View of Heidelburg,Germany, Baden Wurttemburg, from Philosopher's Way showing the old bridge and castle.
Heidelburg, Germany, Baden Wurttembourg. Heidelberg is on the river Neckar at the point where it leaves the valley in the Odenwald to flow into the Rhine valley where, 20 kilometres (12 mi) Northwest of Heidelberg, 1,000,000 years ago, the "Heidelberg Man", whose jaw-bone was discovered in 1907, the earliest evidence of human life in Europe, died at nearby Mauer. Modern Heidelberg can trace its beginnings to the 5th century when the village Bergheim ("Mountain Home") is first mentioned in documents dated to 769. Bergheim now lies in the middle of modern Heidelberg. In 863 the monastery of St. Michael was founded on the Heiligenberg. The first reference to Heidelberg can be found in 1196. In 1386, the University of Heidelberg was founded by Rupert I, Elector Palatine. Heidelberg's library, founded in 1421, is the oldest public library in Germany still intact. A few months after the proclamation of the 95 theses, in April 1518, Martin Luther was received in Heidelberg, to defend them. The old town (German: Altstadt), located at the southern side of the Neckar, is long and narrow and is dominated by the ruins of the Heidelberg Castle which perches 80 metres above the Neckar on the steep, wooded side of the Königstuhl (English: King's chair or throne) hill. The old bridge is a stone bridge which was erected from 1786 to 1788. On the northern side of the Neckar, the Heiligenberg with the remains of the celtic fortress and the Philosophers' Walk (German: Philosophenweg) is shows excellent views of the old town and castle. Heidelberg was the center of the epoch of "Romantik" (Romanticism) in Germany. There was a famous circle of poets such as Joseph von Eichendorff, Joseph von Görres, Arnim, and Clemens Brentano. Nowadays the city is very much on the tourist trail and can be seen and enjoyed to the full.
Size: 4087px × 4132px
Location: Heidelburg, Germany
Photo credit: © Tom Hanley / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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