In Heidelberg

My second day trip from Frankfurt by train was to Heidelberg, the historic city which is home of Germany's oldest university.  Heidelberg University was founded in 1386, and it remains one of the country's most reputable centers of higher education.  Because the city was not an industrial or transport center, it was not a target of Allied bombing during World War II.  Its picturesque "Altstadt" remains intact.

I entered the Old Town along Hauptstrasse (literally Main Street), a mile long pedestrian street which runs the length of the "Altstadt".

Along the Hauptstrasse is the Providenzkirche, a Lutheran church built in 1659.

Turning off of the main street, I came to one of the old university buildings.  Today it is the university museum.

Nearby is the Jesuit church which was built in the seventeenth century.

Back on the main street, I came to the old market square.  On one side is the former city hall.

Also facing the market square is one of the oldest remaining buildings in the city.  "Haus zum Ritter" (House of the Knight) was built in 1592 for a Huguenot cloth merchant.  Since 1705 it has served as a guesthouse or hotel.

At the other end of the square is the Church of Holy Ghost, a late Gothic church.

After the Reformation, a partition was built in the middle of the church, and it was shared by both Catholics and Protestants.  Today it is a Lutheran church.

A side street from the church leads to the Old Bridge, built between 1786 and 1788.  It replaced an older medieval bridge.  The gate at the bridge has been one of the entrances to the city since the Middle Ages.

The bridge offers nice views of the Neckar River, a tributary of the Rhine.

Looming over the city is Heidelberg Castle.

The castle was built as a fortress and residence for the Prince Electors of the Palatinate region of Germany.  A fortification has stood here since the 1200s, but the royal residences were built in stages through the 15th to 17th centuries.  It was one of the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.  However, much of it was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War and the Palatine War of Succession.

You pay admission to visit the grounds of the castle, but you are not allowed inside unless you have paid for a guided tour.  I thought that was a bit of a rip-off.  I caught a quick glimpse of an ornate chapel through an open door.

The castle at least gives you a beautiful view of the lovely city of Heidelberg.