Heidelberg

Heidelberg (German pronunciation:
[ˈhaɪdl̩bɛʁk] ( listen)) is a college town in
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg situated on the river
Neckar

Neckar in south-west Germany.
At the 2015 census, its population was 156,257, with roughly a quarter
of its population being students.[2]
Located about 78 km (48 mi) south of Frankfurt, Heidelberg
is the fifth-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is part of the densely populated Rhine-
Neckar

Neckar Metropolitan
Region.
Founded in 1386,
Heidelberg University

Heidelberg University is Germany's oldest and one of
Europe's most reputable universities.[3] A scientific hub in Germany,
the city of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is home to several internationally renowned
research facilities adjacent to its university, including four Max
Planck Institutes.[4]
A former residence of the Electorate of the Palatinate,
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is
a popular tourist destination due to its romantic cityscape, including
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle, the Philosophers' Walk, and the baroque style Old
Town.
Contents
1 Geography
1.1 Flora and fauna
1.2 Administrative structures
1.3 Neighbouring communes
1.4 Climate
2 History
2.1 Early history
2.2 Middle Ages
2.3 Modern history
2.4 1803 to 1933
2.5 Nazism and the World War II-period
2.6 History after 1945
3 Population
4 Politics
5 Cityscape
5.1 The old town
5.2
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle
5.3 Philosophers' Walk
5.4
Heidelberg

Heidelberg churches
6 Education
6.1 Universities and academia
6.2 Research
6.3 Schools
7 Economy
7.1 Tourism
7.2 Industry
7.3 Roads
7.3.1 Tourist roads
7.4 Railways
7.5 Public transport
7.6
United States

United States military installations
8 Culture
8.1 Events
8.2 Cinemas
8.3 Museums and exhibitions
8.4
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Romanticism
8.5 Old Heidelberg
8.6 I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg
9 Sport
10 International relations
10.1 Twin towns – sister cities
11 In popular culture
12 Notable inhabitants
13 Notable people who died in Heidelberg
14 Gallery
15 See also
16 Notes
17 References
18 Further reading
19 External links
Geography[edit]
Heidelberg

Heidelberg with suburbs
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is in the
Rhine

Rhine Rift Valley, on the left bank of the lower
part of the
Neckar

Neckar in a steep valley in the Odenwald. It is bordered
by the Königsstuhl (568 m) and the Gaisberg (375 m)
mountains. The
Neckar

Neckar here flows in an east-west direction. On the
right bank of the river, the Heiligenberg mountain rises to a height
of 445 meters. The
Neckar

Neckar flows into the
Rhine

Rhine approximately 22
kilometres north-west in Mannheim. Villages incorporated during the
20th century stretch from the
Neckar

Neckar Valley along the Bergstraße, a
road running along the
Odenwald

Odenwald hills.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is on
European walking route E1

European walking route E1 (Sweden-Umbria).
The districts of Heidelberg
Heidelberg

Heidelberg seen from Königstuhl
Flora and fauna[edit]
Since
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is among the warmest regions of Germany, plants
atypical of the central-European climate flourish there, including
almond and fig trees; there is also an olive tree in Gaisbergstraße.
Alongside the Philosophenweg (Philosophers' Walk) on the opposite side
of the Old Town, winegrowing was restarted in 2000.[5]
There is a wild population of African rose-ringed parakeets,[6] and a
wild population of Siberian swan geese, which can be seen mainly on
the islands in the
Neckar

Neckar near the district of Bergheim.
Administrative structures[edit]
The Old Town
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a unitary authority within the Regierungsbezirk
Karlsruhe. The
Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
.svg/456px-Baden-Württemberg_HD_(district).svg.png)
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

Heidelberg is a part of the Rhine-
Neckar

Neckar Metropolitan Region, often
referred to as the Rhein-
Neckar

Neckar Triangle.
This region consists of the southern part of the State of Hessen, the
southern part of the State of
Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate (Vorderpfalz), the
administrative districts of
Mannheim

Mannheim and Heidelberg, and the southern
municipalities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis. The Rhein-
Neckar

Neckar Triangle
became a European metropolitan area in 2005.
Heidelberg

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 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.
Neighbouring communes[edit]
The following towns and communes border the city of Heidelberg,
beginning in the west and in a clockwise direction:
Edingen-Neckarhausen, Dossenheim, Schriesheim, Wilhelmsfeld, Schönau,
Neckargemünd, Bammental, Gaiberg, Leimen, Sandhausen, Oftersheim,
Plankstadt,
Eppelheim

Eppelheim (all part of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis) and
Mannheim.
Climate[edit]
Heidelberg

Heidelberg has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification
Cfb), defined by the protected valley between the Pfälzerwald and the
Odenwald. Year-round, the mild temperatures are determined by maritime
air masses coming from the west. 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

Odenwald favour
clouding and precipitation. The warmest month is July, the coldest is
January. Temperatures often rise beyond 30 °C (86 °F) in
midsummer. According to the German Meteorological Service, Heidelberg
was the warmest place in
Germany

Germany in 2009.[7][8][9]
Heidelberg

Heidelberg panorama.
This panorama from the Theodor-Heuss-Brücke shows the
Neckar

Neckar running
through Heidelberg. On the left is Neuenheim, with its Neckarwiesen
(
Neckar

Neckar meadows); on the right is the Altstadt.
Climate data for Heidelberg
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Average high °C (°F)
3.8
(38.8)
6.1
(43.0)
10.9
(51.6)
15.4
(59.7)
19.9
(67.8)
23
(73.4)
25.5
(77.9)
25.1
(77.2)
21.5
(70.7)
15.3
(59.5)
8.5
(47.3)
4.8
(40.6)
15
(59.0)
Daily mean °C (°F)
2.4
(36.3)
3.7
(38.7)
7.4
(45.3)
11.2
(52.2)
15.5
(59.9)
18.1
(64.6)
20.6
(69.1)
20.1
(68.2)
16.1
(61)
11.5
(52.7)
6.3
(43.3)
3.3
(37.9)
11.4
(52.5)
Average low °C (°F)
−1.4
(29.5)
−0.7
(30.7)
1.9
(35.4)
4.9
(40.8)
8.9
(48.0)
12.2
(54.0)
14
(57.2)
13.8
(56.8)
10.6
(51.1)
6.7
(44.1)
2.4
(36.3)
−0.4
(31.3)
6.1
(42.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches)
56
(2.2)
53
(2.1)
53
(2.1)
61
(2.4)
79
(3.1)
86
(3.4)
71
(2.8)
66
(2.6)
53
(2.1)
58
(2.3)
66
(2.6)
66
(2.6)
770
(30.3)
Mean monthly sunshine hours
46
78
118
173
206
215
233
219
157
101
50
35
1,631
Source #1: Intellicast[10]
Source #2: Deutscher Wetterdienst[11]
History[edit]
Heidelberg

Heidelberg on the
Neckar

Neckar at night
Karlsplatz and
Neckar

Neckar with Old Bridge
Early history[edit]
Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago[citation needed], "Heidelberg
Man" died at nearby Mauer. 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 fortress of
refuge and place of worship were built on the Heiligenberg, or
"Mountain of Saints". Both places can still be identified. In 40 AD, a
fort was built and occupied by the 24th Roman cohort and the 2nd
Cyrenaican

Cyrenaican cohort (CCG XXIIII and CCH II CYR). The Romans built and
maintained castra (permanent camps) and a signal tower on the bank of
the Neckar. They built a wooden bridge based on stone pillars across
it. The camp protected the first civilian settlements that developed.
The Romans remained until 260 AD, when the camp was conquered by
Germanic tribes. The local administrative center in Roman times was
the nearby city of Lopodunum.
Middle Ages[edit]
Modern
Heidelberg

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
863 AD, the monastery of
St. Michael

St. Michael was founded on the Heiligenberg
inside the double rampart of the Celtic fortress. Around 1130, the
Neuburg
Monastery

Monastery was founded in the
Neckar

Neckar valley. At the same time,
the bishopric of Worms extended its influence into the valley,
founding
Schönau Abbey

Schönau Abbey in 1142. Modern
Heidelberg

Heidelberg can trace its roots
to this 12th-century monastery. The first reference to
Heidelberg

Heidelberg can
be found in a document in
Schönau Abbey

Schönau Abbey dated to 1196. This is
considered to be the town's founding date. In 1155,
Heidelberg

Heidelberg castle
and its neighboring settlement were taken over by the house of
Hohenstaufen. Conrad of
Hohenstaufen

Hohenstaufen became Count Palatine of the
Rhine

Rhine (German: Pfalzgraf bei Rhein). In 1195, the Electorate of the
Palatinate passed to the
House of Welf

House of Welf through marriage.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle, here shown in a painting by Carl Blechen, was
destroyed by the French during the war of succession of the Electorate
of the Palatinate
View of castle from the Corn Market
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

Heidelberg University was
founded by Rupert I, Elector Palatine.
Modern history[edit]
Heidelberg University

Heidelberg University played a leading part in the era of humanism and
the Reformation, and the conflict between
Lutheranism

Lutheranism and Calvinism,
in the 15th and 16th centuries. Heidelberg's library, founded in 1421,
is the oldest existing public library in Germany. In April 1518, a few
months after proclaiming his 95 Theses,
Martin Luther

Martin Luther was received in
Heidelberg, to defend them. 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.
The siege of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg 1622
Elector Frederick III, sovereign of the
Electoral Palatinate
.svg/250px-Banner_of_Palatinate-Neuburg_(3^2).svg.png)
Electoral Palatinate from 1559
to 1576, commissioned the composition of a new Catechism 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 Olevianus (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, Johannes Willing, Thomas Erastus, Michael Diller,
Johannes Brunner, Tilemann Mumius, Petrus Macheropoeus, Johannes
Eisenmenger,
Immanuel Tremellius

Immanuel Tremellius and
Pierre Boquin

Pierre Boquin 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

Lutheran but had strong
Reformed leanings, wanted to even out the religious situation of his
highly
Lutheran

Lutheran territory within the primarily Catholic Holy Roman
Empire. The
Council of Trent

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

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

Roman Catholic Church as well as
Anabaptists and "strict"
Gnesio-Lutherans

Gnesio-Lutherans like
Tilemann Heshusius

Tilemann Heshusius 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

Augsburg when he was called to answer to charges of
violating the Peace of Augsburg. This was the
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Catechism,
officially called the ″Catechism, or Christian Instruction,
according to the Usages of the Churches and Schools of the Electoral
Palatinate.″
Karlstor
Main street Heidelberg
In November 1619, the royal crown of Bohemia was offered to the
Elector, Frederick V. (He was married to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of
James VI and I

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

House of Habsburg regained the crown 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, captured the town.
Tilly gave the famous
Bibliotheca Palatina

Bibliotheca Palatina from the Church of the Holy
Spirit to the Pope as a present. The Catholic Bavarian branch of the
House of Wittelsbach gained control over the Palatinate and the title
of Prince-Elector. In 1648, at the end of the war, Frederick V's son
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine, was able to recover his titles and
lands.
In late 1634 Imperialist forces attempted to take back the city, as
the Swedish army had conquered it. 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

Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628),
and Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force. They ended the siege
and drove off the Catholic forces.[12]
Hotel zum Ritter St. Georg.
To strengthen his dynasty, Charles I Louis arranged the marriage of
his daughter Liselotte to Philip I, Duke of Orléans, brother of Louis
XIV, king of France. In 1685, after the death of Charles Louis' son,
Elector Charles II, 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

Protestant Reformation had divided the peoples of
Europe. The
War of the Grand Alliance
.JPG/600px-Siege_of_Namur_(1692).JPG)
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
.JPG/600px-Siege_of_Namur_(1692).JPG)
War of the Palatinate Succession coupled with
severe winters, thousands of Protestant German Palatines emigrated
from the lower Palatinate in the early 18th century. They fled to
other European cities and especially to
London

London (where the refugees
were called "the poor Palatines"). In sympathy for the Protestants, in
1709–1710, Queen Anne's 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

Heidelberg caused the Roman Catholic Prince-Elector Charles III Philip
to transfer his residence 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[edit]
Heidelberg

Heidelberg fell to the
Grand Duchy of Baden
.svg/250px-Flagge_Großherzogtum_Baden_(1891–1918).svg.png)
Grand Duchy of Baden 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

Baroque style on the old medieval
layout.
In 1810, the
French revolution

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

Russia and the King of
Prussia
.svg/250px-Flag_of_Prussia_(1892-1918).svg.png)
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,
Heidelberg

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

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[edit]
Old Bridge, Konrad Linck, 1788
Old Bridge Gate
During the Nazi period (1933–1945),
Heidelberg

Heidelberg was a stronghold of
the NSDAP, (the National Socialist German Workers' Party) the
strongest party in the elections before 1933 (the
NSDAP
.svg/340px-Parteiadler_der_Nationalsozialistische_Deutsche_Arbeiterpartei_(1933–1945).svg.png)
NSDAP obtained 30%
at the communal elections of 1930[13]). The
NSDAP
.svg/340px-Parteiadler_der_Nationalsozialistische_Deutsche_Arbeiterpartei_(1933–1945).svg.png)
NSDAP received 45.9% of
the votes in the German federal election of March 1933 (the national
average was 43.9%).[14] Non-Aryan university staff were discriminated
against. By 1939, one-third of the university's teaching staff had
been forced out for racial and political reasons. The non-Aryan
professors were ejected in 1933, within one month of Hitler's rise to
power. The lists of those to be deported were prepared
beforehand.[vague][citation needed]
In 1934 and 1935, the Reichsarbeitsdienst (State Labor Service) and
Heidelberg University

Heidelberg University students built the huge Thingstätte
amphitheatre on the Heiligenberg north of the town, for
Nazi Party
.svg/340px-Parteiadler_der_Nationalsozialistische_Deutsche_Arbeiterpartei_(1933–1945).svg.png)
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

World War II and after,
Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht soldiers
were buried there.
Memorial stone marking the site of the synagogue in the Lauerstrasse
During the
Kristallnacht

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. On October 22, 1940, during the "Wagner Buerckel
event", the Nazis deported 6000 local Jews, including 281 from
Heidelberg, to
Camp Gurs

Camp Gurs concentration camp in France. Within a few
months, as many as 1000 of them (201 from Heidelberg) died of hunger
and disease.[15] Among the deportees from Heidelberg, the poet Alfred
Mombert (1872–1942) left the camp in April 1941 thanks to the Swiss
poet Hans Reinhart.[16] 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

U.S. Army (63rd
Infantry, 7th Army) entered the town on March 30, 1945. The civilian
population surrendered without resistance.[17]
A popular belief is that
Heidelberg

Heidelberg escaped bombing in World War II
because the
U.S. Army

U.S. Army wanted to use the city as a garrison after the
war. As
Heidelberg

Heidelberg was neither an industrial center nor a transport
hub, it did not present a target of opportunity. Other notable
university towns, such as
Tübingen

Tübingen and Göttingen, were spared
bombing as well. Allied air raids focused extensively on the nearby
industrial cities of
Mannheim

Mannheim and Ludwigshafen.
US Army 289th Engineer Combat Battalion ferrying troops and vehicles
over the
Neckar

Neckar at Heidelberg.
The
U.S. Army

U.S. Army may have chosen
Heidelberg

Heidelberg as a garrison base because of
its excellent infrastructure, including the Heidelberg-Mannheim
Autobahn

Autobahn (motorway), which connected to the
Mannheim-Darmstadt-
Frankfurt

Frankfurt Autobahn, and the
U.S. Army

U.S. Army installations
in
Mannheim

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 lorry.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg had the untouched
Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht barracks, the "Grossdeutschland Kaserne" which the US Army
occupied soon after, renaming it the Campbell Barracks.
History after 1945[edit]
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

Alfred Weber and the philosopher Karl Jaspers.[18]
The surgeon Karl Heinrich Bauer was nominated rector.
On December 9, 1945, US Army General
George S. Patton

George S. Patton had a car
accident in the adjacent city of
Mannheim

Mannheim and died in the Heidelberg
US Army hospital on December 21, 1945. The funeral ceremony was held
at the Heidelberg-Weststadt Christuskirche (Christ Church), and he was
buried in the 3rd Army cemetery in Luxembourg.[19]
During the post-war military occupation, the
U.S. Army

U.S. Army used the
Thingsstätte 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.
Population[edit]
Population growth
The population of the city of
Heidelberg

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

Heidelberg population
statistics. At the end of December 2011, the city had 149,633
inhabitants with an official primary residence in
Heidelberg

Heidelberg (not
including the soldiers and employees of the
U.S. Army

U.S. Army and their
dependents, a total of about 20,000 people), a historic high.[20]
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.
Year
Population
1439
5,200
1588
6,300
1717
4,800
1784
10,754
1810
10,312
1812
9,826
1830
13,345
3 December 1852 ¹
14,564
3 December 1858 ¹
15,600
3 December 1861 ¹
16,300
3 December 1864 ¹
17,666
3 December 1867 ¹
18,300
1 December 1871 ¹
19,983
1 December 1875 ¹
22,334
Year
Population
1 December 1880 ¹
24,417
1 December 1885 ¹
26,900
1 December 1890 ¹
31,739
2 December 1895 ¹
35,190
1 December 1900 ¹
40,121
11 December 1905 ¹
49,527
1 December 1910 ¹
56,016
1 December 1916 ¹
47,554
5 December 1917 ¹
47,483
8 October 1919 ¹
60,831
16 June 1925 ¹
73,034
16 June 1933 ¹
84,641
17 May 1939 ¹
86,467
31 December 1945
95,811
Year
Population
29 October 1946 ¹
111,488
13 September 1950 ¹
116,488
25 September 1956 ¹
121,910
6 June 1961 ¹
125,264
31 December 1965
125,507
27 May 1970 ¹
129,656
31 December 1975
129,368
31 December 1980
133,227
31 December 1985
134,724
25 May 1987 ¹
127,768
31 December 1990
136,796
31 December 1995
138,781
31 December 2000
140,259
31 December 2005
142,933
Year
Population
31 December 2010
147,312
31 December 2011
149,633
31 December 2012
150,335
31 December 2014
154,715
¹ Census results
With a fertility rate of 1.1 children per woman in the Stadtkreis
(county),
Heidelberg

Heidelberg had the lowest fertility rate in
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg in 2008.
Politics[edit]
Election
2004[21]
2009
2014[22]
Party
Votes
Seats
Votes
Seats
Votes
Seats
CDU
25.9%
11
20.1%
9
20.81%
10
SPD
21.6%
9
16.8%
7
17.26%
8
Greens
–
–
15.1%
6
19.67%
10
Green Alternative List
21.4%
9
10.2%
4
4.37%
2
FDP
6.8%
3
9.1%
4
4.36%
2
Heidelberger
10.6%
4
8.6%
3
8.10%
4
generation.hd
3.2%
1
5.8%
2
5.05%
2
FWV
4.5%
2
5.8%
2
3.34%
2
Bunte Linke
3.1%
1
5.4%
2
3.75%
2
HD P. u. E.
–
–
3.1%
1
2.72%
1
The Left
–
–
–
–
4.08%
2
AfD
–
–
–
–
3.84%
2
Pirates
–
–
–
–
2.64%
1
Others
2.8%
0
0%
0
0%
0
Turnout
50.5%
48.8%
51.29%
Since 2006, the Oberbürgermeister (lord mayor) of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg has been
the independent Eckart Würzner. From 1990 to 2006, the mayor was
Beate Weber (SPD).
The council consists of 40 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 with the mayor presiding all the
affairs of the city. The council controls the city administration and
oversees the enforcement of its decisions.
Heidelberg

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.
After the election, the deputies of the Alliance 90/The Greens formed
a coalition with generation.HD. In September 2011 two members of the
GAL Group joined the Alliance 90/The Greens, so now with
generation.HD, they form the largest group in the council.
Cityscape[edit]
The old town[edit]
The marketplace, with Town Hall on the right
Heidelberg's old city centre from the castle above
Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg Castle with the Old Bridge in foreground, 2010
View from the castle during winter, 2014
The "old town" (German: Altstadt), on the south bank of the Neckar, is
long and narrow. It is dominated by the ruins of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle, 80
metres above the
Neckar

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

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
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

Neckar that has
served several purposes through its history. It is now a cafeteria for
the university.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle[edit]
Main article:
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle
Historic map of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle
Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg Castle at night
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Fortress
Monastery

Monastery of St. Michael
Statue of Bishop in Altstadt
The castle is a mix of styles from Gothic 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

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

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

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

Heidelberg Philharmonics.
The castle is surrounded by a park, where the famous poet Johann von
Goethe once walked. The
Heidelberger Bergbahn

Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway runs
from Kornmakt to the summit of the Königstuhl via the castle.
Philosophers' Walk[edit]
On the northern side of the
Neckar

Neckar is located the Heiligenberg
(Saints' Mountain), along the side of which runs the Philosophers'
Walk (German: 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

Monastery of St. Michael, the
smaller
Monastery

Monastery of St. Stephen, a Nazi-era amphitheater, the
so-called Pagan's hole and the remains of an earthen Celtic hill fort
from the 4th century BC.
View from the so-called "Philosophers' Walk" (German: Philosophenweg)
towards the Old Town, with
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle, Heiliggeist Church and
the Old Bridge
Heidelberg

Heidelberg churches[edit]
There are many historical churches in
Heidelberg

Heidelberg and its surroundings.
The Church of the Holy Spirit has been shared over the centuries since
the
Protestant Reformation

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
.jpg/440px-Karl_Philipp,_Kurfürst_(1716-1742).jpg)
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 1866–1872. The
church is also home to the Museum für sakrale Kunst und Liturgie
(Museum of
Ecclesiastical

Ecclesiastical Arts). The oldest church in
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is
the St. Peter's Church (now Lutheran). It was built some time during
the 12th century.
Church of the Holy Spirit tower and old bridge monument
The Church of the Jesuits
St. Peter's Church
St. Bonifatius Church
Education[edit]
Universities and academia[edit]
Main articles:
Heidelberg University

Heidelberg University and List of University of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg people
Old university hall
The university library
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is known for its institutions of higher education. The most
famous of those is
Heidelberg

Heidelberg University. Founded in 1386, it is one
of Europe's oldest institutions. In fact,
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is the oldest
university town of today's Germany. Among the prominent thinkers
associated with the institution are Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel,
Karl Jaspers, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jürgen Habermas,
Karl-Otto Apel and
Hannah Arendt. The campus is situated in two urban areas and several
buildings. In numerous historical buildings in the old town there are
the Faculties of the Humanities, the Social
Science

Science and the Faculty of
Law. The school of applied sciences is located in the
Science

Science Tower in
Wieblingen. The Faculties of Medicine and Natural
Science

Science are settled
on the Neuenheimer Feld Campus.
Since 1904 there has been a College of Educational Science, the
Pädagogische Hochschule Heidelberg; since 1979 there has been a
college of Jewish Studies, the Hochschule für Jüdische Studien
Heidelberg. It comprises nine branches specializing on both religion
and Jewish culture. The Schiller International University, a private
American university is also represented with a campus in Heidelberg
offering several undergraduate and graduate programs in the fields of
International Business and International Relations and Diplomacy.
Research[edit]
Buildings of
European Molecular Biology Laboratory

European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg,
including the new Advanced Training Centre
Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory
In addition to the research centers and institutes of the university,
there are numerous research institutions situated in the city of
Heidelberg. Among them are the European Molecular Biology Laboratory
(EMBL),
European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the German
Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Max Planck Institute for Medical
Research, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Max Planck Institute for
Nuclear Physics, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and
International Law.
Schools[edit]
SRH Hochschule
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is one of the oldest and largest private
universities in Germany
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is home to 23 elementary schools. There are several
institutions of secondary education, both public and private,
representing all levels of the German school system. There are 14
Gymnasiums, with six of them private. With 52% of secondary students
attending a Gymnasium,
Heidelberg

Heidelberg sits above the German average,
perhaps because a large number of academics live in
Heidelberg

Heidelberg and its
environs.
They include the Kurfürst-Friedrich-Gymnasium (German),
Bunsen-Gymnasium (German), the Helmholtz-Gymnasium (German
Wikipedia), the Hölderlin-Gymnasium and the
Elisabeth-von-Thadden-Schule. Then there are seven Realschule, ten
Hauptschule

Hauptschule and nine vocational schools (the so-called Berufsschule).
In addition, there are several folk high schools with different
specialisations.[23]
Heidelberg International School serves the local
expatriate community.
Economy[edit]
Tourism[edit]
In 2004, 81.8% of people worked for service industries, including
tourism. As a relic of the period of Romanticism,
Heidelberg

Heidelberg has been
labeled a "Romantic town". This is used to attract more than 3.5
million visitors every year. Many events are organized to attract
visitors.
Industry[edit]
Only 18% of employment is provided by industry. Printing and
publishing are important enterprises; nearby
Walldorf

Walldorf is a center of
the IT industry and SAP World Headquarters. Noted pen manufacturer
Lamy

Lamy has its headquarters and factory in Heidelberg-Wieblingen.
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen has its headquarters here; its factory is
located in Walldorf. Soft-drink company Wild-Werke, manufacturer of
the
Capri-Sonne

Capri-Sonne (
Capri-Sun

Capri-Sun in the U.S.) is located nearby in
Eppelheim.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is also home to the headquarters of
HeidelbergCement, the world's second largest cement producer. The
Company has its roots in the suburb of Leimen where one of its cement
plants is still located. With its long Hauptstrasse,
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a
shopping destination for people from the surrounding smaller towns.
Print Media Academy
Roads[edit]
The A 5 autobahn runs through the western outskirts of Heidelberg,
connecting the region to
Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main in the north and Karlsruhe
to the south. The A 656 commences just west of the city, connecting
Heidelberg

Heidelberg with Mannheim. Both highways meet at
Heidelberg

Heidelberg autobahn
intersection in the city of Heidelberg, and the A 656 connects to the
A 6 at the
Mannheim

Mannheim autobahn intersection, which connects to the east
towards Stuttgart.
Furthermore, the B 3 (Frankfurt–Karlsruhe) runs north–south
through the town, and the B 37 (Mannheim–Eberbach) runs east–west.
Both meet in the city center at the Bismarckplatz. The B 535 begin in
the south of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg and runs to Schwetzingen.
Tourist roads[edit]
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is located on four tourist roads: Bergstraße, Bertha Benz
Memorial Route, Castle Road, and Straße der Demokratie (Road of
Democracy).
Railways[edit]
Heidelberg Central Station

Heidelberg Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) is on the
Rhine

Rhine Valley
Railway and is served by Intercity-Express, Euro City trains. This
station is served by the Rhein
Neckar

Neckar S-Bahn. There is also a station
for intercity bus services outside the central station.[24]
Public transport[edit]
Heidelberg

Heidelberg tramway network
Terminus of the funicular at Königstuhl
The main transport hub of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is the Bismarckplatz. Several
main thoroughfares of the city intersect here and one of the longest
pedestrian streets in Europe, the Hauptstraße (main street) runs from
here through the entire old town of Heidelberg.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Central
Station was nearby for many years, which was a combined terminal and
through station. In 1955, it was moved about 1.5 km further to
the west, which removed the necessity for trains continuing to the
south or from the south to the north to reverse. The new central
station became the second major transport hub of Heidelberg.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg has had a public transport service since 1883, when
horse-drawn trams were established. Due to the rapidly rising
patronage it was decided on 20 December 1901 to convert the Heidelberg
tramway network to electrical operation. On 16 March 1902, the first
electric tram ran on Rohrbacher Straße, sharing use of the suburban
tracks built by the Deutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft in 1901 between
Heidelberg

Heidelberg and Wiesloch. Until the 1950s, the tram network was
expanded a bit at a time. The rapidly growing popularity of car
transport presented the operator of the trams with increasingly
difficult problems and the tram network was gradually dismantled. It
was not until 10 December 2006 that the network was extended again
with the opening of a new tram line from Kirchheim. Tram and bus
services are now operated by
Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (RNV). Since 1989,
all fares are set under a uniform scheme by the Verkehrsverbund
Rhein-
Neckar

Neckar (Rhine-
Neckar

Neckar Transport Association, VRN). Carsharing
increasingly provides a complement to public transport. More than 50
car-sharing stations are available to users in 12 of the 14 districts
of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg offering a total of more than 100 cars.
Line 24 tram in Rohrbach
Since 14 December 2003,
Heidelberg

Heidelberg has been connected to the network
of the Rhine-
Neckar

Neckar S-Bahn, which opens up the entire Rhine-Neckar
region, with lines connecting with the Palatinate, the
Saarland

Saarland and
southern Hesse.
The
Heidelberger Bergbahn

Heidelberger Bergbahn (
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Mountain Railway) has run since
2005 with new cars on the lower part from Kornmarkt to Molkenkur and
historic cars built in 1907 on the upper section of the funicular from
Molkenkur to Königstuhl. It is one of the most popular means to reach
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Castle. The first plans for the funicular were drawn up in
1873. Due to a lack of funds was the first section of the funicular
was not opened until 1890. In 2004, the upper section of the funicular
was listed as part of the heritage of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
United States

United States military installations[edit]
See also:
United States Army

United States Army Garrison Heidelberg
During World War II,
Heidelberg

Heidelberg was one of the few major cities in
Germany

Germany not significantly damaged by Allied bombing. Situated in the
American Zone of Germany,
Heidelberg

Heidelberg became the headquarters of the
American forces in Europe. Several military installations remain,
including Campbell Barracks, the former Wehrmacht
Grossdeutschland-Kaserne, where headquarters for several units are
located. These include US Army, Europe (USAREUR) and NATO's Component
Command-Land Headquarters. (Until 2004, this was designated Joint
Headquarters Centre, and before that, LANDCENT).
Behördenzentrum Heidelberg
New city district of Heidelberg, Bahnstadt, is one of the biggest
passive house settlements in the world
Campbell Barracks

Campbell Barracks and
Mark Twain Village

Mark Twain Village are both in Südstadt; Patton
Barracks is in nearby Kirchheim. Nachrichten Kaserne in Rohrbach is
home to the former
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Army Hospital, now designated the
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Health Center. Patrick Henry Village, the largest U.S.
military housing area in the
Heidelberg

Heidelberg area, is west of Kirchheim.
These installations, including Tompkins Barracks and Kilbourne Kaserne
in nearby Schwetzingen, plus the Germersheim Depot, used to make up
the
U.S. Army

U.S. Army Garrison Heidelberg. Tompkins Barracks is home to U.S.
Army Installation Management Command Europe Region. The Heidelberg
U.S. Army

U.S. Army Air Field (
Heidelberg

Heidelberg AAF) was converted to an heliport
(mostly Blackhawk Helicopters) after the
NATO

NATO Kosovo campaign.
The children of
United States Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense employees based in
Heidelberg

Heidelberg tend to attend on-base schools operated by the DODDS-E
(Department of Defense Dependents Schools – Europe). There are
three schools of this kind:
Heidelberg High School in Mark Twain
Village (
Mark Twain

Mark Twain Elementary School closed at the completion of the
2010–2011 school year), and
Heidelberg Middle School and Patrick
Henry Elementary in Patrick Henry Village.[25]
On October 19, 2009, the
U.S. Army

U.S. Army announced that it would be building
new headquarters for
USAREUR

USAREUR in Wiesbaden. The move from Heidelberg
took place in 2012 and 2013, with scheduled completion in 2014.[26] By
2015 all
United States

United States forces will have moved out of Heidelberg. The
barracks and the housing areas will be handed over to the German state
for conversion to civilian use.
Culture[edit]
Events[edit]
Theater & Orchester Heidelberg
Heidelberg

Heidelberg with the Old Bridge illuminated
Throughout the year there are different regular festivals and events
hosted and organized in Heidelberg. In February, the Ball der Vampire
(Ball of the Vampires)[27] is arranged and Fasching, the equivalent of
Mardis Gras or Carnival in some German regions, with a giant
vampire-themed costume party at the local castle or city hall is
celebrated. In March or April the Heidelberger Frühling (Heidelberg
Spring), the Classic Music Festival and the international Easter egg
market are conducted. During the last weekend of April there is an
annually organized half marathon. In the summertime there are the
Frühlingsmesse on the Messeplatz (May) and Illumination of the castle
and bridge with lights and fireworks take place. In September, on the
last Saturday the Old Town Autumn Festival is held.[28] It includes a
Medieval Market, an arts and crafts market, a flea market, and music
from Samba to Rock. During October or November there are the
Heidelberger Theater Days and the
Enjoy Jazz

Enjoy Jazz festival. Every year in
November the
International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg

International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg take place
in the city, too. The festival presents arthouse films of
international newcomer directors and is held jointly by both of the
cities.[29] During Christmas there is a Christmas market throughout
the oldest part of the city. A famous gift is the chocolate called
Heidelberger Studentenkuss (student kiss).
Cinemas[edit]
The new modern multiplex "Luxor Filmpalast" in Bahnstadt is opened
partly with six cinemas on 23 November 2017. Further halls and an
open-air cinema hall should follow in 2018. Cinema show Blockbuster
movies in German as well as in English language. New modern cinema has
450,000-liter aquarium, which is placed in the middle of the cinema
and underground car parking with 180 parking spaces.
[30]"The Karlstorkino" offers an arthouse program, rare classics and
feature films. Here, most films are shown in original version. The
Harmonie Lux has had a rather mainstream Hollywood program before its
closing in 2014, whilst the small independent cinemas "Gloria &
Gloriette".
Museums and exhibitions[edit]
Among the most prominent museums of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg are for instance the
Carl Bosch

Carl Bosch Museum which shows life and work of chemist and Nobel
Prize-winner Carl Bosch. Then there is the Documentation and Culture
Centre of German
Sinti

Sinti and Roma (Dokumentations- und Kulturzentrum
Deutscher Sini und Roma) describing the Nazi genocide of the
Sinti

Sinti and
Roma peoples. The German Packing Museum (Deutsches Verpackungsmuseum)
gives an overview on the history of packing and wrapping goods whereas
the German Pharmacy Museum (Deutsches Apothekenmuseum) which is
located in the castle illustrates the story of Pharmacy in Germany.
The
Kurpfälzisches Museum

Kurpfälzisches Museum (Palatinate Museum) offers a great art
collection and some Roman archeological artifacts from the region. In
the honour of
Friedrich Ebert
.jpg/440px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-00015,_Friedrich_Ebert(cropped).jpg)
Friedrich Ebert one established the President Friedrich
Ebert Memorial which remembers the life of Germany's first democratic
head of state. Besides, there are guided tours in most of the
historical monuments of Heidelberg, as well as organized tourist tours
through the city available in several languages.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Romanticism[edit]
Romantic view of
Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg Castle ruins
Heidelberg

Heidelberg was the centre of the epoch of Romantik (Romanticism) in
Germany. The phase after
Jena

Jena
Romanticism

Romanticism is often called Heidelberg
Romanticism

Romanticism (see also
Berlin

Berlin Romanticism). There was a famous circle
of poets (the
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Romantics), such as Joseph von Eichendorff,
Johann Joseph von Görres, Ludwig Achim von Arnim, and Clemens
Brentano. A relic of
Romanticism

Romanticism is the Philosophers' Walk (German:
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[edit]
Further information: Alt
Heidelberg

Heidelberg (play)
In 1901
Wilhelm Meyer-Förster wrote the play Old
Heidelberg

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[edit]
Further information: I Lost My Heart in
Heidelberg

Heidelberg (song)
The 1925 song "I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg" composed by Fred Raymond
was a major hit and inspired a stage musical and two films. It remains
the theme song of Heidelberg.
Sport[edit]
Heidelberg

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, SC Neuenheim,
Heidelberger RK

Heidelberger RK and TSV Handschuhsheim.
Heidelberger TV

Heidelberger TV has a rugby
department. Rugby League Deutschland has two teams based in
Heidelberg,
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Sharks formed in 2005 and Rohrbach Hornets
formed in 2007.
The city is also home to the USC Heidelberg, which won 9 German
Basketball Championships 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.
Further, Germany's oldest tennis club, which was founded in the year
1890, is located in Heidelberg.
International relations[edit]
Twin towns – sister cities[edit]
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is twinned (städtepartnerschaft) with:[31]
Cambridge, England, since 1965[32]
Montpellier, France, since 1961[31]
Palo Alto, California, since 2017[31]
Hangzhou, China, since 2017[31]
Rehovot, Israel, since 1983[31]
Simferopol, Ukraine, since 1991[31]
Bautzen, Saxony, since 1991[31]
Kumamoto, Japan, since 1992[31]
In popular culture[edit]
Heidelberg

Heidelberg features in the 1968 film The Girl on a Motorcycle, the
university being the ultimate destination of Marianne Faithfull's
character.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is the home of a professional
Quidditch

Quidditch team
operating within the fictional Harry Potter universe: the Heidelberg
Harriers have been described as “fiercer than a dragon and twice as
clever”.[33]
Heidelberg

Heidelberg is the residence of fictional character Nina
Fortner/Anna Liebert in the anime/manga series Monster, by Naoki
Urasawa. Further, its castle forms the setting for the beginning of
Mark Twain's story The Awful German Language. Most of David Lodge's
novel Out of the shelter takes place in
Heidelberg

Heidelberg in 1951 during the
American occupation after World War II. The city also features during
a mission in the
Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts strategy game Red Alert 3. Heidelberg
also features in Somerset Maugham's
Of Human Bondage

Of Human Bondage and its film
versions. Also, "Morris from America" takes places in Heidelberg.
Notable inhabitants[edit]
Friedrich Ebert
.jpg/440px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-00015,_Friedrich_Ebert(cropped).jpg)
Friedrich Ebert first President of
Germany

Germany from 1919 until his death
in office in 1925.
Actor
Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender was born in Heidelberg, Michael at the
premiere of 12 Years a Slave, 2013
Toronto

Toronto Film Festival.
Ernst Albrecht (1930–2014), politician (CDU), Minister-president of
Lower Saxony, father of Ursula von der Leyen
Jill Asemota, German-Nigerian model
Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne (born 1948), singer-songwriter and musician born here
Petar Beron (1799–1871), Bulgarian educator
Robert Bunsen
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Robert_Wilhelm_Bunsen_(HeidICON_53016)_(cropped).jpg)
Robert Bunsen (1811–1899), German chemist
Antje Duvekot

Antje Duvekot (born 1976), singer-songwriter
Hans-Georg Gadamer

Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900–2002), German philosopher
Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender (born 1977), German-Irish actor born here
Ian Harding (born 1986), German actor
Harald zur Hausen

Harald zur Hausen (born 1936), virologist, Nobel Laureate
Dietmar Hopp

Dietmar Hopp (born 1940), software entrepreneur SAP
Muhammad Iqbal

Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), Pakistani poet, philosopher
Wolfgang Ketterle

Wolfgang Ketterle (born 1957), physicist, professor at MIT, Nobel
Laureate
Paul Kirchhof

Paul Kirchhof (born 1943), former Judge in the Federal Constitutional
Court of
Germany

Germany (Bundesverfassungsgericht)
Hans Kroh

Hans Kroh (1907–1967), German officer in
Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr
Karl A. Lamers

Karl A. Lamers (born 1951), politician, former President of the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly
Ananda Mahidol

Ananda Mahidol (1925–1946), King of Thailand
Heinrich Neal (1870–1940), German composer, directed the Heidelberg
Conservatory of Music
Nelson Piquet, Jr.

Nelson Piquet, Jr. (born 1985), Brazilian race car driver and former
Formula One

Formula One driver born here
Vasil Radoslavov

Vasil Radoslavov (1854–1929), Bulgarian Prime Minister
José Rizal

José Rizal (1861–1896), national hero of the Philippines
Khalid Robinson

Khalid Robinson (born 1998), American singer
Christiane Schmidtmer (1939–2003), Hollywood actress and model
Bernd Schmitt (born 1957), marketing professor at Columbia University
Klaus Schütz

Klaus Schütz (1926–2012), German politician (SPD)
Silvia Renate Sommerlath
.jpg/440px-Queen_Silvia_of_Sweden,_June_8,_2013_(cropped).jpg)
Silvia Renate Sommerlath (born 1943), Queen of Sweden
Albert Speer

Albert Speer (1905–1981), German architect and Third Reich minister
Ferdinand Thomas (1913–1944), resistance fighter
Ernst Jünger

Ernst Jünger (1895–1998), German author, officer, botanist and
entomologist, famous for his World War I memoir Storm of Steel
Notable people who died in Heidelberg[edit]
Robert Bunsen
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Robert_Wilhelm_Bunsen_(HeidICON_53016)_(cropped).jpg)
Robert Bunsen (1811–1899), German chemist
Alexandru Ioan Cuza

Alexandru Ioan Cuza (3 May 1873), Prince of Moldavia, Prince of
Wallachia

Wallachia and later domnitor (ruler) of the Romanian Principalities
Walther Dahl, (1916–1985), German
Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe ace
Konstantin Hierl, leader of the Reichsarbeitsdienst (24 February 1875
– 23 September 1955)
George S. Patton

George S. Patton (1885–1945),
U.S. Army

U.S. Army general
Christiane Schmidtmer (1939–2003), German actress
Felix Heinrich Wankel

Felix Heinrich Wankel (1902–1988), mechanical engineer and inventor
of the Wankel engine
Daniel Hudson Burnham

Daniel Hudson Burnham (1846–1912), American architect, among others
of the Flatiron Building
Gallery[edit]
Karlstor city gate from East
Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg Castle as seen from the bridge
Interior courtyard of the castle
The "Old Bridge", seen from the castle
The "Old Bridge", seen from the town
"Old Bridge" gate seen from the bridge
The "Old Bridge" gate seen from the town
The "bridge mandrill" next to the gate
Church of the Holy Spirit
Hotel Ritter, building constructed in 1592
The "Untere Straße" (lower street) in the Old Town
Catholic Jesuitenkirche
Justitia
University Library
Lock in
Heidelberg

Heidelberg on river Neckar
See also[edit]
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg portal
Germany

Germany portal
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Center for American Studies
Heidelberg

Heidelberg University
Schiller International University
Notes[edit]
^ "Gemeinden in Deutschland nach Fläche, Bevölkerung und
Postleitzahl am 30.09.2016".
Statistisches Bundesamt

Statistisches Bundesamt (in German).
2016.
^ Albers, Jürgen. "Daten und Fakten – Studierende und
Wissenschaftlicher Nachwuchs – Universität Heidelberg".
www.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
^ Its latest overall ranking positions range from 5th to 18th in
Europe; the peer review scores, reflecting academic esteem, are
usually higher. It was never ranked outside Europe's top 20 by any
major university ranking. See rankings.
^ Stiefel, Catherine. "Non-University Research Institutions –
Heidelberg

Heidelberg University". www.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved
2017-01-11.
^ "Heidelberg-Rohrbach: Wein, Reben und Winzer". Hilfe-hd.de.
Retrieved 2012-11-08.
^ Stefanie Wegener: Verbreitung und Arealnutzung der Halsbandsittiche
(Psittacula krameri) in Heidelberg, published by: Ornithologische
Gesellschaft
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg e. V., Ornithol. Jh. Bad.-Württ.
23: 39–55 (2007) Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
^ Mechthild Henneke: Wetterextreme in Deutschland 2009. In:
Südkurier, 28. April 2010
^ Kreisbeschreibung Bd. 1, S. 54ff
^ www.klimadiagramme.de
^ "
Heidelberg

Heidelberg historic weather averages". Intellicast. Retrieved
October 21, 2009.
^ "
Deutscher Wetterdienst

Deutscher Wetterdienst – weather and climate, 1981–2010".
Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
^ Helfferich, Tryntje, The Thirty Years War: A Documentary History
(Cambridge, 2009), pp. 289–90.
^ Cser 2007, pp. 209–10)
^ Cser 2007, p. 229)
^ Cser 2007, pp. 246–8
^ "Alfred Mombert". Badische Landesbibliothek (in German). Archived
from the original on August 18, 2010.
^ Fink, Oliver (2005). Kleine Heidelberger Stadtgeschichte.
ISBN 978-3-7917-1971-9.
^ Remy 2002, p. 240
^ George S. Patton#Accident and death
^ "Population of city of Heidelberg" (in German). Statistical office
of the state of Baden-Württemberg. Archived from the original on
December 7, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
^ After the 2004 election, there were several changes the
parties/groups Heidelberg
^ "Ergebnis Gemeinderatswahl 2014". Stadt Heidelberg. Retrieved 23
June 2014.
^ [1] Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
^ "Heidelberg: Stations". Travelinho.
^ Our Districts and Schools Archived August 14, 2012, at the Wayback
Machine. Dependents Schools Europe website, accessed: April 19, 2009
^ Heidelberg,
Mannheim

Mannheim to close by 2015 Archived March 30, 2012, at
the Wayback Machine., HeraldPost Vol. 35 No. 38, accessed: October 22,
2011.
^ [2] Archived October 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
^ "Veranstaltungen in Heidelberg:
Heidelberg

Heidelberg aktuell – Home".
Heidelberg-aktuell.de. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
http://www.heidelberg-event.com/events/heidelberger-herbst/?lang=en.
Missing or empty title= (help)
^ "Internationales FilmFestival Mannheim-
Heidelberg

Heidelberg ".
Mannheim-filmfestival.com. 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
^
heidelberg-bahnstadt-teileroeffnung-vom-kino-luxor-filmpalast-am-23-november-9388433.html
^ a b c d e f g h "Partnerstädte" (official website) (in German).
Heidelberg, Germany: Stadt Heidelberg. Retrieved 2015-02-04.
^ heidelberg.de – Cambridge
^ Whisp, Kennilworthy (2001).
Quidditch

Quidditch Through the Ages. WhizzHard
Books. pp. 31–46. ISBN 1-55192-454-4.
References[edit]
Cser, Andreas (2007). Kleine Geschichte der Stadt
Heidelberg

Heidelberg und ihrer
Universität [Short history of the city of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg and its
University] (in German). Karlsruhe: Verlag G. Braun.
ISBN 978-3-7650-8337-2.
Remy, Steven P. (2002). The
Heidelberg

Heidelberg Myth: The Nazification and
Denazification of a German University. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press. ISBN 0-674-00933-9.
Further reading[edit]
"Heidelberg", The
Rhine

Rhine from Rotterdam to Constance, Leipsic: Karl
Baedeker, 1882, OCLC 7416969
"Heidelberg", The Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.), New York:
Encyclopædia Britannica, 1910, OCLC 14782424
"Heidelberg", The Rhine, including the Black Forest & the Vosges,
Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1911, OCLC 21888483
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heidelberg.
Heidelberg

Heidelberg travel guide from Wikivoyage
"Heidelberg". Encyclopædia Britannica. 13 (11th ed.).
1911.
Official site of Heidelberg, a small English section is available
Audio Tour in the Castle of Heidelberg
U.S. Army

U.S. Army Garrison
Heidelberg

Heidelberg homepage
Heidelberg

Heidelberg American High School, The official site of Heidelberg
American High School
Places adjacent to Heidelberg
Mannheim
Darmstadt, Frankfurt
Aschaffenburg, Würzburg
Kaiserslautern
Heidelberg
Odenwald
Speyer, Landau
Karlsruhe, Stuttgart
Heilbronn, Schwäbisch Hall
v
t
e
Cities in
Germany

Germany by population
1,000,000+
Berlin
Cologne
Hamburg
Munich
500,000+
Bremen
Dortmund
Dresden
Düsseldorf
Essen
Frankfurt
Hanover
Leipzig
Nuremberg
Stuttgart
200,000+
Aachen
Augsburg
Bielefeld
Bochum
Bonn
Braunschweig
Chemnitz
Duisburg
Erfurt
Freiburg im Breisgau
Gelsenkirchen
Halle (Saale)
Karlsruhe
Kiel
Krefeld
Lübeck
Magdeburg
Mainz
Mannheim
Münster
Mönchengladbach
Oberhausen
Rostock
Wiesbaden
Wuppertal
100,000+
Bergisch Gladbach
Bottrop
Bremerhaven
Cottbus
Darmstadt
Erlangen
Fürth
Göttingen
Hagen
Hamm
Heidelberg
Heilbronn
Herne
Hildesheim
Ingolstadt
Jena
Kassel
Koblenz
Leverkusen
Ludwigshafen
Moers
Mülheim

Mülheim an der Ruhr
Neuss
Offenbach am Main
Oldenburg
Osnabrück
Paderborn
Pforzheim
Potsdam
Recklinghausen
Regensburg
Remscheid
Reutlingen
Saarbrücken
Salzgitter
Siegen
Solingen
Trier
Ulm
Wolfsburg
Würzburg
complete list
municipalities
metropolitan regions
cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants
v
t
e
Summer Paralympic Games
.svg/400px-IPC_logo_(2004).svg.png)
Summer Paralympic Games host cities
1960: Rome
1964: Tokyo
1968: Tel Aviv
1972: Heidelberg
1976: Toronto
1980: Arnhem
1984:
New York City

New York City / Stoke Mandeville
1988: Seoul
1992:
Barcelona

Barcelona / Madrid
1996: Atlanta
2000: Sydney
2004: Athens
2008: Beijing
2012: London
2016: Rio de Janeiro
2020: Tokyo
2024: Paris
2028: Los Angeles
v
t
e
Important cities and tourist sites in Germany: Greater region of
Heidelberg

Heidelberg / Rhine-Neckar–Palatinate
Major cities
Heidelberg
Kaiserslautern
Ludwigshafen
Mannheim
Neustadt
Speyer
Worms
Other touristic sites
Bad Dürkheim
Bad Rappenau
Buchen
Eberbach
Edenkoben
Ladenburg
Lorsch
Mosbach
Neckargemünd
Sinsheim
Weinheim
Walldürn
Landscapes
German Wine Route
Kurpfalz
Neckar

Neckar river
Odenwald
Palatinate Forest
Rhine

Rhine river
Neighboring areas
Germany
Frankfurt
Heidelberg
Karlsruhe
Saarbrücken
Stuttgart
Trier
Würzburg
France
Alsace
Lorraine
Wissembourg
v
t
e
Regions, and urban and rural districts in the state of
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg in
Germany

Germany
Regions
Freiburg
Karlsruhe
Stuttgart
Tübingen
Urban districts
Baden-Baden
Freiburg
Heidelberg
Heilbronn
Karlsruhe
Mannheim
Pforzheim
Stuttgart
Ulm
Rural districts
Alb-Donau
Biberach
Bodensee
Böblingen
Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald
Calw
Emmendingen
Enz
Esslingen
Freudenstadt
Göppingen
Heidenheim
Heilbronn
Hohenlohe
Karlsruhe
Konstanz
Lörrach
Ludwigsburg
Main-Tauber
Neckar-Odenwald
Ortenau
Ostalbkreis
Rastatt
Ravensburg
Rems-Murr
Reutlingen
Rhein-Neckar
Rottweil
Schwarzwald-Baar
Schwäbisch Hall
Sigmaringen
Tübingen
Tuttlingen
Waldshut
Zollernalb
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 144258029
LCCN: n81096075
GND: 40239