Spy and Spy - an outside view to Heidelberg by an Insider

Born in Heidelberg 52 years ago, i spent app. 35 years in this town (Pfaffengrund and Boxberg), before I left Heidelberg to live in other parts of Europe and Asia. Frequently I come back, but mostly, for whatever reason, I do not stay longer then 3 - 5 days in the city.

What I realized in all this years was, that nothing really changed or is changing. Its a nice city, clean, cosy, old-fashioned, scared of changes. I remember the 60’s and 70’s, when Heidelberg was a center of political vision by its students and partly its Professors, when Otto Schily run his practise in the city, when the “rote Punkt Aktion” set the public transport nearly to zero as a protest against the increase of fees by the public-transport-authorities, when new areas had been built based on contemporary urban-design theories like the districts “Emmertsgrund” or “Boxberg”. Its not about the estimation good or bad, but at least it happened. In the 80’s the city felt into a deep sleep and did not awake until now. Due to changes in the political system in Germany and the awakening of the ecological movement in Germany, the society in the city changed during this period of time. The labor-class was displaced more and more in their gardens in the suburbs, the well educated middle-class took over the city with all its intellectual and financial power. Heidelberg today is a “no change” city, developments in politics are based on basic-democratic decisions, the parliament is not able to act for that reason, but to react. It seems, developments in Heidelberg are  decided from the class mentioned above, mid-aged and elderly men and women, pampered in their pension entitlement and covered by a higher income, being to arrogant and egoistic to look into the public good.

2 weeks ago I was invited from my daughters to visit “my old town”, the area around the “Alte Bruecke” and “Untere Strasse”. I visited the places of my youth, the “Reichsapfel”, “Mohren” or the “Destille”. What I found was surprising and a bit scary. Fully drunken young people, many of them speaking english (I missed the Heidelberg Dialect, which was so often to be heard at these places as well as some of the “Unicums” around), fully packed bars hosting people dancing fully drunk on the tables and the benches, bachelor-farewell-parties etc. 

At the same time I was informed about the result of the referendum on the extension of the city hall. I searched for the development on this process in newspapers, magazines and the net.

And I was reminded on my two favorite comics which are “Tom and Jerry” and “Spy and Spy” created by Antonio Prohías. I don’t want to review the complete process, but what I kept in mind was the following. The rendering of the extension was published, the Discussions started. To justify the design some of the supporters of the Design decided to draw some trees in front of the building to prove the invisibility of the building. Some days later I saw another drawing showing the trees without leaves to prove the visibility. Is this the kind of discussing such a project at this location in Heidelberg ? And if so, what happened to the project “Schlosshotel”. Some years ago we had been involved in the Design of this Project  with our office. Our suggestion, which was, from our point of view, much less aggressive as the one being built, was denied for the reason that we did not accept the historical masses in  an appropriate manner. Meanwhile we can agree in this comment in general. Everyone can see the new Project now from many viewing points in the city, but, no wave of indignation so far. Is the Parliament in Heidelberg not strong enough to follow their ideas in the same way the state-government does ? Is the local government a puppet on a string of influential members of the upper class mentioned above ? Whats wrong in Heidelberg today ? Ferdinand von Schirach, lawyer and writer in Berlin wrote in an essay reg. referendums these days :  “ There is no swarm-intelligence at single votings, at least not in previous times. There is obviously a misunderstanding of Democracy. Its not about the talking of the majority- its about niches for the minority as well. One can also say : its about tolerance”.

Another reason comes to my mind. For me most probably Heidelberg is now paying the price of its cultural sale. A non negligible amount of people in this city are cultural not very well educated in a local context, which results in a lack of identification with the city as such. The output of cultural issues above the city borders tends against Zero. Heidelberg, with one of the most important Universities worldwide, is cultural not existing. Comparable Cities like i.E. Salzburg show an immense cultural output, based on the Identity of its people, the City and the Region. Highly prestigious events are fabricated by this Scene, the Discussion of i.E. architectural Projects is tough, but constructive within the local context related to international developments. Without any doubt, the City of Salzburg is highly attractive in regard to its historical  attractiveness and in its contemporary cultural development as well.

The upper class in Heidelberg has to learn, that a city, even a smaller one like Heidelberg, needs a diversity of activities, events and directions. Otherwise it is extremely vulnerable to changing conditions. This diversity will then lead to a variety of the population. 

The “Disneyeske” character of Heidelberg may promise economical success due to its alleged attractiveness to tourists. But the price which is to be paid for this success is high. The mayor of Heidelberg, Eckard Wuerzner, mentioned in an interview “...it is not possible, that a city can not be modified in its center...”. And he is absolutely right with this statement. A mummification of the old part of Heidelberg will lead to a museum-like-approach (what already happened), paired with a comic-like-scenery. At the same time it destroys the future of this city as a result of this kind of stagnation . Obviously this is what the upper class has in mind. Its not only a dangerous conviction, it shows an immense arrogance against those, which are native in Heidelberg and which, due to their educational status, do not have the lobbying power which is an integral part of the politics of the upper class. And which need new developments to survive economically. 

The next challenge for Heidelberg will arise within the next 5 years, when the American forces leave the city. Those areas which will be set free need a very sensitive development. For sure the Discussion will be about residential and economical issues. But there must be another Discussion as well. The Development of Heidelberg after WW 2 is not thinkable, without the presence of the US-forces, within a very important part in the history of this city. The Discussion of the re-use must involve the cultural approach, which transfers the history partly into these areas. A cultural translation into cultural buildings and landscapes in the widest sense is think- and desirable. After years of Isolation of the American parts due to security-reason, it will be a great challenge, how to link these “new” parts of Heidelberg into the existing, “old” part. Former “borders” and their dissolution in terms of smooth integration, will be exciting to develop on the basis of a cultural strategy.