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Heidelberg.jpg|thumb|right|200px|View from the so called "alley of philosophers" (Philosophenweg) towards the Old Town, with Heidelberg Castle, Heiliggeist Church and the Old Bridge ]]

Heidelberg is a scenic city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt. As of 2005, 140,000 people live within the city's 109 km² area. The name Heidelberg is an adaptation of Heidelbeerenberg, which means Huckleberry Mountain.

Heidelberg lies on the Neckar at the point where the river leaves its narrow, steep valley in the Odenwald 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 ("King's chair" or throne) mountain with the TV Tower, surrounded by a park where the famous poet J.W. Goethe once walked (although he did not get to sleep in the town, it seems, disappointed by some local guesthouse owner).

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 Ruprecht Karls University, more commonly known as the University of Heidelberg. Among the prominent thinkers to have been associated with the University over the centuries are Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, the philosopher of hermeneutics Hans-Georg Gadamer, Rudi Schneidewind; the critical theorist Jürgen Habermas, and the discourse philosopher Karl-Otto Apel. Karl Drais, who invented the bicycle in 1817, was also a student. The University is also credited with chemists Posselt & Reimann's 1828 discovery of nicotine as the main pharmacologically active component of tobacco.

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.
  • Heidelberg's library, founded in Heidelberg in 1421, is the oldest public library in Germany still intact. The survival of its collection is due to the fact that it was moved to the Vatican for safe keeping in 1623. The Vatican returned the remainder of the books for the 600th anniversary in 1986. They were presented as gifts 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.
  • Discovery of spectral analysis by Robert Bunsen and Kirchhoff in 1860.
  • The 1968 film, Girl on a Motorcycle, based on Andre Pieyre De Mandiargue’s novel La Motocyclette, and starring Marianne Faithfull, was set in and around Heidelberg. The film was notorious for Faithfull's ability to corner a bike at speed without leaning over. She, the bike and the cameras were all on the back of a flatbed truck.

Well-known Heidelbergers

''for more details, please look at the German page de:Liste Heidelberger Persönlichkeiten
''

Around Heidelberg

Villages

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

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

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:

Montpellier, France, since 1961 Cambridge, Great Britain, since 1965 Rehovot, Israel, since 1983 Simferopol, Ukraine, since 1991 Bautzen, Saxony, since 1991 Kumamoto, Japan, since 1992

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

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

Gallery

Image:Heidelberg Seitenstraße.jpg|The "Untere Straße" (lower street), a typical side street in the Old Town Image:Heidelberg Bridge.jpg|Old bridge gate Image:Heidelberg Jesuiten Kirche.jpg|Catholic Jesuitenkirche Image:Heidelberg Monkey.jpg|A baboon-like statue near the Old Bridge Image:Heidelberg bridge enterence.jpg|Old bridge gate Image:Heidelberg_Bridge_Night.jpg|Heidelberg at night

See also

  • Noted pen manufacturer Lamy which has its headquarters in Heidelberg.

External links

Cities in Baden-Württemberg | University towns

Heidelberg | هايدلبرغ | Heidelberg | Хайделберг | Heidelberg | Heidelberg | Heidelberg | Heidelberg | Hajdelbergo | هایدلبرگ | Heidelberg | Heidelberg | היידלברג | ჰაიდელბერგი | Heidelberg | Хајделберг | Heidelberg | ハイデルベルク | Heidelberg | Heidelberg | Heidelberg | Heidelberg | Гейдельберг | Heidelberg | Хајделберг | Heidelberg | Heidelberg | Heidelberg | Гайдельберґ | 海德堡

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Heidelberg".

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