Day Five - Heidelberg

Today we traveled a bit away from the Rhine to Heidelberg along the Neckar River.  Heidleberg has ruins of a 13th century castle overlooking a lovely little town with the oldest university in Germany - Heidelberg University - established in 1386.  The town and castle were nearly completely destroyed during the war of succession, but the ruins leave the tale of a powerful castle held by an influential and wealthy lord.

The castle was located on the top of a mountain and surrounded by a moat that was never fully effective as a means of defense because it leaked.  (I think that is so funny as I picture a prince saying, "Well the duke's castle has a moat, so I need one too!")  As if the mountaintop was not defense enough along with the high walls.  By the time that canons were filled with gunpowder, there was not much that any building could do in a seige - moat or not!  Today the moat is (obviously) empty of any water, but does allow visitors to see the walls and drains.

We entered the castle through a bridge over the drained moat and passed through a wooden gate to enter into a large courtyard.  The courtyard is currently used for concerts and large events and offers a beautiful view of the ruins.  There is a rebuilt palace within the walls of the ruins that is not currently open to the public, but we were able to enter the wine cellars which contained what they claim is the largest wine barrel in the world.  It was so large that it took up an entire room in the cellar and they built a dance floor on top!  As part of the tithe (or taxes) that the peasants paid to the lord, many farmers would often bring wine to the lord  that was produced in their vineyards.  The wine was all pored into the large barrel for storage.  I do not know much about wine, but I can't imagine that the mixture was of the best quality!

After exiting the wine cellar, we walked to a balcony that offered a beautiful view of the town of Heidelberg below.  We saw many buildings, but they were not the original buildings that would have been seen in the 13th century because of a combination of war, flood, and fires throughout history.  We did see two buildings that were both made of stone rather than the wood used in the other buildings.  Holy Ghost Church may have physically survived, but it changed religious denominations frequently.  It began as a Catholic Church, but after the Reformation it became Protestant.  At one point, in 1706, both claimed possession and so they placed a partition in the church to give each their privacy.  The barrier was in place until it was removed in 1936.  The other stone building is currently a hotel, but 400 years ago it was the private home of a wealthy cloth merchant.

Today was a rather warm day with bright sunshine as we walked the cobblestone streets of the town.  Tomorrow we visit Strasbourg, France so I hope that the weather stays nice!