Heidelberg, ou comment une ville historique est devenue un haut lieu touristique

Abstract

Heidelberg traditionally stands for one of the most popular urban tourism destinations in Germany. For many tourists the city embodies the typical image of an old German university town. The main attractions are Heidelberg castle and the old town, both embedded in the beautiful surrounding landscape. Moreover, the city offers good shopping facilities and a wide variety of cafés, bars and restaurants. Heidelberg owes part of its celebrity to romantic poets and painters of the early 19th century, who spent time in Heidelberg and helped to shape the place’s image in Germany and abroad. The myth of romantic Heidelberg was perpetuated in various cultural productions, orchestrations and movies. During the second half of the 20th century, the romantic image was used as a suitable basis to successfully promote Heidelberg as a tourism destination. Based on various documents and statistical data, this article traces back how the historical city of Heidelberg has become a major tourism destination. It is pointed out that tourism and urban development are closely interrelated. A particular focus will be on tourism marketing and the city’s imaginary and also on the role of individual actors and technological innovations that have shaped tourism development and tourist practices in the city.

Keywords

• romantic image
• Heidelberg
• Germany
• historical city