This postcard arrived from Germany! This is a lovely illustrated postcard of Heidelberg, a town located in the state of Baden-Württemberg (southwestern Germany). (Side note… what is the adverb for “lovely”? I wanted to say it was lovelily illustrated but Spellcheck doesn’t seem to like that.) Anyway, Heidelberg is the fifth-largest city in the country, and it’s home to the oldest university in Germany – Heidelberg University, which dates back to the 1300s. The town itself dates back to the 6th century, and today is considered to be a university town (after all, about one out of every four or five people in this town is a student!) Interestingly enough, life in this area that the town now covers dates back hundreds and hundreds of thousands of years ago (talking ‘round 600,000) as a jawbone of the earliest human life in Europe was discovered during the early 1900s (this is known as the “Heidelberg Man” – coincidentally, this discovery was jaw-dropping in itself). Heidelberg is also big on the arts, and UNESCO designated it as a City of Literature, which means that Heidelberg is distinguished in the realms of things like publishing, literature education, and presence of libraries, in both foreign and national sectors. I’m sure Heidelberg University greatly helped carry the team on that one! What you see here is a view of three landmarks in particular. On the left, the thing that looks like a bridge – and unironically IS a bridge – is the Karl Theodor Bridge, often known as Alte Brücke, or “Old Bridge”. This bridge is built over the Neckar (the name of the river) and is the ninth of its kind. It’s previous ones, dating back all the way to the 1200s, were destroyed by ice floes. Luckily this one, which is made of stone, survived for over 200 years! Leading out from the bridge is the Aldstadt, or “Old Town” (as I mentioned in a recent post), and behind that is Schloss Heidelberg, a castle dating back to the 13th century. Such a neat town rich with history and clearly beauty as well! Illustration cards like these are easy to win my heart. And my jawbone. Thank you bunches and bunches for your marvelous postcard and all your kindness and friendship as always, Yanni!
