The Lions of Heidelberg Castle

Written by eklastic

I’m sure I didn’t get even half the lions in Heidelberg Castle. They were really fond of lions there.

This is an indoor lion in the hall leading to the Königshalle on one side, the large vat on the other.

These lions are on the back facade of the Friedrichsbau. They are all in a row between the windows, and not one is like the other.

This last one is a wooden lion on the front of the large vat which can contain 219,000 litre of wine, it is 8 metres long and has a circumference of 6.50 metres. On top of it is a dance floor.

Photographing Public Art

10 thoughts on “The Lions of Heidelberg Castle”

    1. 😁 Well, according to legend the court fool – a person of short-stature as many in his profession were – drank the whole vat in one night (all 219,000 litres of it). And perché no (why not)? He was Italian and his name was Perkéo which is believed to have come from his constantly asking: “Perché no?”

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    1. The do. And it is also the heraldic animal of Bavaria and during the time the castle was built our area belonged to Bavaria (hence many of the towns still sport a lion and the white and blue diamonds of Bavaria in their emblems).

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  3. The lion is the king of beasts, so it makes sense that it depicts royalty. I’d say they are leaving no doubt about where the royalty is! Great brave and powerful post, Elke.

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    1. Besides signifying power and king and all that, Heidelberg and the surrounding Kurpfalz used to be part of Bavaria and the lion is the heraldic animal of Bavaria. Generally, the lion often appears in crests and emblems, i.e. three lions in the coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg (the state I live in), a red lion in the coat of arms of Hesse (that’s right next door), etc.

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