"Heidelberg Schloss" a Heidelberg Travel Page by JJBlondie

After spending the morning in Dinkelsbühl, saying goodbye to our new friends, we headed back towards Frankfurt and stopped in the town of Heidelberg to visit the Heidelberg Schloss and do the tour.

The Heidelberg Castle, which is also known as the Red Walled Castle, is built on a 640 feet high hill called Jettenbühl which overlooks the eastern side of the city

As you can see from this photo, it has a beautiful view down into the Altstadt (old part of town or downtown) and along the Neckar River.

Although now mostly in ruins, it is still possible to see the grandeur of the original buildings. The castle was built between the 14th and 17th centuries, each Elector adding buildings and fortifications so there is no common building style.

In 1689 the castle was captured and plundered by the French and in 1693 it was almost totally destroyed by them. Elector Karl Theodor built the Old Bridge and Karl’s Gate and his initials (CT) are inscribed on a giant vat called the Heidelberg Tun which can still be seen in the cellars. The wine barrel, which holds 58,124 gallons (220,017 litres), was made in 1751 from 130 oak tree trunks and is 8.5m across and 7m high with a dance floor on top. This picture is of a much smaller wine vat. My picture of the Heidelberg Tun was too dark to show.