Heidelberg's old town is strung out along one long street, the Hauptstraße, and this guide follows it from west to east: Bismarckplatz, the House of the Giant, the Kurpfälzisches Museum, Universitätsplatz, the Kornmarkt and Karlsplatz. Together they tell the story of the city's Baroque rebuilding after the wars of the late 17th century, of its university and of the squares below the castle. All six are stops on our scavenger hunt.
Bismarckplatz
Bismarckplatz, at the western end of the old town, is where most visitors arrive: together with the forecourt of the main station, it is the city's most important public transport hub, served by trams and buses from every direction. From 1392 this spot marked the western edge of the city's fortifications, when the people of the village of Bergheim were moved into a new suburb here. The square was named on 3 November 1875, for Otto von Bismarck's 60th birthday.
The green space beside it, the Bismarckgarten, has an odd past. From 1847 to 1874 it was a harbour basin, dug for the growing river traffic on the Neckar, but its entrance was too narrow, the water silted up and turned stagnant, and in 1874 it was filled in and made into a park. Bismarckplatz is the first stop of our scavenger hunt.
- The bust of Bismarck in the Bismarckgarten, by the sculptor Adolf von Donndorf, who modelled the likeness in 1892.
- The fountain sculpture by Matschinsky-Denninghoff from 1985 on the south side, nicknamed the Spaghettisäule (spaghetti column), in front of a former department store that closed in 2024.
Haus zum Riesen (House of the Giant)
A short walk along the Hauptstraße, at number 52, stands the House of the Giant, a Baroque town palace built in 1707–1708 for Eberhard Friedrich von Venningen, a privy councillor and lieutenant general. Its architect, Johann Adam Breunig, also designed the Jesuit college and the Old University. The Elector expressly allowed the builder to use ashlar blocks from the Dicker Turm, the Thick Tower of Heidelberg Castle, which had been blown up. The name comes from the larger-than-life statue of von Venningen on the central projection at second-floor level, carved by Heinrich Charrasky. The university has used the building since the middle of the 19th century. It is a stop on the scavenger hunt.
Kurpfälzisches Museum
Further east on the Hauptstraße, the Kurpfälzisches Museum, the museum of the Electoral Palatinate, fills another Baroque palace by Breunig: the Palais Morass, built in 1712 for the jurist Johann Philipp von Morass, who had been rector of the university. The museum goes back to the late 1870s, when the city bought the private collection of the artist and art historian Charles de Graimberg, and it moved into the palace in 1906. The museum is a stop on the scavenger hunt.
- Tilman Riemenschneider's Altar of the Twelve Apostles from 1509, one of the two most important works in the sculpture collection.
- In the archaeology department, a cast of the lower jaw of Homo heidelbergensis, found at Mauer, and Roman finds from the lower Neckar valley.
Universitätsplatz
Universitätsplatz lies between the Old University on its north side, built in 1712–1735, and the New University from the 1930s on its south side. The site was once an Augustinian monastery, first mentioned in 1279, where Martin Luther stayed in 1518 and defended his theses at the Heidelberg Disputation. The monastery was destroyed in 1693 during the War of the Palatine Succession and never rebuilt, and in 1753 Elector Karl Theodor turned the site into a parade ground. The square has had several names; it has been Universitätsplatz since 1928, apart from the years 1937 to 1945. In 1933, students burned books here on 17 May and 16 July. Universitätsplatz is a stop on the scavenger hunt.
- The Lion Fountain (Löwenbrunnen) in front of the main portal of the Old University, topped by the lion of the Palatinate coat of arms; it probably dates from the early modern period and once played an important part in the city's water supply.
Kornmarkt
Past the Marktplatz, the Kornmarkt opens up below the castle. From the 13th century the Holy Spirit Hospital stood here, until in 1557 the city council had it pulled down to make room for a milk and vegetable market, first called the Neuer Markt and later the Kornmarkt. When an underground car park was built in 1986, workers found the hospital's walls and part of its cemetery, used from the late 13th to the early 15th century; about 270 of an estimated 800 graves were recorded. The Burgweg, the path up to the castle, starts just south of the square. The Kornmarkt is a stop on the scavenger hunt.
- The Kornmarkt Madonna in the middle, a Marian column made by Peter van den Branden in 1718, with three fountain basins.
- The outline of the old hospital chapel, marked in the paving of the square.
Karlsplatz
A few steps further east is Karlsplatz, at the foot of the slope below the castle. Franciscan friars settled here from 1320, when the site was still outside the city wall. Their monastery was demolished in 1803, and the square was laid out in 1805 and named after Karl Friedrich of Baden. The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences has its seat on the square, and the Palais Boisserée stands where the Sickinger Hof stood until its destruction in 1689. Karlsplatz is the last stop of the scavenger hunt.
- The Sebastian Münster Fountain in the middle of the square, by Michael Schoenholtz (1978), honouring the cosmographer and humanist who worked in the Franciscan monastery for several years in the early 16th century.
How to see them in one walk
Start at Bismarckplatz and walk east along the Hauptstraße, a pedestrian street since 1978, past the House of the Giant and the Kurpfälzisches Museum to Universitätsplatz. The scavenger hunt route continues to the Jesuit Church and the Marktplatz, then down to the river for the Old Bridge and the bronze Bridge Monkey, before coming back to the Kornmarkt and finishing at Karlsplatz. If you have time left, take the Burgweg from the Kornmarkt up to the castle.
See Heidelberg with World City Trail
Our Heidelberg scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from Bismarckplatz to Karlsplatz, and all six places in this guide are among them, together with the Jesuit Church, the Marktplatz, the Bridge Monkey and the Old Bridge. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Heidelberg, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Heidelberg scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Heidelberg →
Play the outdoor escape game in Heidelberg →
Facts checked in October 2026.