Heidelberg, Germany

After finally getting settled into our home, we took the first the opportunity to travel to a unique place in Germany, Heidelberg. To be honest we wanted to go to the area because of the beautiful Heidelberg Castle, but little did we know that we were embarking into an amazing area of tremendous history. We invited the Dahlins to come with us on this trip, as they were a family that Heather got to know in Korea, and ended up settling in the same ward (church congregation) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Dahlins have become wonderful friends to our family, and it all started here. 

Heidelberg is an amazing city as it brought a dose of German architecture that was a beauty to behold. After realizing that our X5 still had our Thule bike rack on the top and that we couldn't fit in our original planned location, we had to find an alternative place to park which unfortunately was really far away from the Heidelberg castle, our first stop. What it did do was force us to actually see some of the amazing architecture along the walk back to the castle, which now we are super grateful for.  

See the church down at the end of the street? I had to go see it! Come to find out it was the Heiliggesitkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit). It was originally started in 1398, and it took over 150 years to complete. Its crazy when you see churches like this because the time the took to create is always littered in a period of tragedy. For this church for instance, it was set on fire by the French in 1709 during the war of the Palestinian Succession, but then was rebuilt with the new spire you can see here. It was huge and very very peaceful, but we had to meet the Dahlin's up at the castle so we didn't go inside. 

We made our way after a nearly 30 minute walk up to the Heidelberg Castle. Similar to our Korean experiences we needed to ride a trolley of sorts up to the castle that is actually called a funicular railway, which has been running for over 100 years and base at the Kornmarkt up to the summit of the Konigstuhl. Kids loved the 45 degree ascent up to the top of the mountain where the Castle and views were breathtaking. You can see from the river level how high up the castle is and just how breathtaking it is. 

When we got to Heidelberg Palace, its hard to appreciate that it really is a series of buildings, added on by this person or the next as it changed hands throughout different ruling parties. It dates back to 1214, expanded to two castles in 1294, but like I mentioned before there is always a period of tragedy, and this place is no exception. 1537 brought a lightening bolt and which ended up destroying one of the castles entirely. 

What was cool was to learn that this is called the castle of the counts. Its residents were the counts of palatine, passed from one to another, and even had Martin Luther visit it once. 

The palace became more of a fortress over time, as you can see from the above picture. 

You can see the different architecture styles that emanate from the different buildings. They were beautifully ornate.

We did a self guided tour, and spent the first portion just walking around the grounds and the outside. The magnitude of the castle palace is truly breathtaking. 

We then made our way through the internal portions of some of the areas that still intact. The rooms were incredible, but to see areas where they had large rooms in which they fashioned external toilets to a chair that gave you the ability to drop your deposits from 30 feet in the air into your moat or just a walk way was a novel idea to mock now, but was revolutionary then. Still just imagine being the one that got nailed as you were passing by; do you think they laughed if that happened?

 We also saw areas in which huge fireplaces were made which fashioned external vents for the smoke, which had never been done before. The wood work though was the most impressive to me, just nothing short of a masterpiece. 

We then turned inward further to some of the grand hallways, rooms, and stained glass work which I have come to love in Germany, and this castle was just as impressive (especially the nut-shields). 

We then made it around to the back of the castle where the view was nothing short of a memory I will cherish forever. Not only was the weather 75 degrees and clear, but the view was worth every moment to behold. You can see the Church of the Holy Spirit dominating the center of the town square. 

We then turned our attention to some of the fun, only in this place can you see this kind of thing. For instance, this is the Heidelberg Tun, or the world's largest wine barrel. It was built in 1751 by Prince Elector Karl Theodor to house the wine paid as taxes by the wine growers of The Palatine, and yes, holds 58,124 gallons of wine. The best part is that the Prince Elector Carl Philip appointed a court jester who watched over it, and was known for be so drunk all the time that legend has it he died when he finally drank a glass of water. 

Next was the Apothecary Museum. This gives a background in the pharmacy they had there, their laboratories, and still contains today over a 1000 raw drugs that were used from 1700-1900. This was the most state of the art pharmacy of the day. 

We then stopped for lunch with the Dahlins and found some amazing Italian food!

We completed our time here and then went back down the furnicular to the actual city. The history of this city during WWII is humbling. The Cornmarkt is where we started and the buildings are incredible! 

This feel is what we have come to love about this country. What really humbled me though was something I wasn't prepared for. I noticed as we were walking down the road of the main square that there were multiple areas in which gold plaques were on the ground. It was only until I looked down at them that I realized that they were fabricated to remember the Jewish families that were taken from the very homes that I was standing at, even their front doors. It made me cry to know that I was standing in an exact place where people were taken from their homes to never return. Enmordet means murdered.

After gaining my composure, we finished the day going all the way to the end of the main square where the Tower of the Old Bridge is found, perhaps the most well known structure in Heidelberg. The view of the castle, and area from here was amazing.

We ended the day seeing the famous "Heidelberg Bridge Monkey" which dates back to the 15th century. It was a stone statue sitting in the tower of the Old Bridge. The purpose of the tower was to instill fear and respect in anyone arriving in the town, while the monkey represented mockery. Touching his bare backside, the monkey showed the Electoral Palatinate Greeting to passers-by. His backside was pointed towards the town of Mainz, which was situated opposite the river bank, and thus, the greeting was addressed to the Bishops of Mainz, since the people of Heidelberg wanted to demonstrate that the Bishops in Mainz held no power over the Electors of the Palatinate. The intention of the mirror in the monkey’s hand was to encourage people to engage in critical self-reflection, and if you touch it, it means you will return back to Heidelberg. So we have another trip planned I guess. It was a great way to end the day, and in this case, little monster had an epic meltdown because we wouldn't buy him a car at the souvenir shop. 
-Kevin