Heidelberg

Categories: Cities in Germany | Towns in Baden-Württemberg | University towns

For other uses, see Heidelberg (disambiguation).

Heidelberg (halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 2005, there are 140,000 people living on the city's 109 km².

Heidelberg lies on the river Neckar at the point where the Neckar leaves its narrow, steep valley in the Odenwald hills to flow into the Rhine valley where, 20 kilometers northwest of Heidelberg it joins the Rhine at Mannheim.

The old town, in German Altstadt, is long and narrow and is dominated by Heidelberg Castle which perches 80 metres above the Neckar on the steep, wooded hill of the Königstuhl (Kingschair, throne) mountain with the TV Tower, surrounded by a park where the famous poet J.W. Goethe once walked.

The city is a vibrant mixture of tradition and modernity. In the past it has been a centre for both science and the arts and today this tradition is carried on with many research centres located in or around the city.

Heidelberg not only boasts a medieval castle, but it also is home to one of Europe's oldest educational institutes, the University of Heidelberg. Among the prominent thinkers to have been associated with the University over the centuries are Hegel, the philosopher of hermeneutics Hans-Georg Gadamer, Rudi Schneidewind; the critical theorist Jürgen Habermas, and the discourse philosopher Karl-Otto Apel. Heidelberg's most momentous student was Karl Drais who invented the bicycle in 1817. Also old-chancellor Helmut Kohl in the Choccolaterie Schafheutle.

A number of United States Military installations are present in and around Heidelberg, including the Headquarters of the United States Army in Europe (HQ USAREUR). These make up the U.S. Army Garrison Heidelberg. Additionally, a small number of NATO facilities are present on the installations, most notably Land Forces Central Europe (LANDCENT).

History

• Heidelberg was first mentioned in 1196.
• Its university, the oldest in Germany, was founded in 1386. Some books come back for the 600-anniversary in 1986 from Vatican, Rome, to her first place as gift of the elector to the university in the church of Holy Spirit.
• Reformed Heidelberg Catechism approved in 1563 defining differences from Catholicism. Luther discussed his theses in town.
• The great classical scholar Friedrich Sylburg was librarian to the elector palatine from 1591 to 1596.
• City burned and castle partly destroyed by the French during the War of the Palatinate Succession 1693 It was partially rebuilt. But some years later it burned down by lightning. The electors Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria (Charles IV) family left the town.

That was the beginning of a never ending love and legend: Most of the destruction was now caused by citizens who stole the stones for the reconstruction of their own houses. Look at Untere Straße, Ingrimstraße or Hauptstraße.

• Discovery of spectral analysis by Robert Bunsen and Kirchhoff in 1860.

Wellknown Heidelbergers

• 1424, 1. January, Ludwig IV. der Sanftmütige; † 13. August 1449 in Worms; Kurfürst von der Pfalz
• 1448, 14. July, Philipp der Aufrichtige; † 25. February 1508 in Germersheim; Kurfürst von der Pfalz
• 1648 Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine (* 22 December 1617 - 28 August 1680), back in his anch. town, was the second son of Friedrich V, the Winter King, and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I of England. His daughter:
• 1652, 27. May, Liselotte von der Pfalz; † 8. Dezember 1722 in Saint-Cloud near Paris; Duchess of Orléans, sister-in-law of Louis XIV.
• 1692 or 1698, Joseph Süß Oppenheimer, called Jud Süß; † 4. February 1738 in Stuttgart (hanged);banker of the Kings of Wirttemberg.
• 1797, 11. January, Carl Rottmann; † 7. July 1850 in Munich; landscape painter
• 1809, 19. August, Karl Christian Nadler; † 26. August 1849, poet
• 1829 Anton Friedrich Justus Thibaut
• 1851, Robert Wilhelm Bunsen, 30. March 1811 in Holzminden; † 16. August 1899 in Heidelberg; chemist
• 1852 Carl Adolph von Vangerow
• 1860 Alexandru Ioan Cuza *20. March 1820 in Galaţi|Galatz/Rumänien; † 15. May 1873 in Heidelberg; first prince and founder of Romania.
• 1863, 21. June, Max Wolf; † 3. October 1932, astronomer
• 1869 Hermann von Helmholtz; physicist
• 1870 Gustav Kirchhoff; physicist
• 1871, 4. February, Friedrich Ebert; † 28. February 1925 in Berlin; President of the first Ger. Republic (1919-1925), Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD)
• 1886 J. Viktor von Scheffel, Honorary Citizenship in Heidelberg
• 1895 Otto von Bismarck, Honorary Citizenship in Heidelberg
• 1895, 29. March, Ernst Jünger; † 17. February 1998 in Riedlingen; writer
• 1898 Adolph Kussmaul, physician
• 1899, 22. July, Wolfgang Metzger,† 20. December 1979 in Bebenhausen, psychologist und founder of the Berlin school of Gestalt theory
• 1906, 25. December, Ernst Ruska; † 27. May 1988 in Berlin; inventor of the electron microscope
• 1909 Hilde Domin, (* 27. July at Cologne) lyric poet
• 1910 Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 22nd Earl of Sutherland, 4th Duke of Sutherland (1851-1913)
• 1920, Carl Bosch * 27. August 1874 in Cologne; † 26. April 1940 in Heidelberg, chemist, technician, CEO BASF 1919-1925 und IG Farben 1925-1935, President of Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft 1937-1940, Nobel prize winner in Chemistry 1931
• 1922 Ludolf von Krehl, physician, Honorary Citizenship in Heidelberg
• 1923, Ernst Toller, * 1. December 1893 in Samotschin, Posen; † 22. May 1939 in New York City, Pacifism, Revolutionär, Bookwriter
• 1925, 20. September, Rama VIII.; † 9. June 1946 in Bangkok, King of Thailand
• 1925, Stefan George, * 12. July 1868 in Büdesheim; † 4. December 1933 in Minusio bei Locarno, poet and writer
• 1926 Wilhelm Salomon-Calvi, Honorary Citizenship in Heidelberg
• 1928 Jacob Gould Schurman, Honorary Citizenship in Heidelberg
• 1929, Karl Jaspers, * 23. February 1883 in Oldenburg; † 26. February 1969 in Basel; philosopher, psychiatrist
• 1929, Otto Meyerhof, * 12. April 1884 in Hannover; † 6. October 1951 in Philadelphia, Jewish-German physician and biochemist with philosophical and psychological leanings, Nobel prize winner in Medcin 1922, first director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for medical research in Heidelberg
• 1934, Georg Wittig, * 16. June 1897 in Berlin; † 26. August 1987 in Heidelberg; (Wittig-Reaction), Nobel prize winner in Chemistry 1979
• 1939, Gustav Radbruch, * 21. November 1878 in Lübeck; † 23. November 1949 in Heidelberg, lawyer and politician, Justice Minister 1921-1922, 1923
• 1943, 23. December, Silvia Sommerlath, Queen of Sweden
• 1946 in HD, Fritz Neidlinger, Jazz musican (Tenor-Sax) – Honorary Citizenship in New Orleans (2005)
• 1954 Richard Benz, Honorary Citizenship in Heidelberg (Mercedes-Benz, Daimler-Benz ! )
• 1957, 21. October, Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel prize winner in Physics (2001)
• 1957, 23. July, Rufus Beck, Theater- und Filmschauspieler
• 2000 Hans-Georg Gadamer, philosopher

• • for more details - please look at the german page

Around Heidelberg

Villages

• North of the River Neckar:
  • Peterstal and Ziegelhausen, Handschuhsheim.
• Central:
  • Altstadt, Bergheim, Weststadt, Schlierbach, Kohlhof.
• Southern:
  • Bergheim, Ochsenkopf, Wieblingen, Grenzhof, Bahnstadt (new 2005), Rohrbach, Kirchheim, Hasenleiser, Boxberg, Rohrbach-Süd, Emmertsgrund.

Towns

Mannheim, Speyer, Worms, Schwetzingen (the site of the Summerpalais, with the local Elector's English style gardens), Frankfurt, Landstuhl, Baden-Baden, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Landscape

Ladenburg, Eberbach, Erbach, Mountainsroad (Bergstraße), Rhine river, Black Forest, the Palatine(Landshut direction), Rothenburg

United States Military Installations

• Campbell Barracks (HQ USAREUR) and Mark-Twain-Village (Südstadt)
• Patton Barracks (Kirchheim)
• Patrick Henry Village (south of Eppelheim)
• Tompkins Barracks (Schwetzingen)
• 130th Station Hospital (Rohrbach)
• MEDDAC Headquarters (Rohrbach)

Events

• March/April: "Heidelberger Frühling" Classic Music Festival
• March/April: Internationaler Ostereiermarkt (Easter Eggs)
• April: Halfmarathon - last weekend
• May: Frühlingsmesse on the Messplatz
• July: Deutsch-Amerikanisches Volksfest in Patrick-Henry-Village (?? delayed)
• July/August: "Heidelberger Castle Festival" (Student Prince and others)
• June-September: Fireworks on first Saturday(Samstag) in June and September, and 2nd Saturday in July – Schlossbeleuchtung on the Old Bridge. Starting 21.30. Best view: Neckarwiese or Philosophenweg.
• September: "Heidelberger Herbst" (Autumn)
• October: Herbstmesse
• October/November: Heidelberger Theaterdays, "Enjoy Jazz", Stepdance-Festival and Workshops
• November: "International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg" (bus-shuttle)
• November/December: Weihnachtsmarkt in Altstadt - Christmas market in the whole old town

International friendship

Heidelberg maintains sister city relationships (Städtepartnerschaft) with the following cities:

• Image:France flag 300.png Montpellier, France, since 1961
• Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.png Cambridge, Great Britain, since 1965
• Image:Israel flag 300.png Rehovot, Israel, since 1983
• Image:Ukraine flag 300.png Simferopol, Ukraine, since 1991
• Image:Germany flag 300.png Bautzen, Saxony, since 1991
• Image:Japan flag 300.png Kumamoto, Japan, since 1992

There is also an Amerika-House (DAI) and a French Montpellier-House in Heidelberg.

In addition there are several places named in honor of international figures:

• Memorial for José Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda, national hero of the Philippines, at Bergheimerstr. 5 (the former eye-hospital, where he worked)
• John Rabe Communication Centre, at L.Krehlstr.56 (Ph: 47 30 45) for his work in Nanjing (See also Nanjing Massacre)

External links

• Official site of Heidelberg, a small English section is available
• Heidelberg and the Palatine, elaborate information on history and architecture, illustrated with many pictures
• Guide to the castle, available in 7 languages
• German Wikipedia entries on Heidelberg and the castle
• Heidelberg Guide
• Rhein Neckar Guide, a regional hotel, restaurant and tourist guide
• Panoramas of Heidelberg
• Heidelberg Events
• U.S. Army Garrison Heidelberg homepage

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