Old university and detention room - Alte Universität und Karzer

The old university of Heidelberg , built in the time during 1711 and 1735, is located in the middle of Old Town, in Grabenstrasse 1. There you find the principal´s office, assembly hall, public relations department and a museum. The assembly hall is designed in Neo-Renaissance style and even today used for festivities of the Ruprecht-Karls-University. It is surely one of the most beautiful halls in Heidelberg. A big variety of exhibits of more than 600 years of eventful history is shown in the museum of the university.

The near by detention room is an interesting attraction of former times, too. It is located in the Augustinergasse and was used as a prison, because up to the beginning of the 20th century the university had an own jurisdiction. Theft, carousals, brawls, student's duels and nighttime disturbance were most of the reasons for taking students into custody. For sure it wasn't much fun being arrested in medieval times, but at the end of the 19th century it seemed to be a neccessary honouring for some students to stay at least one night in the detention room. You find evidences for this theory by watching the elaborate wall paintings inside.