Heidelberg and the Electoral Palatinate as Reflected in Art
Heidelberg continues to hold an undiminished appeal for travellers and students, as well as for artists. This is evident in the diversity of the visual artistic tradition that has developed since the 16th century – particularly during the German Romantic period, when the ruins of Heidelberg Castle, the city and the Neckar Valley became a source of inspiration for artists throughout Europe. During this period, and through reproduction in printmaking, views of Heidelberg and the castle became widely disseminated.
The Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg holds printed and drawn views of the city of Heidelberg, Heidelberg Castle and other locations in the Electoral Palatinate dating from the 16th to the 21st century. Among the museum’s special treasures are watercolours and drawings by the Heidelberg Romantics Carl Philipp Fohr, Ernst Fries and Carl Rottmann. These artists, who travelled throughout Europe, created not only landscapes of Heidelberg and the Electoral Palatinate, but also landscapes of the Bavarian Alps, Italy and Greece, as well as genre scenes and portraits. These works are also part of the thematic portal.
The Heidelberg University Library also preserves numerous prints in its Graphic Collection depicting Heidelberg Castle, the city of Heidelberg, and the towns, villages and landscapes of the Electoral Palatinate region, ranging from Sebastian Münster’s city view, through the views created by Matthäus Merian, to engravings after William Turner, Carl Graimberg and others. They represent a thematic and artistic complement to the works of the Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg.
The thematic portal “Heidelberg and the Electoral Palatinate in the Mirror of Art” is a joint portal of the Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg and Heidelberg University Library. As part of the cataloguing and digitisation project funded by the Stiftung Kulturgut Baden-Württemberg, this portal provides a comprehensive overview of the diversity of the pictorial artistic heritage relating to Heidelberg and the Electoral Palatinate.