He is known for his research, books, speaking and consulting on customer experience, customer ...
(born 1957), marketing professor at Columbia University *
Klaus Schütz Klaus Schütz (17 September 1926
– 29 November 2012) was a German politician, who ...
(1926–2012), politician (SPD) *
Elisabeth Seitz Elisabeth Seitz (born 4 November 1993) is a German artistic gymnast. She is the 2022 European champion and the 2018 World bronze medalist on the uneven bars. She is one of the only female gymnasts in history to compete the Def (full-twisting Gi ...
(born 1993), Olympic gymnast *
Silvia Renate Sommerlath Silvia () is a female given name of Latin origin, with a male equivalent Silvio and English-language cognate Sylvia. The name originates from the Latin word for forest, ''Silva'', and its meaning is "spirit of the wood"; the mythological god of t ...
(born 1943),
Queen of Sweden The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary ...
*
Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, he ...
(1905–1981), German architect and Third Reich minister *
Ferdinand Thomas Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
(1913–1944), resistance fighter *
Ashley Wagner Ashley Elisabeth Wagner (born May 16, 1991) is an American former figure skater. She is the 2016 World silver medalist, a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2012 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final medalis ...
(born 1991), American figure skater * Karl Philipp von Wrede (1767–1838), Bavarian field marshal *
Jon Osterman Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan Osterman), often shortened to Dr. Manhattan or simply Manhattan is a fictional character who appears in comics published by DC Comics. He debuted in the graphic novel limited series ''Watchmen''. Doctor Manhattan w ...
(1929–2019), fictional character from the book Watchmen and its HBO sequel series *
Paul Ripke Paul Ripke (born February 10, 1981) is a German fashion photography, fashion and sports photography, sports photographer and music video director prolific for his photographs and videos of athletes, celebrities, models, and other cultural figures. ...
(born 1981), photographer * Nico Bastian (born 1990), racing driver


See also

*
Heidelberg Center for American Studies The University of Heidelberg's Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA) is a higher education and research center. It was founded in 2004, making it the newest institute of Germany's oldest university. The Heidelberg Center for American Studies ...
* Heidelberg University *
Schiller International University Schiller International University (SIU) is a private for-profit university with its main campus and administrative headquarters in Tampa, Florida. It is named after the German playwright and philosopher Friedrich Schiller. It has campuses on tw ...


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links

* *
Official site of Heidelberg
a small English section is available
Audio Tour in the Castle of Heidelberg

U.S. Army Garrison Heidelberg homepage

Heidelberg American High School
The official site of Heidelberg American High School {{Authority control Cities in Baden-Württemberg Karlsruhe (region) Baden Odenwald Holocaust locations in Germany Populated places on the Neckar basin Populated riverside places in Germany