One of the few opportunities to stay at a top-flight hotel that's been around as long as Heidelberg's Hotel zum Ritter Sankt-George, or Hotel of the Knight Saint George. The building dates to 1592, and its facade is considered one of the glories of late German Renaissance architecture. It's been a hotel since 1681.
The building was originally the home of a wealthy merchant and his wife, a Huguenot who had fled religious persecution in France.
It got its name from the statue of Saint George adorning the gable at the top of the house; elsewhere among the decorations are other references to the Saint George lessons.
When I lived in Heidel-berg as a teenager, I never realized the St. George connection; we always referred to it just as "zum Ritter," or "Ritterhaus."
It could hardly have a more splendid location, near the head of Heid-elberg's Hauptstrasse, or Main Street, Europe's longest single pedestrianized street. As you can see, VERY pedestrian!
The tower at center in the picture above is the Holy Spirit Church (Heiliggeistkirche) featured in a Gumbo blog HERE.
"Ritterhaus."decorations are other references to his legends, and to his mottoes.
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