Heidelberg Castle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heidelberg Castle (German: Heidelberger Schloss) is the most famous ruin in Germany and is the symbol of the German city of Heidelberg.
The castle has only been partially restored since its destruction. It stands 80 meters up on the slopes of the Königstuhl hill, from where it dominates the town.
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[edit] History
[edit] Until the Castle's Destruction
[edit] First Mentions
The first mention of the town of Heidelberg dates back to 1147 under Konrad von Hohenstaufen, when Duke Friedrich von Schwaben divided his inheritance with his half-brother Friedrich Barbarossa and thus came into possession of the rheinfränkische territories. The claim that Konrad's main residence was on the Schlossberg (Castle Hill), known as the Jettenbühl, cannot be substantiated. The name Jettenbühl comes from the soothsayer Jetta, who was said to have lived there. She is also associated with the Wolfsbrunnen (Wolf's Spring) and the Heidenloch (Heathens' Well). The first mention of a castle in Heidleberg („castrum in Heidelberg cum burgo ipsius castri“) is in 1225, when Ludwig I received it from Bishop Heinrich von Worms. The last mention of a single castle is in 1294. In another document from 1303, two castles are mentioned for the first time:
All that is known about the founding of the lower castle is that it must have taken place between 1294 and 1303. Image:Heidelberger Schloss im 16 Jh aus Thesaurus Pictuarum.jpg Image:Heidelberger Schloss Neckar Alte Bruecke Heilgigeistkirche von Matthaeus Merian (Ausschnitt).jpg The oldest documents that mention Heidelberg Castle are:
- The Thesaurus Pictuarum of the pfälzischen Kirchenrats Markus zum Lamb (1559 to 1606)
- The „Annales Academici Heidelbergenses“ by the Heidelberg librarian and professor Pithopoeus (started in 1587)
- The „Originum Palatinarum Commentarius“ by Marquard Freher (1599)
- The „Teutsche Reyssebuch“ by Martin Zeiller (Strasbourg 1632, reprinted in 1674 as the „Itinerarium Germaniae“)
All of these works are for the most part superficial and do not contain anything of import. The case is different with Merian's Topographia Palatinatus Rheni from 1615, which describes Prince Elector Ludwig V as the person who „started building a new castle one hundred and more years hence“. Most of the descriptions of the castle up until the 18th century are based on Merian's information. Attempts to find an earlier year of the castle's foundation give rise later on to the observation that under Ruprecht I the famous court chapel had been erected on the Jettenbühl.
[edit] Palace of Kings, Prison of Popes
When Ruprecht III. became the king of Germany in 1401, the castle was so short of space that on return from his coronation, he had to camp out in the Augustinerkloster (Augustian monastery), the site of today's Universitätsplatz (University Square). What he wanted was space to impress guests and to house his household and court, while at the same time turning the castle into fortress.
After Ruprecht's death in 1410, his lands were divided between his four sons. The Palatine, the heart of his territories, were given to the eldest son, Ludwig III. Ludwig was the representative of the emperor and the supreme judge, and it was in this capacity that he, in 1415, after the Council of Constance, at the behest of Emperor Sigismund, placed the deposed Pope John XXIII in custody before he was taken to Burg Eichelsheim (today Mannheim-Lindenhof).
On a visit to Heidelberg in 1838, the French poet Victor Hugo took particular pleasure in strolling amoung the ruins of the castle. He summarized its history in this letter:
“But let me talk of its castle. (This is absolutely essential, and I should actually have begun with it.) What times it has been through! Five hundred years long it has been victim to everything that has shaken Europe, and now it has collapsed under its weight. That is becuase this Heidelberg Castle, the residence of the counts Palatine, who were answerable only to kings, emperors, and popes, and was of too much significance to bend to their whims, but couldn't raise his head without coming into conflict with them, and that is because, in my opinion, that the Heidelberg Castle has always taken up some position of opposition towards the powerful. In 1300, the time of its founding, it starts with a Thebais; in Count Rudolf and Emperor Ludwig, these degenerate brothers, are an Eteocles and a Polynices. Then the prince elector begins to grow in power. In 1400 the Palatine Ruprecht II, supported by three Rhenish prince electors, deposes Emperor Wenceslaus and usurps his position; 120 years later in 1519, Count Palatine Frederick II was to create the young King Charles I of Spain Emperor Charles V.“ From Victor Hugo: „Heidelberg“. Frankfurt am Main: Societäts-Verlag, 2003. ISBN 3797308256
[edit] Baden-Palatine War
In the Baden-Palatine War (1462), Elector Palatine Frederick I („Pfälzer Fritz“) took prisoner Charles I, Margrave of Baden-Baden, George of Baden, Bishop of Metz, and Ulrich V, Count of Württemberg. Frederick had his prisoners clapped into irons with little to eat, until they were prepared to pay the ransom demanded.
Charles had to pay 25,000 guilders, relinquish Sponheim, and declare Pforzheim a fiefdom of the Palatinate. The bishop of Metz had to pay 45,000 guilders. But the most important thing was that Frederick I of the Palatinate had established his claim to the title of Elector Palatine.
The story goes that Frederick made it clear to his involuntary guests exactly why the bread was missing by having them look through the window down on to the wasted land below. This is recorded in a poem by Gustav Schwab with the title „Das Mahl zu Heidelberg“ (The Feast of Heidelberg). Here is the 13th verse of the 15:
Sie sprangen von den Stühlen
Und blickten in das Land:
Da rauschten alle Mühlen
Rings von des Krieges Brand;
Kein Hof ist da zu schauen,
Wo nicht die Scheune dampft,
Von Rosses Huf und Klauen
Ist alles Feld zerstampft.
They leaped from their chairs
And looked over the land:
All the mills round about
Were ablaze with the flames of war
There was no farm to be seen
Whose barns were not on fire
All the fields are trampled down
By the horses hoofs.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
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[edit] References
- Hortus Palatinus by Salomon de Caus 1620 - plans for the gardens (some of which survive today)
- reprinted text of the "Bericht" of Praetorius 1613
- Praetorius as pastor in Dittelsheim (in German, with pictures)
- Illustrated description of Heidelberg Castle by Mark Twain in the Appendix of his 1880 European travelogue "The Tramp Abroad", available at Project Gutenberg.de:Heidelberger Schloss
fr:Château d'Heidelberg pt:Castelo de Heidelberg
