Heidelberg Events
35th Heidelberger Klavierwoche (Heidelberg Piano Festival) German American Institute
Pianist Ruishi Zheng will perform at the DAI on January 10, 2025 © TONG Photography
The German American Institute (DAI) Heidelberg is kicking off the new program year in its usual impressive style: From January 02 – 11, 2025, the 35th Heidelberger Klavierwoche (Heidelberg Piano Festival) invites you to a musical celebration of the highest caliber.
In cooperation with the Jahrhundertwende-Gesellschaft, internationally acclaimed master soloists and emerging talents from around the world will present a varied program.
The 2025 repertoire spans an impressive range – from Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Frédéric Chopin to Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Johannes Brahms, and Mélanie Bonis.
Guests can look forward to ten days filled with piano artistry and musical highlights at the DAI Heidelberg!
23rd International Festival for Silent Film & Live Music
The silent film classic Three Ages with Buster Keaton will be shown on February 02, 2025 © public domain
From January 30 – February 02, 2025, the German American Institute Heidelberg (DAI) invites you to the 23rd International Festival for Silent Film & Live Music.
Guests can look forward to a program of timeless classics, fascinating rediscoveries, and rare gems. A special highlight is the modern science fiction silent film La Antena from Argentina (2007). There will also be masterpieces from the silent era, including works by Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, as well as Hal Roach’s “The little rascals & The roller skating rink” and the film adaptation of Schiller’s “Nathan the Wise”.
The highlight of the festival: All films will be accompanied live by regional ensembles and solo artists!
39th Filmtage des Mittelmeeres (Mediterranean Film Days)
Mediterranean vibes in the heart of winter at the Filmtage des Mittelmeeres
The 39th Filmtage des Mittelmeeres (Mediterranean Film Days) at the Karlstorkino offer a fascinating insight into the cinematic life and cultural diversity of the Mediterranean region from January 22 – February 02, 2025.
Through a selection of contemporary feature films and documentaries, the festival presents many exciting, captivating, and sometimes humorous stories that reflect the region’s rich culture as well as its challenges. This year’s program includes a small focus on films from Israel and Palestine, offering different perspectives on the complex history and present-day realities of these two countries. The filmmakers involved in these films will be available for discussion and Q&A after the screenings!
Another highlight is the traditional concert held during the Film Days, this time featuring rousing German-Turkish world music by Emre Yeşil & Band on January 24, 2025.
Did you know …
… that the Bunsen burner was invented in Heidelberg?
Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen, born on March 30, 1811 in Göttingen, died on August 16, 1899 in Heidelberg, was a German chemist. Together with Gustav Robert Kirchhoff, he discovered caesium and rubidium in 1861 and developed spectral analysis, which can be used to detect chemical elements in a highly specific manner. For this purpose, Bunsen perfected a particular gas torch, which had previously been invented by Michael Faraday and would later be called the Bunsen burner. During his time at the University of Heidelberg, Bunsen taught well over 3,000 students. In his honor, a statue was erected in the anatomy garden.
You can even take a Bunsen tour of Heidelberg.
One of his students was the chemist Henry Roscoe. About Robert Bunsen, he said: “As an investigator, he was great. As a teacher, even greater. As a man and friend, he was greatest.”
Did you know …
Charles Francois de Graimberg (1774 – 1864) in a portrait by Guido Schmitt, 1902 © Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg
… that a Frenchman, Charles de Graimberg, saved the Heidelberg Castle ruins?
Charles de Graimberg came to Heidelberg in 1810 to make copperplate engravings of the castle ruins and the town – and remained in Heidelberg until his death in 1864. Back then, he was shocked to discover that the people of Heidelberg were using the ruins as a quarry for their houses and the castle garden as a potato field. Furthermore, a contract had already been signed with a demolition company.
He campaigned for the preservation of the ruins with personal commitment and his own money, paid guards, even took up residence in the castle and his copperplate engravings made Heidelberg known to a broad public. He was successful.
And so, thanks to Charles de Graimberg, we can still marvel at this world-famous symbol of Romanticism today.
Did you know …
The founding document of Heidelberg University from 1386 © Photo by Steffen Schmid
… that the founding document of Heidelberg University is still preserved?
Prince Elector Rupert I founded Heidelberg University in 1386. He established it with papal approval in his residence city. The founding rector was the Dutchman Marsilius von Inghen, who came to Heidelberg from the University of Paris.
It is now the oldest university in Germany and, at the time, was the third university in the Holy Roman Empire, after Prague and Vienna – but unlike the other two, it was already a full university with faculties of medicine, law, theology, and philosophy.
The founding document, dated October 01, 1386, specified that the new university should be organized after the model of Paris. It has been preserved to this day and is one of the treasures of the University of Heidelberg’s archive.
Did you know …
… that Heidelberg is the most sustainable city in Germany?
The latest city ranking by business magazine WirtschaftsWoche concludes that Heidelberg is the most sustainable and future-oriented city in Germany.
Among other things, Heidelberg impresses with its passive house district Bahnstadt, the new energy storage facility in Pfaffengrund and the lowest youth unemployment rate.
Furthermore, the ranking highlights the high value that science and research, education and training have for Heidelberg. Every fifth euro in the city’s budget is invested for the benefit of children and young people, and around 70% of employees in Heidelberg work in knowledge-intensive services.