That is what a famous romantic song about Heidelberg says...in English it sounds a bit weird...just envision Tony singing 'I left my heart in San Francisco...'
'A river runs through it...' and its name is Neckar....
In April 2003 I began my UAF exchange in Heidelberg. I went to learn German. I love this place! It turned into one of the hottest summers ever, but I enjoyed it all, especially being able to explore the area, like Marx's birthplace in Trier; the wine river of Mosel; the fortress-city of Wurzburg; etc.
This is a picture of my dorm...I almost felt like I was on a pilgrimage of sorts....my room is the one with the closed blinds and bush in front of it (direct middle of picture)...
I had heard about this, but it was strange to see it - in 2003 this is where the local LDS chapel stood. It was literally a 5-minute walk from where I lived. Now it's an apartment building....hmm...at least the Saints have a new chapel....
Here is the Hauptstrasse (Main Street). Apparently it's the longest in...Europe...or the world, at least that is what I was told...
You can take a cable car or bus up to the hill overlooking Heidelberg. The point is called Konigstuhl.
Beautiful, wunderbar, beautiful!
I took the bus up and since I had never taken the cable car, I decided to take it down. It was built in the early 1900's and is still going...here comes the cable car...
Looking up the hill in the cable car...
The famous Alte Brucke (Old Bridge) that crosses the Neckar river.
You then have to switch to a modern cable car half way down the mountain...
There are the ruins of Heidelberg castle. This was once the home of the Prinz-Elector of the Palatinate...until 1693 when Louis XIV's troops blew the castle up (I do not like him to this day for that)...
Entrance to the castle...
You can see how the French set gun powder and then blew this tower - all because Louis XIV laid claim to the Palatinate's lands and the people said no way...
The castle gardens...
There is the castle (being renovated) on the left and then the Neckar river and Heidelberg below - traumhaft!
This one is for Momma's sake - I'm ok, Mom ;)
Beautiful...
This is 'Knight's House'. It's in the main square and was the ONLY building to survive the French troops in 1693, because the owner was a French Huguenot and talked the soldiers out of it...
Heidelberg has been a 'college town' since the 1300's. The owner of this cafe in the late 1800's created a treat for male students to offer to girls they liked (no touchy-touchy back then)....this cafe is famous for having invented the...
StudentenKusse - Student Kiss....male student could give these without raising the ire of the girls' chaperones...
It tastes ok, not the greatest thing in the world, but it's ok...
These are the towers to the Alte Brucke over the Neckar river...
If you look on the bridge support they've put the date and where the water hit on that day. I remember reading that Neckar is corrupted form of an old Celtic word (the Celts lived all over this region before the Germans) that means 'wild river'. It's has made Heidelberg suffer many a flood...
Looking down the river...
Looking up the river...
Looking back at the city....beautiful...
The 'yellow' building on the left looks different from when I lived in Heidelberg, but I was told that this is where Mark Twain stayed when he came to visit Heidelberg...
This is Max Weber Haus. This is where I went to my German language classes during my UAF exchange here in 2003. Oh what a group we were...a Lithuanian; 2 Moroccans; a Bulgarian; a Nigerian; another American; etc. Interesting times...
.....and this was my view every day in my classroom...I know, hard times, eh?
We've made our way now back to the city square. This is the Protestant 'Church of the Holy Ghost'. Heidelberg is interesting, because Martin Luther came here and preached and the whole place became Protestant. After the 30 Years' War, however, the rulers of Heidelberg/Palatinate were Catholic. So LITERALLY in this church until 1936 there was a big wall inside the church. One side is where the Protestant citizens had services and then on the other side of the wall, is where the Catholic Prinz-Elector had mass. Hmm....
This is City Hall with the castle in the background...
This is the Catholic 'Holy Ghost Church' just around the corner.
When I lived here I went to my first Catholic mass on Easter Monday here. They were renovating it, so it didn't look like....
THIS! ;) Beautiful....
Maybe it's the 'Mormon' in me, but I just love simple, pure and white....like the chapel in Versailles, France. Beautiful....
This is the Student Jail, where students would go if they'd broken somekind of rule. It was en vogue to do something so you could be thrown in there.
This is the 'old auditorium' of the University of Heidelberg in 1386, that makes it the oldest university in Germany!
This is Karlstor (Charles's Gate) as you enter the old city...
'Isn't it romantic?....'
Or just creepy that I took a picture of them? ;)
Cute street in Heidelberg...
Probably one of my favorite buildings in Heidelberg, the University Library!
Nighty-night, Heidelberg....sweet dreams...
Ok, WAKE UP! Time to go! ;)
So this is day 2 and we're going to take a boat ride up the Neckar river...
SHAZAM, what a view!
The Neckar river valley....beautiful...
Here is one of the locks we had to go through...
We go in...the back door closes....then...
WHOOOSHHH! The water fills the lock, the boat is raised up, and then we boat on our merry way....
Who thought up things like that? Amazing!
Neckar river valley....this is how I imagine West Virginia? Does anyone know if WV looks like this?
This is a town called Dilsberg perched on top of a little hill. My friends and I went there and explored it whilst I lived in Heidelberg back in the day...
Dilsberg and the river = the Vier Burgen (the 4 Fortresses). This area has 4 old fortresses that were used at different times back in the day....
#1
#2
#3 It seems like this one is still in use...
#4
And our boat ride has ended in the town of Neckarsteinach. Let's go see what's there...
And our boat ride has ended in the town of Neckarsteinach. Let's go see what's there...
If you can see the dates on this wall post, you can see that the Neckar has also given this town some flooding headaches as well....
Cute little City Hall....
There is a 'Fachwerk' house (the German, boarded houses) and the Protestant church in the background...
Inside of the Protestant Church....very 'modern' stained glass windows...
I think it's interesting, but Americans seem to love Europe for it's 'oldness' and all of the 'old buildings' and 'old things', while some Europeans get tired of that and so when the chance comes around, they want to do something 'new'. Often it looks odd, but sometimes it works...
Here is the Catholic Church, built 300-ish years after the Protestant one - again, this is 'Protestant land'....
I thought this cross in front of the Catholic Church was really interesting....
Underneath it says 'don't worship/pray to the wood of the Cross, but rather He who hung on it.' Good advice...
Goodbye Neckarsteinach! You're a cute little town, thanks...
back to Heidelberg, and another street....
This is Friedrich Ebert's birthplace. He later became Germany's first President during the Weimar Republic.
Old City street with the Alte Brucke in the background....
GIVE ME A BREAK! HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THAT?!!!
'I'm ready Mr. DeMille for my close-up.' ;)
With pleasure, my dear...
I loved, loved, loved coming back to Heidelberg! So beautiful, so many wonderful memories.
Thanks to Lillian and her family for letting me stay with them and for making this trip down Memory Lane possible.
Au revoir, bella Heidelberg!
