Germany · 13th century
Heidelberg Castle (German: Heidelberger Schloss) is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.
The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is located 80 metres (260 ft) up the northern part of the Königstuhl hillside, and thereby dominates the view of the old downtown. It is served by an intermediate station on the Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway that runs from Heidelberg's Kornmarkt to the summit of the Königstuhl.
The earliest castle structure was built before 1214 and later expanded into two castles circa 1294; however, in 1537, a lightning bolt destroyed the upper castle. The present structures had been expanded by 1650, before damage by later wars and fires. In 1764, another lightning bolt caused a fire which destroyed some rebuilt sections. By 1880, Mark Twain mentioned it as a ruin.
Text adapted from “Heidelberg Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Heidelberg Castle ranks #102 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #10 of the 711 mapped in Germany. Founded c. 1214, it is older than 74% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 33,426 times in the last 60 days, more than 99% of the atlas. 7 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Heidelberg, 1 km away. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.
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