When was Heidelberg University founded?
Heidelberg University was founded in 1386 by Rupert I, Elector Palatine, making it Germany's oldest university.
Questions about Heidelberg
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Why did Heidelberg escape Allied bombing during World War II?
Heidelberg escaped Allied bombing because it held no industrial or transport targets worth striking, much like the university towns of Tübingen and Göttingen. In March 1945, Brigadier General William A. Beiderlinden also negotiated with the city's burgomaster to have Nazi troops withdraw rather than have the city shelled.
What happened to Heidelberg's Jewish community on the 22nd of October 1940?
On the 22nd of October 1940, during the Wagner-Bürckel action, the Nazis deported 6,000 local Jews, including 281 from Heidelberg, to Camp Gurs concentration camp in France. Within a few months, as many as 1,000 of the deportees, 201 of them from Heidelberg, died there of hunger and disease.
Who were the Heidelberg Romantics?
The Heidelberg Romantics were a circle of poets that included Joseph von Eichendorff, Johann Joseph von Görres, Ludwig Achim von Arnim, and Clemens Brentano. Their gathering in the city gave the second wave of German Romanticism its name, Heidelberg Romanticism.
What destroyed Heidelberg in 1689 and 1693?
French troops overran Heidelberg's town and castle in 1689, and by 1693 repeated invasions during the War of the Palatine Succession had left the area nearly destroyed. The devastation, combined with brutal winters, later pushed thousands of German Calvinist Palatines to emigrate.
Which Nobel Prize winners are connected to Heidelberg?
Heidelberg is connected to several Nobel laureates, including Carl Bosch, who won the 1931 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and Ernst Ruska, who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on electron optics. The virologist Harald zur Hausen won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and died in the city, while Theodor W. Hänsch shared a quarter of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics.