Schloss Heidelberg Castle, Germany
History – from Fortress to Palace then Ruins and now a Tourist Sight
Schloss Heidelberg Castle in the Neckar Valley, Baden-Württemberg went from fortress to Renaissance palace to Germany's most romantic ruins and a top tourist sight.
Heidelberg Castle is a very popular sight with foreign tourists in Germany. This castle towering over the old university town and Neckar River in Baden-Württemberg not only looks the part, it also has a long and colorful history.
Medieval Burg Heidelberg Fortress
Documentary evidence of the existence of a fortress (Burg) on a hill in the Neckar Valley above Heidelberg goes back to 1225. During the same period, a second fortress was built on the Molkenkur hill slightly higher than the main castle but this one was destroyed in 1537 by lightening and never rebuilt.
- Heidelberg Castle long served as a primary residence of the Wittelsbach rulers of the Electoral Palatinate (Kurpfalz). The family ruled the Palatinate from 1214 up to the Napoleonic era.
Renaissance Schloss Heidelberg
During the Renaissance period, Heidelberg Castle was increasingly converted from a fortress (Burg) to a more comfortable palace (Schloss). The building style moved from the medieval Gothic to the Renaissance during the sixteenth century. (The Renaissance generally arrived late in Germany.)
Elector Ludwig V (1508-44) improved the defenses and erected most of the buildings to the rear of the castle (and closest to the main entrance). These include the Dicker Turm (Fat Tower) closest to the old town, the elegant Ladies Wing and Library, as well as the Torturm (Gate Tower) that is still the main entrance into the castle.
However, it was Elector Otto Heinrich (1556-59) who expanded the castle to what was considered one of the loveliest Renaissance palaces north of the Alps. The largely restored Otto-Heinrich and Hall of Mirrors wings survived from this period.
Baroque Schloss Heidelberg
Heidelberg Castle saw the introduction of some Baroque elements into Renaissance structures long before Baroque became the style of choice of the German nobility. Elector Friedrich IV (1592-1610) erected the Renaissance-Baroque palace and terrace that face the old town and Neckar Valley.
His successor, the unfortunate Elector Friedrich V (1610-32), added the English wing, Elizabeth Gate, and laid out lavish gardens (the Hortus Palatinus). Schloss Heidelberg was at its peak during the early years of his reign before war ravaged not only the Kurpfalz but also all of Germany.
The Destruction of Heidelberg Castle
Although imperial troops occupied Heidelberg and its castle for most of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48), the castle itself was not damaged. However, during the War of Palatinate Successions (also known as the Orleans War) French troops systematically destroyed both castle and town in 1688/89 and in 1693. Attempts to rebuilt both town and castle were delayed and in 1720, the electors moved their primary residence to nearby Mannheim, where the largest Baroque palace in Germany was built (it is now used by the university).
Elector Karl Theodor (1742-99), who built the Alte Brücke (Old Bridge) across the Neckar from old town Heidelberg, nevertheless started rebuilding the castle in Heidelberg too. However, in 1764, a thunderbolt destroyed much of the castle and repairs were permanently halted.
- Karl Theodor, the Palatine Elector became the prince elector of Bavaria too when the Bavarian line of the Wittelsbach family died out in 1777. Karl Theodor was popular in the Palatinate but not in Bavaria – trying to give Bavaria to Austria in exchange for the Austrian Low Lands (most of present-day Belgium) and the elevation of his illegitimate sons to the nobility, did not go down well with his Bavarian subjects. His unexpected death from a stroke led to days of spontaneous celebrations in Munich.
Restoration of Heidelberg Castle, Germany
In the spirit of Romanticism, parts of the castle were restored during the nineteenth century. A French émigré Charles Count of Graimberg made the restoration of Heidelberg Castle his life ambition. The interiors are restorations, often inaccurate in the spirit of nineteenth-century Historicism
Most of Heidelberg Castle is still in ruins. The gardens may be restored to their late-Renaissance glory in the near future.
- Long opening hours help to make the Heidelberger Schloss the most popular sight in Heidelberg although the Baroque old university town is also worth exploring. Easy transportation makes Heidelberg a popular day-trip from Frankfurt am Main. Due to the proximity to Frankfurt International Airport (FRA), Heidelberg is an ideal first or last stop on a vacation in Germany.
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