The Heiligenberg

Forest and landscape

Today, the Heiligenberg is a green, wooded hilltop. Until the mountain was settled by humans in the Bronze Age, beech and oak trees grew here. The inhabitants on and around the mountain used the wood without a thought for future generations and as a result remained barren and almost treeless for centuries. From a forestry condition report: “Only hedges and shrubs, no usable wood”.

It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that re-forestation began and the forest was managed sustainably. The forest paths that visitors find today have only existed since the middle of the 19th century. Before that, there were almost only so-called grind paths or sunken paths. At the beginning of the 20th century, an infrastructure was developed for the use of the forest as a recreational area. Footpaths were created, huts and wells were built, signposts were erected, viewing points were created, and much more besides. In line with today’s requirements, is constantly being expanded with: signs and information boards, car parks, marked trails for hikers and special mountain bike trails have been set up.

Heiligenberg – History 

The Heiligenberg is not only an important landmark, but also a cultural monument of the highest order. Its outstanding natural protective location with a clearly defined summit area and its dominant position in the landscape attracted people very early on, leading to the establishment of a large settlement as early as the Bronze Age. Since the 5th century BC, the mountain has played a special role in the eventful history of the region. At first glance, two monastery ruins and a monumental open-air stage reveal only the most recent relics of its millennia-long history of settlement. In contrast, the two concentric enclosure walls from the Celtic period are now, at best, recognizable above ground as stone-strewn terrace edges. The fortification consists of an inner wall with a circumference of 2.1 kilometers and an outer wall, located significantly lower down, with a circumference of 3.1 kilometers. Within the ring walls, hundreds of dwellings and pits occupied the plateau and slopes on terraced hillsides.

The “Heidelberg Celtic Head” is perhaps the only clear indication of a Celtic prince who probably resided on the Heiligenberg 2,500 years ago and who, after his death, was buried under a mighty burial mound at the foot of the hilltop settlement.

The barren soil allowed only very limited agriculture, which is why the Celts were dependent on the yields of the farmers in the fertile plain. The mining and smelting of iron ore cannot have been the primary source of income for the inhabitants of the heights, as the quality of the ore deposits was insufficient for this. It was more likely a suspected “control station” for the movement of goods at the so-called Hackteufel, a granite reef in the Neckar River that severely impeded shipping until it was canalized. This prompted the Celts to develop Heiligenberg into a central seat of power. In the 5th and 4th centuries BC, it was the political, religious, and cultural center of the entire surrounding area for about 150 years and only lost its importance in the 3rd century.

In the following period, the mountain had a no less eventful history: after the Celts, the Romans built a summit sanctuary for their gods Jupiter and Mercury. The foundations of one of the temple buildings have been preserved under the impressive ruins of St. Michael’s Monastery, and their layout is marked on the ground today. In the early Middle Ages, there was a fortified royal court here, which is referred to as “Aberinsburg” in sources from the 9th century. Centuries later, monks from Lorsch Monastery made it their “holy” monastery mountain: They built St. Michael’s Monastery on the rear hilltop, followed shortly afterwards by St. Stephen’s Monastery on the front summit. In the centuries that followed, the monastery became a popular place of pilgrimage to the relics of St. Frederick, who died in 1070.

At the end of the Middle Ages, the glory days of the pilgrimage site were numbered, the monastery buildings fell into disrepair, were transferred to the university as part of secularization, and were finally approved for demolition. In 1885, the observation tower was built at St. Stephen’s Monastery. In 1934/1935, the National Socialists created the most recent architectural monument on the mountain with their massive open-air complex “Thingstätte,” which still shapes the appearance of the mountain today.

Another remnant of human activity is the mysterious Heidenloch (heathen hole), the inspiration for many a local legend, a water supply shaft hewn 56 meters deep into the rock and built by the monks in the Middle Ages.

The Monastery of Saint Stefan

Around 1090, the Benedictine monk Arnold founded a chapel on the front summit of the Heiligenberg. Apparently, the small church dedicated to St. Stephen was particularly valued by the monks as a place of prayer, so Abbot Anselm of Lorsch founded a monastery there. St. Stephen’s was endowed with extensive lands to provide for the monks’ livelihood. In 1096, several crusaders entrusted their money to the monk Dietbert for safekeeping before setting off for the Holy Land. When the knights did not return from the crusade, their fortune benefited the expansion of the young monastery.

Noteworthy is the tombstone of a woman named Hazecha, discovered in 1932. The inscription indicates that the widow of the knight Rifrid donated her entire inheritance to St. Stephen’s Monastery around 1100. Her husband, who had co-signed the monastery’s founding document as a witness, had apparently been buried elsewhere. Perhaps he too had set out on the crusade and never returned home.

The three-naved church with transept and three adjoining apses was built in the 12th century. After Premonstratensian monks from All Saints in the Black Forest took over the monastery in the 13th century, it was gradually rebuilt. A vestibule was added to the west of the church. The location of the monks’ living and working quarters from the time of the monastery’s foundation is unknown; the three-winged cloister south of the church was not built until the 14th century. After its dissolution in the 16th century, the monastery fell into disrepair. In 1885/86, the stone material from the ruins was used to build the observation tower.

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The Monastery of Saint Michael: Michaelskloster

The Benedictine abbey Lorsch, founded in 764 and promoted to Imperial Monastery in 772, developed rapidly under the protection of the Franconian kings to a religious, political and economic center of power in the region. When Abbot Thiotroch had a church built on the Heiligenberg in 870. tnis occurred certainly with the approval of the king (or at his bidding). The “Aberinesburg”. as it was called, the royal court at the summit – was not donated with all the accompanying propertes and serfs by King Ludwig III to the abbey until the year 882.

Later on, the church dedicated to the Archangel Michael amassed considerable additional properties due to further donations. This made it possible for Abbot Reginbald of Lorsch to establish a monastery on the Heiligenberg in 1023. The monks, led by a prior, followed the rules of St. Benedict. A large, three-naved basilica with a cloister to the east and an atrium to the west was constructed in several building phases. A saint’s legend concerning the Abbot Friedrich von Hirsau, buried on the Heiligenberg in 1071, made the monastery a popular pilgrimage site.

In the 13th century, the Archbishop of Mainz took over the provost church in Lorsch and populated the monastery around 1265 with monks from the Premonstratensian monastery Allerheiligen in the Black Forest. The monastery decayed visibly starting at the beginning of the 16th century and was completely disbanded during the Reformation (around 1555). The buildings were given to the university, which re-leased them in 1589 for demolition.

Opening hours: – (St.Michaels Monastery & St. Stephen observation tower)
March–September: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
October–December: 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays!
Closed in January and February, as well as on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

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Thingstätte

The Thingstätte is an open-air amphitheater built in 1934/35 by the “Reich” Labor Service and Heidelberg students. Its semicircular auditorium offers seating for 8,000 and standing room for 20,000 spectators and is reminiscent of ancient Greek theaters. It was part of the National Socialist “Thing movement” and was intended to be used for propaganda events, but was only in use for a few years. Today it is a listed building.