History of the Castle Heidelberg

The Heidelberg Castle is one of the most famous ruins in Germany and the emblem of the city Heidelberg.Bis its destruction in the Nine Years War it was the residence of the Electors of the Palatinate. Since the destruction caused by the soldiers of Louis XIV. In 1689, 1693 Heidelberg Castle was only partially restored. The ruined castle from the red sandstone Neckar valleys rises 80 meters above the valley on the northern slope of the king chair and dominated from there the image of the old town. The Ottheinrichsbau is one of the most important German Renaissance structures. Around the year 1182 moved Conrad, Count Palatine of the Rhine, half-brother of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and since 1156 Count Palatine of the Rhine, his court of Stahleck Castle on the castle of Heidelberg. The city of Heidelberg is mentioned for the first time in 1196. As Ludwig I in 1225 received the castle of Bishop Henry of Worms as a fief, was first mentioned a castle in Heidelberg. 1214 Dukes of Bavaria were beleht out of the house of Wittelsbach with the County Palatine. 1294 is a castle of the speech last. 1303, for the first time in a document listed two castles, the upper castle on the small Gaisberg and the lower castle on the Jettenbühl.Lange time had therefore become established in the research of the opinion that the establishment of the lower castle 1294-1303 arisen should be. With new Archi logical findings and investigations of the lower castle we came to the conclusion that the origin is now on the first half of the 13th century worde dated. 1897 walled-late Romanesque window find was made in the partition between glassy hall and Friedrichsbau. Excavation promoted in 1976 at the northeast route of Ruprechtsbaues in a deposited layer and demolition debris in 1400 Fragment of a window in the shape of a trefoil arch evident. An archived logical investigator in 1999 in the field of construction Ludwig bestättigt a building of the castle complex in the first half of the 13th century. In 1401 Ruprecht III was. German king and there was a large room in the castle deficiency. There was room for the presentation and to provide officials and courtiers. The castle had to be expanded into a fortress. 1410, according to Rupert's death, the dominions among his four sons divided. The Palatine family seat went to the eldest son Ludwig III. In 1415, this brought as a representative of the emperor and supreme judge on behalf of King Sigismund, the abgezetzten Pope John XXIII. at the castle in custody. 1838 visited the French poet Victor Hugo, the ruins of the castle and wrote about a story which he summarized in a letter. (According to read at Wikipedia). 1462 in Baden-Palatinate War of the Elector Frederick of the Palatinate I. took the Margrave Charles I of Baden, Bishop George of Metz and the Count Ulrich of Württemberg V. trapped in the castle. By the time they were ready to make dievon required him ransom payments were placed in hard food in chains. 25,000 guilders had Margrave Karl I. numbers, leave as a pledge Sponheim and Pforzheim explain Palatinate fief. 45,000 guilders had to pay Metzer bishop. The most important was but had geichert his claim as Elector Frederick I of the Palatinate. Martin Luther visited under the leadership of Count Palatine Wolfgang, the brother of Louis V., the castle. At the time the castle was under the reign of Louis V. In a letter of 1518 Martin Luther praised the beauty and military equipment of the castle. During the Thirty Years' War for the first time bullets were flying against the castle of Heidelberg. Thus ends the story of the actual castle building, there was only destruction and restore the full lowing centuries. Frederick V of the Palatinate triggered a disaster when he took the kingship of Bohemia, in spite of many concerns. After the Battle of White Mountain, he was an outlaw on the run and had hastily dismissed his troops, the General Tilly, the commander in chief of the Catholic League troops in the service of the Elector of Bavaria. an undefended Palatinate had before him. On 26 August 1622, he opened the bombardment of Heidelberg and took on 16 September 1633, and a few days later the lock-in. As on May 5, 1633 Sweden had taken the city of Heidelberg and opened by the king of the castle chair from the fire, gave the imperial commander on 26 May 1633 the fortress. The following year, troops of the emperor tried again reconquer the castle back, but it was only in July 1635 succeeded again in their power, in which it then up to the conclusion of peace also remained. Only on October 7, 1649 moved the new ruler in the disrupted strain castle of his family again. The publication of the Palatine Allodialgutes demanded the French King Louis XIV., After the death of the childless Elector Charles II., The last prince of the line-Palatinate Simmer, on behalf of the Duchess of Orléans. On 29 September 1688, the French armies engaged in the Nine Years War in the Palatinate and moved to the Philipp Wilhelm, Elector of the new line of Pfalz-Neuburg, abandoned Heidelberg on 24 October of the same year a. Against the allied European powers decided the French council of war to escape by destroying all fortifications and devastation of the Palatinate state, the enemies of the possibility of the onset of the area. On March 2, 1689 near the castle and the city in many places was after disengagement from the city, also set on fire. Johann Wilhelm left immediately after his entry into the ravaged city to restore the walls and towers. 1691 and 1692 were the French again at the gates of Heidelberg, but since they found the city in such a good Verteidugungszustand, they went empty-handed again. On 18 May 1693, the French were again before the city, and took it on May 22, 1693, a. With the destruction of the city they wanted to create the main base of operations against the castle, as though they had taken the city, but not the castle. On the following day surrendered the castle garrison and has now been rescheduled what had been carried out incompletely in the rush of the trigger 1689. The towers and walls were gespreng by mines. 1697 brought the Fieden of Rijswijk, with the Palatine Succession war ended, finally some peace. It was planned to demolish the castle and use the usable parts to build a new palace in the valley. When difficulties arose in the implementation of this plan, the castle was poorly restored. At the same time, Karl Philipp contributed to the idea of ​​a complete rebuilding of the castle, but the lack of funds pushed on this project, and when the Elector in 1720 with the Protestants of the city came into conflict because of release of the Holy Spirit Church to the Catholics, the laying residence to Mannheim had the effect of ending the interest of the electors at the Heidelberg Castle. When he announced the transfer of its residence with all authorities to Mannheim on 12 April 1720 he left the old capital of their fate. Probably the religöse conflict was only the final push to abandon the old one hard to be built into a baroque castle mountain plant. Karl Theodor succeeded him and was planning to relocate temporarily domiciled back to Heidelberg Castle. As on June 24, 1764 Lightning struck twice in a row in the hall of the castle and this blew again, he decided against it. In the following decades only necessary renovations have been made, but the castle was and remained mostly in ruins. 1777 lost Elector Karl Theodor Heidelberg Castle out of sight, as he moved his residence from Mannheim to Munich. The covered premises were used by craft shops. 1767 one had already begun to use the square of the Südwalles as building materials for the Schwetzingen palace. 1784 vaults were even placed on the ground floor of the Ottheinrich and the castle used as a quarry. 1803 went to Heidelberg and Mannheim Baden. The large area growth was Großherog Karl Friedrich welcome, but the Heidelberg Castle he regarded as an undesirable addition. The buildings fell into disrepair, Heidelberger citizens gathered from the castle stones, wood and iron to build their houses. Ornaments and figures were repulsed. 1803 August von Kotzbue full of indignation expressed about the intention of the Baden government to erode the ruins. At the beginning of the 19th century, the castle was destroyed a symbol of the patriotic spirit which was directed against the Napoleonic suppression. 1800 recognized painter and draftsman an ideal typical ensemble in the castle ruins. The French Count Charles de Graimberg was the savior of the castle. He fought against the plans of the Baden government for which the Heidelberg Castle, the "old walls with its diverse, tasteless, ruinous Ornaments" was., For the preservation of the castle ruins. Until 1822, he provided himself with the Office of the voluntary Castle Guardian and lived for a time in the stem of the Crystal Saalbaues, he was the first of caring for the preservation and documentation of the castle. Thomas A. Leger wrote on the back of Auftag Graimsberg, the first castle guide. He behaves the castle ruin a reputation, the hunt tourism to Heidelberg. In 1868 the poet Wolfgang Müller king of winter for a complete renovation of the castle made strong and so provoked strong reactions. The dispute about the correct use of the castle ruins a Grundsatzdisskusion about the task of monuments developed. Built in 1883, the Grand Duchy of Baden government office a castle that was geleidet under the supervision of the construction director Joseph Durm in Karlsruhe from Bezirksbauinspektor Julius Koch and architect Fritz Seitz. Task dea offices was to make an accurate inventory of proposing and measures to maintain or instant reduction in the main building. 1890 ended the work of the castle offices, and formed the basis for a commission of experts from all over Germany, whose conviction was not coming partial or complete restoration of the castle into consideration, but a conservation of the current state of ruin to strive with all means is. Only the Friedrichsbau who was never a ruin and only its nnenräume were destroyed by the fire was, should be restored. By Carl Shepherd originated from 1897-1900 this restoration, at a cost of 520,000 marks. at the beginning of the 19th century began the tourism. In the 20th century the Americans fell even more the Heidelberg-Schloss.Mythos and carried him out into the world. At the beginning of the 21st century, the castle ruin has more than 1,000,000 visitors jählich and about 900,000 overnight stays. The Heidelberg Castle zählz now one of the nation's monuments and "The State Palaces and Gardens Baden-Württenberg" maintained by the institution.

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