Heidelberg’s university is Germany’s oldest, celebrating its 640th birthday this year; its library is only two years younger, and at first glance you might think its main library building is from that era—but you’d be wrong by 515 years.
The fool-the-eye age of the building is due to the architect Josef Durm who brought two styles together in the massive 1901 building—the Renaissance style of Heidelberg Castle which sits on the hill above it, and the Art Nouveau style that was all the go at the time.
The west facade, above, is full of Art Nouveau motifs including ornate foliage and curves. It features the Weltgeist, Hegel’s ‘world spirit’ or collective consciousness, below a globe and stars. The main facade has a similar treatment featuring Pallas Athene, representing wisdom. No picture here… it was behind the scaffolding while I was there.
Other figures include Prometheus and the Virgin Mary; apparently a desire to cater for all tastes and beliefs.
The huge building, which holds about 3.2 million books, 6,000 journals and hundreds of thousands of other bits of media was meant to provide a modern center for collections scattered all over the university, although there are still a number of specialized department libraries. It has notably large windows to create well-lit interior spaces. It’s located in Heidelberg’s Altstadt, or Old Town, where many of the university’s buildings are scattered among commercial and residential buildings.
