Castle of the Week 5 - Schloß Heidelberg
Heidelberg Castle, which is also known as the Red
Walled Castle, is built on a 195m (640 feet) high hill called
Jettenbühl which overlooks the eastern side of the city in
south west Germany. It has beautiful views down into the Altstadt
and along the Neckar River. Although now mostly in ruins, it is
still possible to see the grandeur of the original buildings,
home for five centuries of the Palatine Electors. They were
powerful princes who ruled this area of Germany during the period
of the Holy Roman Empire. The castle was built between the 14th
and 17th centuries, each Elector adding buildings and
fortifications so there is no common building style. The west and
south mainly consists of plain Gothic structures and the north
and east has massive walls from the Renaissance palace decorated
with sculptured statues of the Electors. Most of the structure
was built of red sandstone which gave it its nickname.
The first castle was built by the Romans in AD40
and occupied by the 24th Roman and 2nd Cyrenaican Cohorts. It was
over-run by the Alemans in 260. There are no records of the
building after that until the early 15th century.
The Elector Ruprecht III started the building with an unpretentious royal residence and inner courtyard for his own use. Fountain Hall, another royal residence, was built next to this first building by Elector Philipp at the end of the same century. Legend has it that the four granite columns still standing in the courtyard were brought by him from a ruined castle of Charlemagne’s. In the 16th and 17th centuries the palace was enlarged and fortified with barracks, a library, gatetower, thick tower, bell tower, the west wall, ramparts and a prison.
The main building on the west side, a theatre
which saw the first Shakespeare performances in Germany, was
called the English Building and was constructed a few years later
by Friedrich V in honour of his wife who was from England. He
also created the world-famous palace gardens. His buildings were
among the most original built in Germany at that time, but to
have room for the new buildings & garden he reduced the
fortifications and had the defensive ditches filled in. The court
was one of the most sumptuous in Germany although he was known as
the Winter King as he only reigned for one winter. He lost a
battle near Prague and, with it, the electorship which passed to
Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. This was the beginning of the Thirty
Years’ War.
In 1622 the castle (as well as the gardens and
city) were destroyed by General Tilly after two months’
siege. The famous Bibliotheca Palatina (3,500 manuscripts and
5,000 prints) was transported over the Alps and presented to the
Pope by Maximilian as plunder. In 1649 Elector Karl-Ludwig
(Friedrich’s son) could at last return to the castle and he
started to rebuild it.
Hardly had it been finished, when Louis XIV laid
claim to the castle. The claim was rejected and the War of
Succession began. In 1689 the castle was captured and plundered
by the French and in 1693 it was almost totally destroyed by
them. Elector Karl Theodor started to restore the castle on the
old Gothic layout but in a Baroque style so that he could live in
it. He built the Old Bridge and Karl’s Gate and his
initials (CT) are inscribed on a giant vat called the Heidelberg
Tun which can still be seen in the cellars. The wine barrel,
which holds 58,124 gallons (220,017 litres), was made in 1751
from 130 oak tree trunks and is 8.5m across and 7m high with a
dance floor on top. Almost restored once again, the castle caught
fire after a lightning strike in 1764 and almost burned to the
ground.
During the next few decades, stones from the
ruins were used to build new houses in Heidelberg but this was
stopped in 1800 by Count Charles de Graimberg who wanted to
preserve what was still left.
In 1848 a German National Assembly was convened at the castle and in 1849, during the Palatinate-Baden rebellion, a revolutionary army was stationed there until they were defeated by the Prussians.
The buildings were partly restored in 1900 and since then the state of Baden-Würtemburg has spent about DM40 million on the upkeep of the remains. In 1934 the King’s Hall was built in a Gothic style and is now used for banquets, weddings, concerts and balls. In summer the courtyard is used for theatrical and operatic performances.
Now it’s largely in ruins but still has
examples of medieval, Renaissance and baroque German
architecture. One wing houses a pharmaceutical museum and there
are often firework displays when all the windows are lit up with
red flares to recreate the burning of the castle.
Written by
GillB*
. Photos courtesy of Castles of the World (View from bridge and
wine vat) and Scott Davies (ruined tower and inner
courtyard)
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