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77-589: The district was created in 1973 by merging the previous districts Buchen and Mosbach. At first it was named Odenwaldkreis , however to avoid confusion with the neighboring district in Hesse with the same name it was renamed in 1974 to be Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis . As the name already suggests the district is located in the Odenwald mountains, with the highest elevation at the Katzenbuckel (626 m) near Waldbrunn in

154-590: A fertility rate of 1.1 children per woman in the Stadtkreis ( county ) , Heidelberg had the lowest fertility rate in Baden-Württemberg in 2008. Since 2006, the Oberbürgermeister ( lord mayor ) of Heidelberg has been the independent Eckart Würzner. From 1990 to 2006, the mayor was Beate Weber ( SPD ). The council consists of 48 members with the mayor as chairman. The council

231-591: A broad inland sea, then followed by sediments from the Late Triassic (or Keuper). The South German Cuesta Land thus formed. When the land in the Odenwald was uplifted again about 180 million years ago, more than 100 m of the sedimentary layering, in parts, was eroded away down to the bedrock , as can still be seen in the western Odenwald. The bedrock here is composed of a number of different rocks, among them gneiss , granite , diorite , gabbro in

308-582: A signal tower on the bank of the Neckar . They built a wooden bridge based on stone pillars across it. The camp protected the first civilian settlements and was eventually captured by Germanic tribes . The local administrative center in Roman times was the nearby city of Lopodunum, today known as Ladenburg . Modern Heidelberg can trace its beginnings to the fifth century. The village Bergheim ( Mountain Home )

385-416: A total of about 20,000 people), a historic high. The following table shows the number of inhabitants within the boundaries of the city at the time. To 1833 they are mostly estimates, then census results or official updates of the statistical offices of the time or the city administration. The data refer from 1843 to the "local population", from 1925 to the resident population and since 1987 the "population at

462-489: Is connected with monsters (knight Georg fights against the man-eating lindworm near Frankenstein-castle ) and creatures of nature with magic potency (a water spirit changed into a fox near Niedernhausen, the merwoman in the Meerwiese of Waldürn). Secondly the local legend is connected with the genre of the historic saga: a historic person or an original is portrayed anecdotally (the count of Erbach and Luther, resp.

539-540: Is directly elected for a term of five years. The task of the council is to decide all the affairs of the city, with the mayor presiding. The council controls the city administration and oversees the enforcement of its decisions. Heidelberg has always been a stronghold of The Greens . For the municipal elections in 2009, they split into the Green Alternative List and Alliance 90/The Greens and each ran their own lists. Together they gained 10 seats to become

616-675: Is first mentioned for that period in documents dated to 769 AD. Bergheim now lies in the middle of modern Heidelberg. The people gradually converted to Christianity. In 870 AD, the monastery of St. Michael was founded on the Heiligenberg inside the double rampart of the Celtic fortress. Around 1130, the Neuburg Monastery was founded in the Neckar valley. At the same time, the bishopric of Worms extended its influence into

693-558: Is known as a leisure destination easily accessible from the urban areas of Mannheim and Frankfurt . It is known for its clean thin air and was once known for its health sanitariums. There are many marked hiking paths through the rural areas. Wild blueberries , strawberries and mushrooms are to be found in the forests. The planned extension to the Odenwaldautobahn , that is, the A ;45 ( Dortmund – Aschaffenburg ),

770-714: Is part of the densely populated Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region which has its center in Mannheim . Heidelberg is located on the Neckar River , at the point where it leaves its narrow valley between the Oden Forest and the Little Oden Forest , and enters the wide Upper Rhine Plain . The old town lies in the valley, the end of which is flanked by the Königstuhl in the south and the Heiligenberg in

847-529: Is the oldest existing public library in Germany. In 1537, the castle located higher up the mountain was destroyed by a gunpowder explosion. The duke's palace was built at the site of the lower castle. Elector Frederick III , sovereign of the Electoral Palatinate from 1559 to 1576, commissioned the composition of a new Catechism for his territory. While the catechism's introduction credits

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924-677: The Philosophenweg ( Philosophers' Walk ) on the opposite side of the Old Town, winegrowing was restarted in 2000. There is a wild population of African rose-ringed parakeets , and a wild population of Siberian swan geese , which can be seen mainly on the islands in the Neckar near the district of Bergheim. Heidelberg is a unitary authority within the Regierungsbezirk Karlsruhe . The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis rural district surrounds it and has its seat in

1001-643: The Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938, Nazis burned down synagogues at two locations in the city. The next day, they started the systematic deportation of Jews, sending 150 to Dachau concentration camp . On 22 October 1940, during the "Wagner Buerckel event", the Nazis deported 6000 local Jews, including 281 from Heidelberg, to Camp Gurs concentration camp in France. Within a few months, as many as 1000 of them (201 from Heidelberg) died of hunger and disease. Among

1078-552: The Raubacher Joggel , landgrave Ludwig VIII: of Hesse-Darmstadt, robber Hölzerlips ). Thirdly a local tale explains an etiological or original myth (aetiological saga). For example, there is explained: Beside these legends there are two famous and well-known Odenwaldsagas: In the Nibelungenlied (see also Nibelung ) the dragon slayer Siegfried , on a hunting trip (instead of a failed campaign) leading from

1155-632: The Burgundian city of Worms into the Odenwald, is murdered by Hagen of Tronje . Since no exact spot for this deed has been handed down, countless communities, especially in the Hessian Odenwald are squabbling over the right to call themselves “Siegfried’s Murder Site”, for example a spring near Gras-Ellenbach ( Siegfriedsbrunnen ), Mossautal-Hüttenthal Lindelbrunnen ) or Heppenheim ( Siegfriedbrunnen ). The ruins of Rodenstein (below-mentioned) and Schnellerts near Fränkisch-Crumbach are

1232-683: The European Molecular Biology Laboratory and four Max Planck Institutes . The city has also been a hub for the arts, especially literature, throughout the centuries, and it was designated a " City of Literature " by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network . Heidelberg was a seat of government of the former Electorate of the Palatinate and is a popular tourist destination due to its romantic cityscape, including Heidelberg Castle ,

1309-1040: The German states of Hesse , Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg . The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried (the northeastern section of the Rhine rift) to the west, the Main and the Bauland (a mostly unwooded area with good soils) to the east, the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin – a subbasin of the Upper Rhine Rift Valley in the Rhine-Main Lowlands – to

1386-784: The Main . Parts of the Odenwald now lay in Roman-ruled Germania Superior . About 159, the Limes was shifted about 30 kilometres (19 miles) eastwards to the Miltenberg – Walldürn – Buchen - Osterburken line. In 260, Roman hegemony fell. The Alamanni were also thrusting into the Odenwald and settling the land between the Main and Neckar, after whom came the Franks . In the 5th century, the Franks, under Clovis I , divided

1463-697: The North Sea reached far inland, across the Wetterau Depression into the Rhine Valley. About 2500 BC, there is evidence that the Linear Pottery culture settled along the northern (Gersprenz) and southern (Neckar valley) edges of the Odenwald. About 400 BC, Celts (Gauls) settled throughout southern Germany. Almost all of the Odenwald was covered then with virgin forest , and the outer edges were not settled. Germanic peoples drove

1540-797: The Otzberg , the Daumberg and the Katzenbuckel, all extinct volcanoes in the Odenwald. Furthermore, volcanism with acidic rocks has left a legacy of rhyolites near Dossenheim . At roughly the same time, the Central European plate began to tear apart so that the Upper Rhine Rift developed. Even as the Upper Rhine Rift valley still sinks today by just under a millimetre each year, the Odenwald, relatively to that,

1617-592: The Philosophers' Walk , and the Baroque old town. Heidelberg is located on the eastern edge of the Upper Rhine Plain ( German : Oberrheinebene ), at the place where the river Neckar leaves its narrow valley through the Odenwald mountains and begins the last leg of its journey across the plain towards Mannheim , where it merges into the Rhine about 20 kilometers downstream. A part of Heidelberg, including

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1694-530: The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis . The Rhein-Neckar Triangle became a European metropolitan area in 2005. Heidelberg consists of 15 districts distributed in six sectors of the town. In the central area are Altstadt (the Old Town), Bergheim and Weststadt; in the north, Neuenheim and Handschuhsheim; in the east, Ziegelhausen and Schlierbach; in the south, Südstadt , Rohrbach, Emmertsgrund, and Boxberg; in

1771-682: The Variscan , which more than 300 million years ago in the Carboniferous period ran through great parts of Europe . The cause of this orogeny was the collision of Africa ’s and Europe's forerunner continents. In the Triassic , about 200 million years ago, the land sank again, forming the Germanic Basin in which the metre-thick layers of red sandstone could build up . These were later covered over with layers of muschelkalk from

1848-572: The Wittelsbach family as owners of the Electorate of the Palatinate ; on the sinister (armsbearer’s left, viewer’s right) side is the Wheel of Mainz , a symbol of the old Electorate of Mainz . 49°29′N 9°17′E  /  49.483°N 9.283°E  / 49.483; 9.283 Odenwald The Odenwald ( German: [ˈoːdn̩valt] ) is a low mountain range in

1925-768: The "entire theological faculty here" (at the University of Heidelberg ) and "all the superintendents and prominent servants of the church" for the composition of the Catechism, Zacharius Ursinus is commonly regarded as the catechism's principal author. Caspar Olevianus (1536–1587) was formerly asserted as a co-author of the document, though this theory has been largely discarded by modern scholarship. Johann Sylvan , Adam Neuser , Johannes Willing, Thomas Erastus , Michael Diller, Johannes Brunner, Tilemann Mumius, Petrus Macheropoeus, Johannes Eisenmenger, Immanuel Tremellius , and Pierre Boquin are all likely to have contributed to

2002-463: The 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of worship were built on the Heiligenberg , or "Holy Mountain". Both places can still be identified. In 40 AD, a fort was built and occupied by the 24th Roman cohort and the 2nd Cyrenaican cohort (CCG XXIIII and CCH II CYR). The late Roman Emperor Valentinian I , in 369 AD, built new and maintained older castra (permanent camps) and

2079-619: The Atlantic. Storms ("Orkane") can create severe damage, and the Neckar is often affected by floods. According to the German Meteorological Service , Heidelberg was the warmest place in Germany in 2009. Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, " Heidelberg Man " died at nearby Mauer . His jaw bone was discovered in 1907. Scientific dating determined his remains as the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In

2156-415: The Catechism in some way. Frederick himself wrote the preface to the Catechism and closely oversaw its composition and publication. Frederick, who was officially Lutheran but had strong Reformed leanings, wanted to even out the religious situation of his highly Lutheran territory within the primarily Catholic Holy Roman Empire . The Council of Trent had just concluded with its conclusions and decrees against

2233-803: The Celts westwards across the Rhine to what is now France . About AD 100, the older Odenwald line of the Neckar-Odenwald Limes was built under Roman Emperor Trajan (98-117). This stretch of the Empire's border ran from Fort Wimpfen in the Valley ( Kastell Wimpfen im Tal ) northwards by way of the Forts of Neckarburken, the lesser forts of Trienz and Robern near Fahrenbach , Fort Oberscheidental, Fort Schloßau, Fort Hesselbach, Fort Würzberg, Fort Eulbach, Fort Hainhaus and Fort Hesselbach to Fort Wörth on

2310-747: The Churches and Schools of the Electoral Palatinate .″ In November 1619, the Royal Crown of Bohemia was offered to the Elector, Frederick V . (He was married to Princess Elizabeth , eldest daughter of James VI and I of Scotland and England, respectively.) Frederick became known as the "Winter King", as he reigned for only one winter before the Imperial House of Habsburg regained Bohemia by force. His overthrow in 1621 marked

2387-759: The English colonies there. In 1720, after assigning a major church for exclusively Catholic use, religious conflicts with the mostly Protestant inhabitants of Heidelberg caused the Roman Catholic Prince-Elector Charles III Philip to transfer his court to nearby Mannheim . The court remained there until the Elector Charles Theodore became Elector of Bavaria in 1777 and established his court in Munich . In 1742, Elector Charles Theodore began rebuilding

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2464-708: The Frankenstein pluton , and so on. In the eastern Odenwald, the red sandstone is all that is left of the sedimentary mixture. Farther east in the Bauland, the muschelkalk deposits still overlie the Early Triassic layers. Furthermore, in the south near Heidelberg , there is still Zechstein under the Early Triassic deposits. Roughly 50 to 60 million years ago, volcanoes formed along the great geological faults . Still bearing witness to this time are

2541-406: The Heidelberg–Mannheim Autobahn (motorway), which connected to the Mannheim–Darmstadt–Frankfurt Autobahn, and the U.S. Army installations in Mannheim and Frankfurt . The intact rail infrastructure was more important in the late 1940s and early 1950s when most heavy loads were still carried by train, not by truck. Heidelberg had the untouched Wehrmacht barracks, the "Grossdeutschland Kaserne" which

2618-473: The Mümling- and the Neckar-Valley. Songs have been written about the Odenwald: Heidelberg Heidelberg ( German: [ˈhaɪdl̩bɛʁk] ; Palatine German : Heidlberg ) is the fifth-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg , and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of students, it is Germany's 51st-largest city . Located about 78 km (48 mi) south of Frankfurt , Heidelberg

2695-410: The Palace. In 1764, a lightning bolt destroyed other palace buildings during reconstruction, causing the work to be discontinued. Heidelberg fell to the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1803. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Baden , re-founded the university, named "Ruperto-Carola" after its two founders. Notable scholars soon earned it a reputation as a "royal residence of the intellect". In the 18th century,

2772-494: The Palatinate Succession coupled with severe winters, thousands of German Calvinist Palatines emigrated in the early 18th century. They fled to other European cities and especially to London (where the refugees were called "the poor Palatines"). In sympathy for the Protestants, in 1709–1710, Queen Anne's government arranged transport for nearly 6,000 Palatines to New York. Others were transported to Pennsylvania , and to South Carolina . They worked their passage and later settled in

2849-417: The Palatinate-Baden rebellion of the 1848 Revolutions , Heidelberg was the headquarters of a revolutionary army. It was defeated by a Prussian army near Waghaeusel. The city was occupied by Prussian troops until 1850. Between 1920 and 1933, Heidelberg University became a center of notable physicians Czerny, Erb, and Krehl; and humanists Rohde, Weber, and Gandolf. During the Nazi period (1933–1945), Heidelberg

2926-415: The Protestant faiths, and the Peace of Augsburg had only granted toleration for Lutheranism within the empire where the ruler was Lutheran. One of the aims of the catechism was to counteract the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as well as Anabaptists and "strict" Gnesio-Lutherans like Tilemann Heshusius and Matthias Flacius , who were resisting Frederick's Reformed influences, particularly on

3003-470: The Rhine (German: Pfalzgraf bei Rhein ). In 1195, the Electorate of the Palatinate passed to the House of Welf through marriage. In 1214, Ludwig I, Duke of Bavaria acquired the Palatinate, as a consequence of which the castle came under his control. By 1303, another castle had been constructed for defense. In 1356, the Counts Palatine were granted far-reaching rights in the Golden Bull , in addition to becoming Electors . In 1386, Heidelberg University

3080-446: The Swedish army had conquered Heidelberg, imperial forces attempted to recapture the city. They quickly took the city, but were unable to take the castle. As they prepared to blow up its fortifications with gunpowder the French army arrived, 30,000 men strong, led by Urbain de Maillé-Brézé , who had fought in many battles and participated in the Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628), and Jacques-Nompar de Caumont, duc de La Force . They broke

3157-414: The US Army occupied soon after, renaming it the Campbell Barracks . In 1945, the university was reopened relatively quickly on the initiative of a small group of professors, among whom were the anti-Nazi economist Alfred Weber and the philosopher Karl Jaspers . The surgeon Karl Heinrich Bauer was nominated rector. On 9 December 1945, US Army General George S. Patton was involved in a car accident in

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3234-406: The adjacent city of Mannheim and died in the Heidelberg US Army hospital on 21 December 1945. His funeral ceremony was held at the Heidelberg-Weststadt Christuskirche ( Christ Church ) , and he was buried in the 3rd Army cemetery in Luxembourg . During the post-war military occupation , the U.S. Army used the Thingstätte for cultural and religious events. Civilian use started in

3311-516: The average in Germany (usually mid February in the recent years). While the weather in spring is typically warm, it is also known to change far more often than in the summer. Summer starts typically in June and stays until September. In this time the weather is typically stable, with single thunderstorms marking the only precipitation. Day temperatures of around 30 °C are typical, but can reach up to 40 °C during heat waves. Autumn starts warm in September and cools down to typical winter temperatures for

3388-435: The beginning of the Thirty Years' War . In 1622, after a siege of two months , the armies of the Catholic League , commanded by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly , captured the town. Tilly gave the famous Bibliotheca Palatina from the Church of the Holy Spirit to the Pope as a present. The Catholic and Bavarian House of Wittelsbach gained control over the Palatinate and the title of Prince-Elector. In late 1634, after

3465-405: The city of Heidelberg, beginning in the west and in a clockwise direction: Edingen-Neckarhausen , Dossenheim , Schriesheim , Wilhelmsfeld , Schönau , Neckargemünd , Bammental , Gaiberg , Leimen , Sandhausen , Oftersheim , Plankstadt , Eppelheim (all part of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis ), and Mannheim . Heidelberg has an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ), defined by

3542-401: The claim, in part because of religious differences between local Protestants and the French Catholics, as the Protestant Reformation had divided the peoples of Europe. The War of the Grand Alliance ensued. In 1689, French troops took the town and castle, bringing nearly total destruction to the area in 1693. As a result of the destruction due to repeated French invasions related to the War of

3619-468: The deportees from Heidelberg, the poet Alfred Mombert (1872–1942) left the concentration camp in April 1941 thanks to the Swiss poet Hans Reinhart but died shortly thereafter due to illness he contracted while held prisoner. From 1942, the deportees who had survived internment in Gurs were deported to Eastern Europe, where most of them were murdered. The U.S. 44th Infantry Division took part in combat in Western Europe throughout 1944 and early 1945, and

3696-512: The division's artillery commander, Brigadier General William A. Beiderlinden , became the subject of international headlines in March 1945, when he helped save Heidelberg from bombing by persuading Nazi troops to withdraw. When his command was ordered to shell the city, Beiderlinden took the initiative to contact the burgomaster and attempt to persuade Nazi soldiers to abandon their positions. Though burgomasters were forbidden from conducting such talks, Heidelberg's burgomaster ignored warnings from

3773-400: The early to mid-1980s for occasional concerts and other cultural events. Today, the celebrations on Hexennacht ( German for 'Witches' Night'), also called Walpurgis Night , the night of 30 April, are a regular "underground" fixture at the Thingstätte . Thousands of mostly young people congregate there to drum, to breathe fire, and to juggle. The event has gained fame throughout

3850-401: The first time in 1946. It is a city with an international population, including one of the largest American communities outside North America, but this is not analysed in the Heidelberg population statistics. At the end of December 2011, the city had 149,633 inhabitants with an official primary residence in Heidelberg (not including the soldiers and employees of the U.S. Army and their dependents,

3927-400: The historical old town and the famous Heidelberg Castle , is located in the narrow Neckar valley. Other parts (mostly quarters from around the 19th century or newer, or originally independent, later incorporated villages) sprawl out into the Rhine Plain and along the Bergstraße ( lit.   ' mountain road ' ), the narrow strip of characteristic landscape along the sharp border between

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4004-473: The huge Thingstätte amphitheatre on the Heiligenberg north of the town, for Nazi Party and SS events. A few months later, the inauguration of the huge Ehrenfriedhof memorial cemetery completed the second and last NSDAP project in Heidelberg. This cemetery is on the southern side of the old part of town, a little south of the Königstuhl hilltop, and faces west towards France. During World War II and after, Wehrmacht soldiers were buried there. During

4081-482: The job of opening the empty woods up by the central Frankish power ( Carolingian ), Lorsch Abbey from the west, Fulda Monastery from the east and Mosbach Monastery from the south. Amorbach Monastery had the greatest importance for ecclesiastical, cultural and economic development in the eastern Odenwald. In the 9th century in the southeastern Odenwald near the now more thickly settled Bauland, settlements were established. The muschelkalk-new red sandstone mineral boundary

4158-434: The land up into districts. In the 7th and 8th centuries came Christianization by Irish - Scottish and Anglo-Saxon monks ( Pirmin , Boniface ). On the muschelkalk lands of today's Bauland, which favoured agriculture , a broad mesh of settlements arose. The parts of the Odenwald farther in from the rivers, though, with their scant New Red Sandstone soils remained uninhabited. Four Benedictine monasteries were assigned

4235-455: The local Nazi gauleiter and discussed the matter with Beiderlinden. The negotiations focused on the importance of sparing Heidelberg University and other historic and culturally significant sites. Beiderlinden and the burgomaster agreed to terms, and the Nazis spared the city by evacuating. On 29 March 1945, German troops left the city after destroying three arches of the old bridge, Heidelberg's treasured river crossing. They also destroyed

4312-412: The matter of Eucharist ( the Lord's Supper ). The Catechism-based each of its statements on biblical proof-texts , and Frederick himself would defend it as biblical, not reformed, at the 1566 Diet of Augsburg when he was called to answer to charges of violating the Peace of Augsburg. This was the Heidelberg Catechism , officially called the ″Catechism, or Christian Instruction, according to the Usages of

4389-417: The more modern bridge downstream. The U.S. Army ( 63rd Infantry , 7th Army) entered the town on 30 March 1945. The civilian population surrendered without resistance. Heidelberg, unlike most German cities and towns, was spared from Allied bombing raids during the war. A popular belief is that Heidelberg escaped bombing because the U.S. Army wanted to use the city as a garrison after the war, but, as Heidelberg

4466-399: The north and the Kraichgau to the south. The part south of the Neckar valley is sometimes called the Kleiner Odenwald ("Little Odenwald"). The northern and western Odenwald belong to southern Hesse, with the south stretching into Baden . In the northeast, a small part lies in Lower Franconia in Bavaria. The Odenwald, along with other parts of the Central German Uplands, belongs to

4543-419: The north. The majority of the population lives in the districts west of the mountains in the Upper Rhine Plain, into which the city has expanded over time. Heidelberg University , founded in 1386, is Germany's oldest and one of Europe's most reputable universities. Heidelberg is a scientific hub in Germany and home to several internationally renowned research facilities adjacent to its university, including

4620-441: The plain and the Odenwald mountains. The town is bordered by the Königstuhl (568 m), the Gaisberg (375 m), and the Heiligenberg (445 m) mountains. Heidelberg is on European walking route E1 (Sweden- Umbria ). Heidelberg is among the warmest regions of Germany, and plants atypical of the central-European climate flourish there, including almond and fig trees , and many kinds of palm trees and olive trees . Alongside

4697-460: The protected valley between the Pfälzerwald and the Odenwald. The almost year round warm temperatures are usually determined by Atlantic air masses in the winter and increased influence from the western Mediterranean in summer. In contrast to the nearby Upper Rhine Plain , Heidelberg's position in the valley leads to more frequent easterly winds than average. The hillsides of the Odenwald favor clouding and precipitation. Spring starts earlier than

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4774-433: The region by the end of November. Precipitation levels begin to increase and, due to the decreasing sunlight, the region is affected by fog more frequently from the second part of October onwards. Winters are mostly mild, though light nighttime frosts do occur in the coldest months. Snow is a rare event, and precipitation normally falls as rain. Winters are the wettest time of the year, with frequent western winds blowing from

4851-431: The region, as well as a certain notoriety due to the amount of litter left behind. Officially, this event is forbidden due to security concerns. The City declares it will fence the Thingstätte and prosecute any trespassers. In 2022, a mass shooting occurred in the university , killing a woman and injuring three other people. The gunman then committed suicide. The population of the city of Heidelberg exceeded 100,000 for

4928-421: The setting of an Odenwald ghost story: during the night the knight Rodenstein (the Rodensteiner ) flies with a berserker-cornet through the air to prophesy the beginning of a war ( Wild Hunt motif). Countless streams rise in the Odenwald, the longest of which are the following: There are a few bodies of standing water in the Odenwald, among which are the following: Odenwald is twinned with: The Odenwald

5005-494: The siege and drove off the Imperial forces. In 1648, at the end of the war, Frederick V's son Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine , was able to recover his titles and lands. To strengthen his dynasty, Charles I Louis arranged the marriage of his daughter Liselotte to Philip I, Duke of Orléans , brother of Louis XIV , King of France. In 1685, after the death of Charles Louis' son, Elector Charles II , King Louis XIV laid claim to his sister-in-law's inheritance. The Germans rejected

5082-547: The site of their main dwelling." Prior to 1843 the population was determined by non-uniform collection procedures. Heidelberg has currently a population of about 160,000 and is the 5th largest city in Baden-Württemberg . About 37,000 (24% of the population) are students, which makes Heidelberg one of the largest university city in Germany. Heidelberg's population has grown since 1945 (after the WWII) and has almost never declined due to its popularity of this city where many workers, students and entrepreneurs moved to Heidelberg. With

5159-439: The southwest, Kirchheim ; in the west, Pfaffengrund, Wieblingen, and a new district, named Bahnstadt , is built on land in Weststadt and Wieblingen. The new district will have approximately 5,000–6,000 residents and employment for 7,000. Further, new residential space for 10,000–15,000 residents was made available in Patrick Henry Village following the departure of the US Armed Forces. The following towns and communes border

5236-408: The town was rebuilt in the Baroque style on the old medieval layout. In 1810 the French Revolution refugee Count Charles Graimberg began to preserve the palace ruins and establish a historical collection. In 1815, the Emperor of Austria , the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia formed the " Holy Alliance " in Heidelberg. In 1848, the German National Assembly was held there. In 1849, during

5313-404: The town, although the town is not a part of the district. Heidelberg is a part of the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, often referred to as the Rhein-Neckar Triangle . This region consists of the southern part of the State of Hessen , the southern part of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate ( Vorderpfalz ), the administrative districts of Mannheim and Heidelberg, and the municipalities of

5390-416: The valley, founding Schönau Abbey in 1142. Modern Heidelberg can trace its roots to this 12th-century monastery. The first reference to Heidelberg can be found in a document in Schönau Abbey dated to 1196. This is considered to be the town's founding date. In 1156, Heidelberg castle and its neighboring settlement were taken over by the house of Hohenstaufen . Conrad of Hohenstaufen became Count Palatine of

5467-434: The west of the district. The main river of the district is the Neckar . The district's coat of arms might be described thus: Per pale dexter bendy lozengy argent and azure, sinister gules a wheel spoked of six argent. The coat of arms shows the symbols of the two historical rulers of the district. On the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side is the blue and white "bendy lozengy" (that is, slanted diamond shapes) of

5544-695: Was a stronghold of the NSDAP /Nazi party (the National Socialist German Workers' Party), the strongest party in the elections before 1933 (the NSDAP obtained 30% at the communal elections of 1930 ). The NSDAP received 45.9% of the votes in the German federal election of March 1933 (the national average was 43.9%). In 1934 and 1935 the Reichsarbeitsdienst ( State Labor Service ) and Heidelberg University students built

5621-407: Was crossed. The following are some theories about the origin of the name Odenwald : Linguists who research phonetic changes and the sound shifts reject theories no. 1 to 3 and prefer 4 or 5; some historians favor no. 2. The numerous Odenwald folk legends are mostly connected with historic geographic sites (castle, town, rock, road and so on) They relate: In some stories the local aspect firstly

5698-705: Was founded by Rupert I, Elector Palatine . Heidelberg University played a leading part in Medieval Scholasticism , Renaissance humanism , the German Reformation , and in the subsequent conflict between Lutheranism and Calvinism during the 15th and 16th centuries. In April 1518, a few months after proclaiming his Ninety-five Theses , Martin Luther was received in Heidelberg, to defend them. Heidelberg's library, founded in 1421,

5775-417: Was neither an industrial center nor a transport hub, it did not present a tactical or strategic target. Other notable university towns, such as Tübingen and Göttingen , were spared bombing as well. Allied air raids focused extensively on the nearby industrial cities of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen . The U.S. Army may have chosen Heidelberg as a garrison base because of its excellent infrastructure, including

5852-728: Was never realized. Nevertheless, all these Bundesstraßen run through the Odenwald: Furthermore, the Nibelungenstraße and the Siegfriedstraße run through the Odenwald, partly along the roads listed above. The Odenwald is home to many historic castles and palatial residences. In times past the fortresses on the top of the Odenwald mountains controlled Bergstraße and the Weschnitz-, the Gersprenz-,

5929-487: Was uplifted to the height it has today. Along the faults, the small rivers Gersprenz and Weschnitz have, in part, carved their courses. The Upper Rhine Rift is part of a fracture zone reaching from the Mediterranean Sea to Norway . Right on the edge of the Odenwald, it is roughly 2 500 m deep, but has been filled in to its current height by river and sea sediment, for until about 20 million years ago,

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