HEIDELBERG

Cultural capital of the Neckar Valley

Carrying on upwards the Rhine, I reach the city of Heidelberg. It has nothing to do with Freiburg, the previous destination. It is a much larger town, with many more monuments to visit and above all a large influx of tourists; so I'm in for a busy day.

I start my visit on the extremely long main street or Hauptstraße of the German city, which is more than two kilometers long. The buildings are beautiful and there are shops selling literally anything, especially as a fan of crystal stones I found many of them. A kind of pastry shop draws my attention because they only sell some sweets called "Schneeballenträume" and while talking to the baker he tells me it is a typical candy from the historical region of Franconia, an area in central Germany very close to Heidelberg. Obviously, I can't refuse, so I tried the literal "snowball dreams", they tasted deliciously good.

Then, I go back a little towards the university square, in order to visit the Studentenkarzer, a kind of "prison" where students who misbehaved at night were locked up. Heidelberg has been a university town since the Middle Ages and for almost five centuries even enjoyed its own jurisdiction for university students, so they were able to use this little prison until 1914! It is very interesting to be able to see and read the graffitis that the students of those times did, and certainly it is a very particular tourist attraction. In addition, right in front of me I find a large church that amazes me a lot for its inside whiteness, which I hadn't felt for days after visiting so many churches in a row.

Afterwards, I continue along the main street to the market square or Marktplatz, where the cathedral is located as well as many souvenir shops, where I buy a German flag. In a restaurant there, I tried authentic and typical German food for the first time and with great enthusiasm. I must say that the food was exquisitely delicious, the best I have eaten in the whole trip by far. Once the dish eaten up, I walk along the picturesque Kornplatz to the funicular station that takes me up the hill to Heidelberg Castle.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with the funicular ride, because I thought I would be able to see the views during the journey, but it went underground. However, the view from the top of the hill called Königstuhl, literally King's Chair in English, was incredible and the complex of the Heidelberger Schloss (Heidelberg Palace), much bigger than I expected. But more unexpected is the history of this castle nowadays in ruins. It was originally built in the thirteenth century and destroyed numerous times during various military conflicts such as the Thirty Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars, as well as several fires. Then there were some attempts for a partial reconstruction and when they finally began to be carried out, the castle was struck by lightning leading to another fire that destroyed the building once again. Once that damage was fixed, another lightning struck again at the same place, leaving behind any incentive to rebuild, and highly mystifying the place.

The complex I am visiting now has been very well and partially restored, as well as turned into a symbol for the inhabitants of Heidelberg. The green space made up of the various gardens is extremely huge and there are many hiking trails that start from them up and down the hill. In addition, the panoramic views from the Scheffelterrasse are extraordinary. It also has an apothecary museum and tours of the castle interior remainings. Unfortunately however, everything is under renovation and there are even parts of the gardens that are inaccessible, so I will take this as an excuse to go back.

I go back down to the old town to head towards the gate of the Old Bridge of Heidelberg, which is undoubtedly the most distinctive and iconic sign of the city. But first, I stop to have a snack on some typical chocolates of the city: the Studentenküsse or student kisses in English, in the Konditorei Knösel café, named after the pastry chef who invented them in the nineteenth century. Knösel noticed that young aristocrats and university students both frequented his café, but it was socially frowned upon for his clients to talk to each other. So, the student boys began ordering these sweets for the upper-class daughters, indirectly as a "kiss of the students". Hence the history of this candy became a symbol of the city and even of the entire country, given that on many state visits these sweets are offered to foreign leaders.

Then, I cross the bridge to go up a hill, called Heiligenberg, which is on the other side of the Neckar River, a direct tributary of the Rhine. The whole area is a large complex of forests, historical ruins, hiking trails and much more, which extend over a very large area, I am really surprised by the wide offer that German cities have in terms of green routes that can be done in their cities’ vicinity. I decide to go up the Schlangenweg, with pretty steep, narrow paths and quite high walls that make you feel like you're in a labyrinth. I'm there for a long time, longer than I'd like, but the viewpoints along the route are magnificent and the route leads to the main path: the path of the philosophers or Philosophenweg. As the name suggests, the philosophers and philosophy students of the city used the road to philosophize, and I'm not surprised given how long it is, the distances on google maps really seemed much shorter, but I do not complain too much due to the beauty of the landscape.

I end my day in Heidelberg by going down the hill and finishing the philosophers' path. I loved the city, and I would sum up my stay with the word "culture", every corner tells a story and any name you can find cannot be a coincidence, it surely contains a good anecdote. It is not a city to see in one day as I have done, I would have rather spent much more time discovering more details and walk the thousand routes that start from Heidelberg. I know I’m very repetitive, but I can't recommend this destination more because of the cultural offer that no other city on the route, despite being even bigger, has offered me so far.