Wednesday 11 July 2012

Heidelberg


Finally posting a couple from our Germany trip!
We only had a short time to spent in Heidelberg but we had a nice stroll around the old town. We climbed up to the castle and walked around it but to me, the castle seems the most impressive with the way it sits nestles in the hills on the edge of town. There are 3 main churches in the old town. The church of the Holy Spirit has a tower where you can climb up and get a magnificent aerial view of the town, bridges across the Nektar River and the castle and surrounding hills. The Jesuit church is very light and spacious with a magnificent organ at the back of the church and St. Peter's Church, "Pieters kirk" is the oldest, build in 1645?

We were able to see the Gothic Renaissance building side by side with the later Baroque style. Most of Heidelberg was destroyed between 1686 and 1689 and few buildings survive from before that. On exception is the "Rathouse", now a hotel and restaurant. Most of the buldings build as the town was reconstructed are in the lighter Baroque style (pictures)
Fortunately, Heidelberg was spared in WWII since it didn't have any significant military or industrial sites, and so can see these beautiful buildings from the 1700's.

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