To me, when I think “Germany,” the city of Heidelberg doesn’t immediately come to mind. In fact, the name would be completely foreign to me if it hadn’t been for my girlfriend of years ago (now my wife, Jolene). She studied abroad for one semester in this fairy tale city filled with cobblestone streets, fresh baked pretzels, and church bells that ring every hour. If this is sounding a bit like the opening of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, it’s actually not too far from reality.
At least an hour by train or car from any major airport, this humble city of 150,000 has become a destination point for day tourists. Countless groups arrive by the busloads to walk the centuries-old streets, to take enough photos on their cell phones and cameras until they run out of memory storage, and to hop back on a bus to their accommodations near the Frankfurt Airport. This is what most people see when they visit Heidelberg. They take in the fairy tale charm, buy a souvenir at a local shop near the foot of the Church of the Holy Spirit along the Hauptstrasse (main street), and never look back.
Most visitors miss out on the intimate Heidelberg experience and never really get to experience what that famous German tune beautifully encapsulates in one simple line- “Ich Hab Mein Herz in Heidelberg Verloren” (I lost my heart in Heidelberg). When Jolene and I jumped off the city bus on a balmy afternoon (having just traversed the Atlantic Ocean), I did not suspect I would indeed lose part of my heart in Heidelberg.
World renowned violinist Andre Rieu and singer Mirusia perform the famous song
Ich Hab Mein Herz in Heidelberg Verloren
Sleepless in Heidelberg
If there is one positive aspect of jetlag, it’s when you and your wife wake up at 4 A.M. in a foreign city and ask yourselves, “What now?”
In these moments, this element called serendipity suddenly arrives at the doorsteps of otherwise well-structured travel plans.
The church bells toll in the distance and one’s stomach begins to grumble along the same octaves. So, we bundle up on this balmy twilight morning, and begin trudging our way to the nearest food establishment.
Fortunately for us, an unexpectedly cheerful man has opened his doors to a brightly lit bakery for the early risers (in this case- the two Los Angelenos who have a penchant for overbuying warm baked pretzels- from the salted to cheesy to pepperoni variety). Jolene utters a few words in her conversational German, and the man retorts in English and in a hearty laugh, “I’m Italian! Not German.” I think to myself in my best Mario voice “gratzi” but the words don’t come out of my tired lips.
With bags of pretzels in tow, I recall why we are making our way away from the Altstadt (old town) and across the river.
The idealist in me had taken hold of my being the night before. I convinced myself that I wanted to walk in the footsteps of early Germanic academics and enlightened thinkers, so to the Philosophenweg (Philosopher’s Way) we would go the next day.
Crossing the not-so-famous car/pedestrian bridge towards a swivel of residential neighborhoods, the two of us find our way to the clearly marked entrance of the Philosophenweg.
We proceed down the mixture of paved and dirt path. Fall foliage now adorns the main overlook area of this well manicured park; early morning joggers and dog walkers cross paths with us. We situate ourselves on a clean bench to munch on our baked goods and down some caffeine as we admire the morning view.
I must say it is pleasant. But is this the mind-blowing experience I was longing for? Not exactly.
Are we there yet?
And so with the marvels of modern technology, i.e. our smartphones, we ask, “What else?” A quick search reveals that a couple miles from where we stand is a historical place with a much more sinister origin- a venue thousands of Nazi youth descended upon to hear the likes of Goebbels and other Nazi leaders. The WWII aficionado in me kicks into high gear.
If I was not inspired by the famous path of Heidelberg’s philosophers and poets from yesteryear, I would surely be appalled by the sheer tremendousness of a landmark amphitheatre with a checkered past.
So, with our bag of now cold pretzels tucked into my backpack, we trek forward.
Shortly after, we descend into a thicketed, but marked forest trail. We are certainly alone as far as the eye can see. We have walked into the opening scene to a C-list horror movie, but we are also those foreigners who wouldn’t know how to yell for help in case the mask wearing chainsaw wielding villain decided to spring out of the bushes to cut us down. But you know what really calms the spirits from these imaginative thoughts? Keep walking towards that old Nazi amphitheater!
Like all great adventures, however, the unbeaten path is often long winded, confusing, and at some times even dangerous.
When we spot a looming stone tower on the far side of an open field, I convince a hesitant Jolene to take a quick detour to check it out. (Why not? We’re not in a rush.)
As we draw closer to an imposing iron gate, we find it unlocked. So, of course, this is an invitation to walk in. Jolene thinks otherwise and believes that the potential for that chainsaw wielder hiding in the dark corners of the rickety stairwell is probably very high. And if it isn’t for jetlag, I probably would agree with her. But that’s the beauty of jetlag, you don’t think, you just do.
Forging ahead, we ascend a rusted set of stairs to what ends up being a monument dedicated to Otto Von Bismarck (the Bismarckturm). Is the dark stairwell lit by any artificial light? No.
But I’m writing this piece aren’t I? So obviously no murderous criminal was hiding in the shadows of darkness. Instead, we end up with this view:
And I’m pretty sure, most folks visiting Heidelberg never get this view.
Making our way back to the original plan though, we move onward to track down the not-so secret Nazi meeting place.
Emerging out of a thick fog, we finally find ourselves facing a towering curved wall with a thick steel double doors.
As we push one of the the door ajar, we realize that Nazi officers must have crossed this very threshold- I immediately get a tingling sensation down my back. And to exacerbate the fear factor of this whole experience, a torrential rain begins to fall on us.
So as the two of us huddle together for refuge from the aquatic onslaught, the history of the place rushes over me like a strong wind (or that could have actually been a strong gust of wind- it was pouring and we were in the middle of a forest after all!) But in all seriousness, we are holding each other tight while we marvel at the ruins of a way of life that was thankfully destroyed over the course of a war at great cost.
Today- instead of standing on the grounds of a place that might have continued to propagate hate and genocide, we are standing in a public space that we later learn holds “student parties”- not the saluting Hitler type of parties, but think local college kids with nothing better to do than kick back with a couple bruskies and listen to some German pop.
But that’s not all!
Nearly nine centuries and a few footsteps away from the amphitheatre would be another layer of history that I hadn’t expected to uncover- an 12th century monastery- to be precise, the Monastery of St. Michael.
Fairly beaten down to its foundations, the monastery is a warm embrace after experiencing the coldness of its neighboring landmark.
Cartoonish signs adorn several ancient walls throughout the vast structure to shed light on how these early holy men embraced the forest and called it their home. It harkened back to childhood memories of Friar Tuck from the Adventure of Robin Hood who likely lived this idyllic life away from the vices of the town!
Final takeaways
What began as a remedy for sleeplessness became a walk down the lanes of human history.
From the Hauptstrasse to modern residential areas to Philosophenweg to the surrounding forests which lead to both the dark and holy past of this wondrous city, Heidelberg revealed its various colors to us, and we were all the better for it once we re-nestled ourselves under warm covers drinking apfelschorle (carbonated apple juice) and peppermint tea in our lovely pension (boarding house) in the Altstadt.
Catch the video highlights of our Heidelberg travels below, and remember to keep on trekking!
You can also pin this Heidelberg travels post for later!
