Heidelberg
Our thoughts about Europe so far are it seems to be an area of the world with a rich history, old buildings and interesting people. The landscape in Northern Germany has been more flat and some rolling hills with scattered little villages of old brick homes. There is a lot of farm land with roaming cows, horses and sheep.
A view of the castle from old town Heidelberg.
We started our travels today by catching an early train out of Hamburg headed for Heidelberg. Heidelberg is an old German town with a lot of historical significance. Most of the significance surrounds the "old town" region and specifically its castle.
The view from our hotel room.
The first thing we did when we arrived was to take the bus to the old town and check into our hotel. Once checked in, we dropped off our bags and walked around to find our way toward the castle. It was quite a hike since the castle is up on the hillside and there was a very steep, old brick road (now just a walking path) that led up to the castle entrance. From the castle you get some great views of the city, the river, and the surrounding valley.
The path up to the castle (to get a sense of how steep it is, see the flat bench halway up on the right)
The castle is in partial ruins from when it was destroyed by the French about 300-400 years ago. Some of the castle has been restored over that time, but nowadays they just maintain the ruins as it stands in order to preserve its authentic history.
Inside the castle
We took a guided tour through the castle and learned a lot about its construction and inhabitants. It is quite interesting as the castle was built over a long period of time (400 years). Because of that, there are a lot of different styles including gothic, renaissance, baroque, etc. There was even one room that was used by the Nazis and still has Nazi style furnishings (Hitler was there twice). After World War II, they had to discuss whether to take down all the Nazi construction, but decided to leave it as a significant part of the history of the place (though they did remove all the flags, swastikas, etc).
The castle's main courtyard
After our tour and walking around the grounds taking photos, we headed back into the old town to grab a bite to eat. We also explored the shops before heading back to our hotel to an early bed so that we can get up early and head to Fussen/Hohenschwangau.
Back in old town for dinner
Heidelberg Tun. Under one of the main halls is this HUGE wine barrel which holds over 58,000 gallons! There is even a pump in the room above so they could have wine "on tap".
The chapel in the Heidelberg Castle is no longer used as a worship hall. Its primary use is as a wedding chapel. Our tour guide told us that sometimes 5 weddings a day are held here in the summer and it is one of the most sought after destination weddings for wealthy Japanese couples.
Found in the main dining hall, this was where the king's guests would vomit in order to continue eatting after they were full. Refusing the king's hospitality was rude and the King wanted to show his wealth by over feeding his guests! YUCK
The view from the castle wall looking west back over the city of Heidelberg and toward the Rhine River.
Old town and the Neckar River from the castle
Our room
One of many statues and old buildings in Heidelberg
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