Today’s Enlightening Entertainment will be presented in German, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Thai and Spanish.

In today’s Enlightening Entertainment, let us make a visit to a beautiful city located in Baden-Württemberg, Southern Germany. Heidelberg, adjoining Neckar River, enchants many visitors and brings to them unforgettable memories of their stay. This is as suggested in the German movie “I lost my heart in Heidelberg”.

After staying in Heidelberg for 3 months, Mark Twain, an American writer, wrote about the charming atmosphere of the city, saying: “It was as if all the diamonds of the world had been spread out there.”

The magical aura of Heidelberg has held fast the gaze from many artists, musicians, and writers, such as Victor Hugo, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Joseph von Eichendorff, Friedrich Hölderlin, William Turner, Richard Wagner, and Robert Schumann, etc, inspiring them to write great masterpieces in art history. Heidelberg has played an important role in the development of the German Spirit.

Heidelberg University, established 600 years ago, was in the center of that development. Heidelberg University was founded by His Majesty King Ruprecht I in 1368 and was the first in Germany. Though having begun with 579 students, the university now has more than 30,000 students from 80 different countries, engaging them in various cultural interactions.

The Heidelberg University is called Ruperto Carola Universität, named after the founder King Ruprecht I and its re-builder Karl Friedrich Badener Grossherzog, the grand duke of Baden. The motto of the university is “Semper Apertus" meaning “Be Open Always!”.

An open mind towards the new world, truth, and diversity has been the foundation for its world fame. The goddess depicted on the wall painting in the auditorium and the sculpture at the entrance of the new building is Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. “Wisdom” is another motto like “Semper Apertus" (Be Open Always), which leads the University of Heidelberg. It was this wisdom that perhaps protected and sustained Heidelberg, in times of challenge.

This university has had an important role in the development of German philosophical history. The famous philosophers have lectured here since centuries ago.

Heidelberg University is the oldest university ever built in Germany. The philosophers and the liberal arts department have always taken a key part. Jaspers lectured at this university and So did the late Gadamer, who left this world a while ago.

Especially, Jürgen Habermas gives his lecture not just in Frankfurt but here in Heidelberg as well. It’s really interesting to see people who lectured here enter into, and contribute to, politics or to the social system later.

The library building of Heidelberg University is famous not only for its beautiful exterior but also for the enormous amount of books it houses. Going from the university through the alley suffused with the unique sentiments of medieval and modern history, one can see the beautiful Neckar River and The Old Bridge crossing solitarily over it. Neckar was the name given by the Celts in 400 B.C and it means “wild guy” in Celtic.

The name is well suited as Heidelberg has had several floods. “The Old Bridge” was originally made of wood. As the only entrance to the city of North Heidelberg in the old days, it became a famous place because it has views of both the castle and the old city at the same time. The German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was attracted by Heidelberg and this bridge, which inspired him to express himself in the following song.

“I saw Heidelberg on a perfectly clear morning, with a pleasant air both cool and invigorating. The city, just so, with the totality of its ambience was, one might say, something ideal. Seen from here, the bridge looks so beautiful, as perhaps no other bridge in the world.”

On the bridge, one can see the statue of Karl Theodor, the builder of the bridge, as well as the statue of the goddesses Athena or Minerva. The statue of Minerva was built in admiration of the wisdom of Karl Theodor. However, it is the pursuit of wisdom, which was the motto of the city, that seems to prevail above all. Adding to the unique atmosphere of the bridge, the Heidelberg Bridge Monkey next to the bridge tower is the centerpiece. It seems to hold a mirror and talk to visitors thus: “What are you looking at? Just look at yourself.”

Impressing visitors with its magnificence, the Holy Spirit Church is another special building in the city. Beginning construction in 1398 by Ruprecht I, the church is famous for its unique form with the shops attached to its outer wall. The arch of the church ceiling is very high in Gothic style. Under the roof of the church was the library, Bibliotheka Palatina, once extremely famous in Europe and built by Prince Elector (Kurfürst) Ottheinrich.

When we return, we’ll continue to explore the magical city of Heidelberg. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Enlightening Entertainment. We are exploring the beautiful city of Heidelberg, Germany. Returning to the Neckar River and ascending the narrow staircase, one can enjoy the magical, harmonious view of the castle, mountains, cities and the river. At the end of the stairs, the Philosopher’s Way runs in parallel with the city street of Heidelberg, sandwiching the Neckar River in between. The road, on which the greatest German philosophers such as Hegel, Jaspers, and Gadamer once might have walked, lost in thought, is now one of the most favorite walks for visitors from all over the world as well as for the locals.

Heidelberg is not just a romantic city offering unforgettable memories to the visitors but also a city of literary Romanticism. In fact, it was the center of the Romanticist movement in German literature.

Heidelberg became well-known as the city of German Romanticism through Clemens Brentano, Achim von Arnim, and Hölderlin. Almost all acclaimed writers stayed or lived here at least once. Heidelberg has always been the city of literature, and this myth animates the city. Literature, Romanticism, and the liberal arts are what attract countless visitors. This spirit can be felt in every alley of the old town. In short, the city is worth being called the philosophic city.

Joseph Eichendorff is the representative poet of the German romantic literary movement along with Brentano. At a sunny place on the Philosopher’s Way is situated a stone monument commemorating Joseph Eichendorff, who studied law and sang the beauty of Heidelberg between 1807 and 1808.

Sleeps a song in all things which dream on and on

And the world starts to sing If you only come across the magic word.

Going up further along the Philosopher’s Way, we come upon another stone monument commemorating Friedrich Hölderlin, a poet inseparable from Heidelberg. Born in 1770 as the son of a church estate manager, Hölderlin went to the theological school of Tübingen. However, he soon found himself immersed in literature and decided to be a writer not in accordance to his parents’ will.

During his time at Tübingen, he communicated with Hegel and Schelling and had his eyes opened to the greatness of the divine and the purity of nature, which nourished his writings. “Ode to Heidelberg” is one of his representative poems, and the first stanza of the ode carved in on the monument shows that the city of Heidelberg means the original abode to him, rather than just something to admire and be in love with.

I have loved you long already, and would like, to please myself, to call you mother and give you an artless song, you, of the fatherland’s towns the most country-beautiful, many as I have seen.

People never talk about the relationship between Heidelberg and literature without mentioning the affinity between Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the city. Goethe loved the city so much that he visited Heidelberg eight times. Having a deep knowledge of color science, mineralogy, and anatomy, Goethe exchanged his ideas with renowned scientists here and spent a romantic time with Marianne von Willemer, who was his literary partner.

At that time Goethe tried to bridge the East and West by modeling the poetry book of Hafiz, the Persian poet. Literary sympathy between the two left its trace in the Book of Suleika, of Westöstlicher Divan. It is said that the poem, “Gingo-biloba” in the Book of Suleika, was written by Goethe during his stay in Heidelberg.

This leaf from a tree in the East, Has been given to my garden. It reveals a certain secret, Which pleases me and thoughtful people. Does it represent One living creature Which has divided itself? Or are these Two, which have decided, That they should be as One? To reply to such a Question, I found the right answer: Do you notice in my songs and verses That I am One and Two?

Heidelberg has been the center of creativity and has nurtured the arts in the past as well as in the present, and in genres other than literature.

Why do I love Heidelberg? Whoever has been to this city knows well how beautiful Heidelberg is. Heidelberg is historical. Here in the old city, you can see this when you look at the buildings. Yet it is also a young city because of so many students and youth are residing here. Because of people who are interested in the city, Heidelberg is really alive. Indeed, you can say that something always happens in the city. And if you’re a big fan of music, you can find many origins here in Heidelberg. For instance, German hip hop originated form Heidelberg.

In Heidelberg, different types of art performances and events for citizens and students as well as visitors happen every year, such as concerts, theaters, exhibitions, and a series of festivals. As was in the past, Heidelberg is changing, continuously forming its unique artistic atmosphere. This change could be called a constructive development with the spread of eco-consciousness, sustainable infrastructure, and cultural diversity.

At one time of chaos and conflict in the region, it is said that Heidelberg was spared destruction, because an officer who once stayed in the beautiful city, refused to harm it. Thus, Heidelberg is the city that has preserved herself with her beauty, visible and invisible. Perhaps this could be a parable for our lives as well. As the saying goes, to know is to love.

We sincerely thank the City of Heidelberg for graciously providing us with footage and photographs highlighting the beauty and richness of your city, and for your supportive spirit that helped make this program possible.

For more information about the city of Heidelberg, Germany, please visit

Thank you for your company today on Enlightening Entertainment. Now, please join us for Words of Wisdom, after Noteworthy News, here on Supreme Master Television. May your life be happy and peaceful in the grace of God.