City contours Heidelberg
A City of Literature, Culture, and Contrast

A city of just 160,000 inhabitants—a fourth of which are students—drawing in close to 14 million visitors annually is a clear indicator that Heidelberg isn’t just another university town. Located along the Neckar River in the north of the south German state of Baden-Württemberg, Heidelberg is blessed with an enticing combination of old-world charm, a young population, cutting-edge research, and stunning natural beauty. 

By Nimish Sawant

Heidelberg boasts the tag of UNESCO’s ‘City of Literature’ thanks to its importance in the proliferation of romanticism. But let’s begin with the one thing that can never be detached from Heidelberg – its university!

The 637-year-old University

Heidelberg University came up in 1386, making it the oldest German university. Across its five campuses, it has a yearly intake of around 40,000 students, with a fifth of them coming from outside Germany. The heft it carries across disciplines—from astronomical research to medicine to literature to philosophy—makes it one of Europe's strongest research universities. Around 57 Nobel laureates have studied or taught in some capacity at the University. Some of its famous alumni and faculty include stalwarts such as political theorist Hannah Arendt, philosopher Georg Hegel, chemist Robert Bunsen, physicist Gustav Kirchoff, mathematician Daniel Bernoulli, Nobel Physics laureate James Franck, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, among others. Besides traditional subjects, Heidelberg is also a hotspot in cutting-edge cancer research, bioinformatics, and digital media.

Visiting the University Museum is a great way to understand how the university and the city of Heidelberg have evolved since the 14th century. As with most university towns, Heidelberg is dotted with large buildings on both sides of the river Neckar, that belong to specific departments of its multidisciplinary University. One thing that shouldn’t be missed is the erstwhile Student’s jail called the Studenten Karzer (1780-1914), where University students would be “jailed” for minor offences such as loud singing in public, drunkenness, illegal fencing and more. Students could be locked up from 24 hours to 4 weeks. It is filled with graffiti and artwork by the arrested students and is a complete departure from other prim and proper touristy places in the city.

Heidelberg Castle ruins

“A ruin must be rightly situated to be effective. This one could not have been better placed,” wrote American author Mark Twain in his book A Tramp Abroad.

When you visit Heidelberg, the castle ruins atop the Odenwald mountain, look over the city like a guardian angel. The Gothic and Renaissance castle ruins have nothing to do with the Second World War, as Heidelberg was a city that was surprisingly left undamaged by the Allied forces. The ruins date back to the 17th century when the French troops invaded the Elector of Palatinate, who resided in the castle, and over the Nine-Years War (1688 to 1697), systematically destroyed the castle. Later, natural calamities like lightning strikes destroyed other parts of the complex. The ruined castle became a hotspot for Romantics of the 18th and 19th centuries who flocked to this town. Now, it’s easily the largest tourist draw of Heidelberg. A fascinating thing one encounters inside the castle is the Heidelberg Tun, the world’s largest wine barrel at 7 metres that could hold a whopping 220,000 litres of wine at its peak. After a tiring day exploring Heidelberg, it’s worth your time to just park yourself on one of the benches in the castle courtyard to witness a beautiful sunset.

Europe’s longest pedestrian street

Shopping streets running through old towns in most German cities are a given. But Heidelberg’s Hauptstraße (main road) has the only distinction of being the longest such pedestrian-only street in Europe. Whether you want to peruse old books, shop for a new Lamy fountain pen, gawk at realistic renderings of zoological importance, enjoy a chocolate-heavy dessert at a local chocolaterie, buy local souvenirs, or shop at a high-end luxury brand shop, Haupstraße has something for everyone. Every major tourist hotspot, such as the University Museum, the Church of the Holy Spirit, the Church of Providence, the Rathaus (Town Hall), Kornmarkt (corn market), and more, can be found along this street. It houses a few squares where you can relax, enjoy a coffee or a drink, and people-watch after hours of walking on Heidelberg’s inclining streets.

Hiking Paths around Heidelberg

Thanks to being sandwiched between two mountains, Heidelberg boasts many hiking paths that reward hikers and bikers with breathtaking views of the old town and the surrounding city. For a short but intense hike, you could go up the Philosophenweg, check out the Bismarck Turm and come back to the old town via the zig-zag-shaped Schlagenweg. Those with a higher stamina can go from the Alt Stadt to Königstuhl - the highest spot in Heidelberg. There are many well-marked trekking spots around Heidelberg with the 126-km Neckarsteig calling out for the more adventurous kinds.