Heidelberg in the rain

It was raining when we set out on today's trip to Heidelberg and it rained for most of the day - but that didn't stop us from doing most of what we had planned!

We started with a train at 7.30am to Heidelberg via Mainz and then a visit to the Tourist Information Centre (TIC) to book for the 10.30am walking tour of the Old Town. By the time we had walked the 3km from the TIC to the Old Town, including calling in at the Christ the Evangelist Church on the way, we were just in time for the tour. Apart from ourselves there were eight others crazy enough to want to walk in the rain!

Window in Christ the Evangelist Church

Our tour leader, Christine, was very informative and did a good job of keeping us out of the rain whenever possible. She took us to the Church of the Holy Spirit (Heiliggeistkirche) which was reconstructed in 1544 with beautiful slim pink columns and had a mixture of traditional and modern stained glass windows. We definitely preferred the traditional ones on this occasion. This church was divided in two in 1706 with a wall between the sanctuary and the rest of the church so that it could be used separately by both Catholics and Protestants.

We passed the Ritter Hotel which was built in 1592 and is the only building in Heidelberg to have survived the French invasion of 1693.

Next stop was the Old Bridge (Alte Brucke) where there is a statue of a grotesque ape. It is said that, if you rub the coin he is holding you will have many children (or grandchildren).

The visit to the students' prison was fascinating. From 1778 to 1914 students were imprisoned there for minor offences such as riotous behaviour or not paying debts. To serve time there was seen as a mark of honour by the students and they covered the walls with amusing graffiti.

At the Old University we sat in the principal lecture theatre which was restored in 1886 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of its founding. The main painting shows the entry of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, to Heidelberg.

The final stop was the Church of the Jesuits. We had tried to visit that earlier but a funeral was just concluding, with the coffin being carried out and important looking mourners departing, so we returned later. For a church of the Baroque period, it is beautifully understated - white walls with capitals painted in gold and green; an elaborate pulpit but not much other decoration apart from the windows.

Following the walking tour, we had lunch at Hackteufel's, a romantic old inn with a friendly atmosphere. Pork escallope and fried potatoes with 'regional cheese' for Ian and herrings with buttered potatoes and beans for me.

After lunch we walked up a very steep cobbled path to the Heidelberg Schloss (castle) above the Old Town. There we visited the German Pharmacy Museum which had a fascinating display of the history of pharmacy through the ages, including several complete pharmacist laboratory and shop layouts.

Jonas, a post-doctoral English student with a very posh English accent (with German overtones) and a most dramatic manner, led us on a tour of the castle. The oldest preserved building in the castle was built in 1400 but large parts of the other buildings are now ruins, having been destroyed by a couple of invasions and a fire.

One thing that remains is the Grosse Fass or Great Cask, one of the largest wine barrels in the world, which was built in 1751 to hold more than 208 thousand litres.

The views from the castle would be wonderful in fine weather and for us they were special too as mist drifted down from the hills opposite  and gave the view a different sort of beauty.