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Travel

Heidelberg Castle

Elisabeth Yorck von WartenburgJuly 22, 2015

What once served as a princely residence is today a tourist hub. A beautiful building filled with tales with which to regale visitors.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Ffkx


The castle towers majestically over Heidelberg's old town center and the River Neckar. Numerous artists, including writers like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Mark Twain, were so taken with Heidelberg Castle that they raved about the romantic castle ruin in their writings.

A highlight of the castle tour is the Great Heidelberg Tun, an extremely large wine casket in the royal wine cellar. An impressive 220,000 liters can fit inside it, overseen by a wooden statue of the dwarf Perkeo located opposite. Legend has it that the Italian worked as court jester for the Palatinate Elector Charles III Philip when he was in Tyrol. Charles III Philip brought him to Heidelberg, and because of his ability to hold his drink, the dwarf was also put in charge of the wine cellars. When his master asked him if he could drink the contents of the Great Heidelberg Tun on his own, the dwarf answered in Italian: "Perché no?" or why not - earning him his name Perkeo.