Heidelberg, Germany

The name Heidelberg is a combination of the words "Heidelbeere" (blueberry) and "Berg" (mountain). In a sense, "Blueberry Hill". Halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt, it is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 2005, there are 140,000 people living on the city's 68 square miles. Heidelberg lies on the river Neckar at the point where the Neckar leaves its narrow, steep valley in the Odenwald hills to flow into the Rhine valley where, 12 miles northwest of Heidelberg it joins the Rhine at Mannheim.

The old town, in German Altstadt, is long and narrow and is dominated by Heidelberg Castle which perches 262 feet above the Neckar on the steep wooded hill of the Königstuhl (Kingschair, throne) mountain, surrounded by a park where the famous poet J.W. Goethe once walked. The city is a vibrant mixture of tradition and modernity. In the past it has been a centre for both science and the arts and today this tradition is carried on with many research centres located in or around the city. Heidelberg not only boasts a medieval castle, but it also is home to one of Europe's oldest educational institutes, the University of Heidelberg.