The Hindu Business Line : For die-hard romantics...

Picturesque Heidelberg casts a spell with its old-world charm. But it also packs cutting-edge scientific institutions and is an emerging business centre.

It is a city that blends contrasts smoothly — romantic and idyllic, yet cosmopolitan and dynamic. Few other European cities have had their praises sung so lavishly. The mysterious castle ruins and the picturesque Old Town, as also the perfect location and landscape attracted German romantics of the 19th century. They eternalised the city in poetry, music and painting.

Heidelberg fascinates with its great buildings, built mostly in Baroque style after the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Elector Karl Theodor (1742-1799) produced some of the city's best-known landmarks — the Great Barrel, the Karlstor and the Old Bridge.

City sights

The narrow, cobblestone streets; market squares with outdoor cafes; wooded mountains; and the castle ruins overlooking it all cast a spell, and over which Mark Twain gushed in A Tramp Abroad.

Looking down upon the Neckar river is the castle, or rather its ruins, for which Heidelberg is best known. As Twain wrote: "With empty window arches, ivy-mailed battlements, moldering towers — the Lear of inanimate nature — deserted, discrowned, beaten by the storms, but royal still, and beautiful. It is a fine sight..." You can walk up to the castle or take the Bergbahn mountain rail. Different parts of the castle were built at various times in different styles. In the left corner of the courtyard, facing the Neckar river is the entrance to the cellar, the Grosses Fass (Big Barrel). Built in 1751, the gigantic wooden barrel can hold over 221,000 litres of wine. A little walkway takes you across the top of the barrel. Then you can step onto the Belvedere Terrace for a great view of the Old Town below. The castle garden — which originally was quite ornate with waterfalls, terraces, statues and beautiful flowers — was destroyed by war and strife, and later replaced by the current English-park style garden.

Descend to the Old Town and a short walk through the pedestrian-only sector leads to the Karl-Theodor Bridge, with its beautiful arched gateway, held up by two cylindrical Baroque towers. The towers, one of which has several dungeon cells, were once part of the medieval town fortification. Most buildings in the Old Town grab attention, especially the Hotel Zum Ritter, built in 1592, with its Renaissance-era columns, curlicues and carved figures. One of the few houses to survive demolitions during the Wars of Succession, it is named after the sculpture at the top — `Zum Ritter Sankt Georg' (Knight St. George).

Interesting is the Giant's House, with its arched gateway and an inset, larger-than-life statue of the builder. Across the street stands the statue of chemist and Heidelberg resident Robert Bunsen, the inventor of the eponymous burner.

The Renaissance-era Ottheinrichsbau palace is a carnival of ornate pilasters, columns and statues, with two lone figures standing guard high above. Behind the facade, the top two levels of the building are missing; the structure was intact until 1764 when a lightning-induced fire destroyed most of the castle. Nearby, the Friedrichsbau is equally elaborate, bursting with statues of the royal ancestors of Friedrich IV, who built this palace in 1607.

Heidelberg's academic flavour

Heidelberg is home to Europe's oldest university, the Rupertus-Karolus University, which currently has some 30,000 students. The painting on the front wall of the Alte Aula (Old Assembly Hall), added in 1885 shortly before the university's 500th anniversary, depicts the arrival in Heidelberg of the Greek goddess of wisdom, Pallas Athene. Bronze figures on either side symbolise the genius of science. The paintings on the ceilings depict the four university faculties — philosophy, medicine, law and theology.

At the back of the building is the Students' Prison. From 1778 until 1914, students were imprisoned here — for three days to four weeks — for so-called Kavaliersdelikte or minor transgressions like disturbance of peace, especially after excessive drinking, insulting official authorities, playing pranks or duelling. One was allowed, however, to attend lectures. And for any self-respecting student at least one stint in the prison was mandatory!

Take a walk!

Across the Neckar is the Philosophenweg, or the Philosopher's walk, a wooded path traversing a hillside. The winding Snake Path affords a panoramic view of the Old Town. Heidelberg's philosophers and university teachers are said to have routinely walked and talked here.

Heidelberg is not very large, and the Old Town is best discovered on foot. Most of the museums are found here, along with theatres, cinemas and countless restaurants and pubs. Especially enlightening when accompanied by Andreas Reimelt, officially a guide, but more a historian who gave up a successful law practice to pursue his special interest. The locals are very helpful too.

The church connection

Heidelberg's close links to Christianity is well evident from the magnificent churches. St. Peter's Church, erected in the 12th century, is the oldest.

There is also the 600-year-old Church of the Holy Ghost, where the 15th-century tomb of the church's founder, King Ruprecht I, and his wife, Elisabeth, is located. During the Thirty Years' War, one of the largest collections of books and manuscripts, Bibliotheca Palatina, fell into the hands of Heidelberg's conqueror, Commander Tilly. On orders of the Catholic Prince Elector Maximilian of Bavaria, the library was given to the Pope of Rome. Of the collection, which once included over 5,000 books and 3,524 manuscripts, only 885 manuscripts were returned to Heidelberg in 1816; the rest are said to be in the Vatican vaults.

In the following centuries, the church frequently changed its denomination and was used at different times by Catholics and Protestants. Even a partition was erected in 1706 because both denominations wanted to hold service here. For 230 years, the barrier remained till it was removed in 1936. Today, the Church of the Holy Spirit is a Protestant Church.

The Church of the Jesuits originally housed the Jesuits' School and the `Seminarum Carolinum'. Today, the buildings are used by the university's philosophical seminary and administration.

In 1685, the Palatinate was taken over by a Catholic sovereign, who wanted his subjects to return to Catholic beliefs. The Jesuits supported this campaign by publishing pamphlets, organising pilgrimages and erecting Madonna statues. One such is the "Madonna of the Kornmarkt", which later became a focal point of religious worship. It demonstrates three typical characteristics of this period: Mary is shown as the Queen of Heaven, as a virgin and as a victor. When, in the first half of the 19th century, citizens rebelled against the aristocracy and clergy, the statue lost much of its religious significance. Today, it is admired mainly as a beautiful fountain sculpture.

One of the symbolical books of the Reformed Church, the Catechism derives its name from this city where it was compiled and first printed by Frederick III to end religious disputes.

Science city

Along with its old-world charm, the local government wants to promote Heidelberg as a business location. Just one hour from Frankfurt, Heidelberg is an internationally recognised science centre. Many of its research institutions are working in cutting-edge areas and include the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, which is doing research in biochemical instrumentation, cell biology, biophysics.

Life-sciences research has been Heidelberg's core competence, and its technology park houses more than 60 companies. Of course, the world also knows the Heidelbergers as the best in printing technology.

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