HEIDELBERG

city, Baden-Wrttemberg Land (state), southwestern Germany, on the canalized Neckar River where it emerges from the forested hills of Odenwald into the Rhine plain. First mentioned in 1196, it was the capital of the Rhenish Palatinate (Pfalz) and the residence of the electoral counts Palatine until 1720. It was devastated during the Thirty Years' War (1622) and almost completely destroyed by the French in 1689 and 1693, so that most of its important buildings are in the Baroque architectural style (which prevailed until the late 18th century) rather than Gothic medieval. It passed to Baden in 1802 and experienced considerable growth in the 20th century. The only buildings to escape razing in 1693 were the Holy Ghost Church (1400-36), the Marstall (1590; formerly the Royal Mews), and the Haus zum Ritter (1592). Other landmarks include the Alte (or Karl-Theodor) Brcke (bridge; 1786-88, rebuilt after 1945), the town hall (1701-03), and the Jesuit church (1712). By far the most interesting and imposing building is Heidelberg Castle. Although devastated by the French in 1689 and 1693 and then struck by lightning in 1764, this magnificent red sandstone structure, 330 ft (100 m) above the river, still dominates the city. Construction began in the 13th century, but the most notable work was done in the Renaissance period and includes the Otto-Heinrichsbau and the Friedrichsbau wings. In the cellar of the Friedrichsbau is the Heidelberg Tun (1751), an enormous wine cask with a capacity of 49,000 gallons (185,500 litres). The castle can be reached from the lower city by a cable railway, which continues to the summit of the Knigsstuhl (massif). Heidelberg University (Ruprecht-Karl-Universitt), the oldest in Germany, was founded by Rupert I and chartered by Pope Urban VI in 1386. In its Geological-Paleontological Institute is the Heidelberg jaw, a fossil jawbone, probably 400,000 years old, that was found in the vicinity in 1907. It is classified by some scholars as Homo erectus. Though it remains primarily a university and residential city, the number of factories greatly increased after World War II. Products include machines, precision instruments, and leather, tobacco, and wood products. The main business, however, is the tourist trade; several million people visit the castle every year. Pop. (1989 est.) 131,429.