History of Heidelberg

The history of Heidelberg dates back to the 5th century AD, when the beginnings of a permanent settlement started. Lorsch Monastery was erected in the year 764 AD and around 1130, Neuberg Monastery was built in the Neckar Valley at the same time that the bishopric of Worms extended its influence into the valley and founded Schoenau Monastery in 1142. Heidelberg eventually developed from a small hamlet at the foot of Worms Castle.

Heidelberg University, the oldest university in Germany and one of the oldest in Europe, was founded in 1386, and the Heidelberg Library, the oldest public library in Germany, was built in 1421. However, many collections were moved to the Vatican during the 17th century and were only returned to Heidelberg in 1986 for its 600th anniversary.

The city was burned and the castle was partly destroyed during the War of the Palatinate Succession in 1693. It was recovered and rebuilt in the 18th century, following the old Gothic style layout of the streets but with a new Baroque style of buildings. Amazingly, the city completely survived both World Wars and the university was reopened in 1945, thanks to the surgeon Karl Heinrich Bauer and the philosopher Karl Jaspers.

After WWII, the United States Armed Forces built gigantic barracks at the southern end of the city. As a result, Heidelberg’s population does not only include a great number of students who come to study at one of the oldest universities in Europe, but also around 30,000 American citizens, making Heidelberg a multi-cultural city with great diversity.  

Heidelberg has also welcomed many famous artists and intellectuals from all over Europe such as Joseph von Eichendorff, Jean Paul, Gothe, scientists Bunsen and Kirchhoff, atheist Ludwig Feuerbach, existentialist Karl Jaspers, political theorist Hannah Arendt and a handful of philosophers.

Mark Twain famously wrote about the wonderful city of Heidelberg in ‘A Tramp Abroad’, a non-fiction travel literature, in 1880, during his journey to Germany.