Hotel Ritter, Heidelberg, 30th March 2005
Here for a four-day twinning exchange visit with the Cambridge City Council delegation.
7.00 Up promptly and out for a walk. Chilly and drizzling under an ashen sky. Early risers trudging to work – brewery lorries delivering crates to the bars.
9.15 Bus to hydroelectric power station under the River Neckar – an extraordinary structure completely hidden from sight, yet capable of generating green power for 5,000 homes.
10.30 To the site of the Bahnstadt development – over 100 hectares of housing and business and research buildings designed to be a model of sustainability.
12.30 Media Print Academy building – stunning glass and soaring steel, architects Schroder Architeckten and Studio Architekten Bechtloff, officially opened in 2000 by federal chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
2.00 – 5.00 Final discussion sessions and news conference.
8.00 To the Heidelberg Castle on the Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway for a formal dinner – the castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance buildings north of the Alps.
There was no reticence about mentioning the War on this trip. German counterparts spoke often about events as happening ‘since the War’; and there was an exhibition at the Rathaus celebrating the arrival of the Americans in 1945. At the dinner the Mayor, Frau Weber, spoke of the Americans liberating Heidelberg from Nazi tyranny and the toast was, ‘To peace and friendship’.