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.