District

Pfaffengrund

Heidelberg's garden city of 1920 – a planned settlement modelled on the German garden-city movement, with green courtyards and a cooperative tradition.

Pfaffengrund was built from 1919/1920 as a planned garden city, inspired by the garden-city movement and examples such as Dresden-Hellerau and Karlsruhe-Rüppurr. Terraced houses with their own gardens and squares lined with lime trees still define the district today – an island of gardening between industry and motorway.

Pfaffengrund is a textbook example of the garden-city movement of the early 20th century: instead of cramped tenements, working families were to live in terraced houses with gardens of their own. Built from 1919/1920, the district deliberately follows models such as Dresden-Hellerau and Karlsruhe-Rüppurr.

Green courtyards, squares lined with lime trees and the cooperative tradition still define the quarter today. Tucked between industrial estates and the motorway, Pfaffengrund feels like a green island – a quiet residential quarter with an identity of its own, well off the tourist track.