An architectural historian and researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has virtually reconstructed Heidelberg Castle. He spent five years working on the project, which is also the subject of his habilitation thesis. 1.1 million tourists are drawn to Heidelberg every year to visit the Renaissance building that towers over the old town. For centuries, it was exposed to wars, fires and environmental influences, […]
An architectural historian and researcher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) has virtually reconstructed Heidelberg Castle. He spent five years working on the project, which is also the subject of his habilitation thesis.
1.1 million tourists are drawn to Heidelberg every year to visit the Renaissance building that towers over the old town. For centuries, it was exposed to wars, fires and environmental influences, so that today only remnants of the magnificent building from 1683 remain. 100 years ago, efforts were made to rebuild Heidelberg Castle. The entire building was documented and measured and hundreds of plans were drawn.
The wealth of image sources came in handy for researcher and architectural historian Julian Hanschke from the Institute of Art and Architectural History at KIT: five years ago, he dedicated himself to the task of virtually reconstructing Heidelberg Castle. The fact that the real reconstruction had never been carried out gave rise to the opportunity to recreate the splendor and originality of the castle using digital means and to bring the building’s locations to life in a virtual way. Using historical plans, views and drawings, Hanschke modeled every detail of the castle on the computer. The work is comparable to that of a game programmer of virtual worlds. The only difference is that his reconstruction is not a fantasy world, as Hanschke explains, but a scientifically accurate replica based on historical sources down to the smallest detail.
Where empty window cavities look out over the Neckar valley and ivy-covered remnants of the wall rise up into the sky, visitors to Heidelberg Castle can climb the once mighty Thick Tower, half of which was later blown away, in Hanschke’s simulation. They walk under the groined vaults of the Imperial Hall in the Ottheinrich Building. He spies the figural decoration on the façade of the Friedrich Building, which is reminiscent of a Venetian palazzo. He looks through the palace courtyard in 1683 from a 360 degree perspective.
Habilitation project
Hanschke has completed his work on the computer simulation with a 500-page publication. His habilitation thesis. In addition to the supplementary views of the castle, the volume contains many photos and historical views as well as a well-founded, extensively researched history of the castle.
