Visiting Heidelberg (Germany) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Heidelberg, located in southwestern Germany, is famous for its university, printing presses, and Gothic castle that is perched high above the Neckar River.
Heidelberg has an important history in Germany and Europe as home to the Palatinate electors, who voted for the Holy Roman Emperor.
Charlemagne (c. 742 – 814) was crowned first Holy Roman Emperor in 800, the first Roman Emperor since the Fall of the Roman Empire. Charlemagne is considered to be French and German. The Germans date the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire at 962 with ascension of Otto I (912 – 973) to the throne, a wholly Germanic figure.
According to a Deutsches Historiches Museum exhibit about the Holy Roman Empire, the Empire was decentralized, multilingual, and multidenominational. It covered Germany, Austria, and Central Europe. This diverse cultural base of the Holy Roman Empire required adroit diplomats and politicians to hold it together. The Germans of the Palatinate, of which Heidelberg is a political center, distinguished themselves for meeting the needs of the Empire.
The Holy Roman Emperor was elected by an elite group of churchmen and princely electors. The position of Emperor was not hereditary; each candidate had to be a skillful politician to get elected.
The last Holy Roman Emperor was Emperor Franz II (1768 – 1835). He abdicated the throne in 1806 and assumed just the title of Emperor of Austria as Franz I.
Heidelberg’s importance somewhat diminished with the end of the Holy Roman Empire, but one look at the solid, stone houses leading up to the castle alerts visitors to the town’s self-assuredness of its historical role in creating modern Germany and Europe.
By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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