Tag Archives: heiliggeistkirche

Heiliggeistkirche, Heidelberg

Heiliggeistkirche, Heidelberg
Interior of the Heiliggeistkirche, Heidelberg, Germany.

Heiliggeistkirche, Heidelberg. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Interior of the Heiliggeistkirche, Heidelberg, Germany.

Continuing my pandemic “virtual travels” via my old raw file archives, I’m now out of London and in Heidelberg, Germany. This town is a sort of home base for us when we travel to Europe, mainly because we have relatives who live there. We love visiting (and traveling beyond Heidelberg with) them, and on longer travels we have used Heidelberg as a place to decompress for a few days. In other words, we’re fond of the place! This photograph is the interior of the Heiliggeistkirche in the altstadt section of the town.

This photograph illustrates something I learned years ago when photographing another subject that also makes impressive use of soaring, vertical space — the redwood forests of California. My early instinct with those forests was to almost always shoot in vertical “portrait” mode to try to get everything in frame. Eventually I learned that the implication of absent height can speak as loudly as its inclusion, and I began to photograph the trees in horizontal “landscape” orientation, and sometimes even very wide panoramic views. I think that the same principle is at work here, and the fact that the vertical structures extend beyond the frame may invite the viewer to consider just how tall the space is.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Altstadt-Heidelberg

Altstadt-Heidelberg
The Karl Theodor Bridge, the old bridge, the Heiliggeistekirche, and portions of Altstadt-Heidelberg, Germany

Altstadt-Heidelberg. Heidelberg, Germany. July 11, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Karl Theodor Bridge, the old gate, the Heiliggeistekirche, and portions of Altstadt-Heidelberg, Germany

It has now been close to two years since our visit to England, Germany, and parts of Austria back in 2013 — too long, I think! Our visit began with a week in London, where various members of the extended family met up, and then adjourned to Germany, where we have relatives. We stayed with them in Heidelberg for a few days, then took a train to Salzburg and ended up at a big country home at the base of the Alps near Königssee and Berchtesgaden, Bavaria for a week. This was an incredibly picturesque location, with the peak of the Watzmann towering above us as we sat at picnic table behind the farm-house where we stayed. Then it was back to Heidelberg for a few more days before heading back to the US.

In Heidelberg we stayed in a home not far from the old town area along the Neckar River. We were a short walk away, over a hill and along the footpath called the Philosophenweg (or “philosopher’s way”), then down to the riverfront and across the old bridge to the town. The old town of Heidelberg appears like something out of a fantasy of Europe, with narrow streets, many church steeples (including the Heiliggeistkirche seen in this photograph) and the Heidelberg castle on a hill above the town. At the lower left of this photograph you can see the bridge leading across the Neckar River to the old gate to the town.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Heiliggeistkirche Steeple, Altstadt-Heidelberg

Heiliggeistkirche Steeple, Altstadt-Heidelberg
The old part of Heidelberg with the steeple of the Heiliggeistkirche.

Heiliggeistkirche Steeple, Altstadt-Heidelberg. Heidelberg, Germany. July 10, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The old part of Heidelberg with the steeple of the Heiliggeistkirche.

The Heiliggeistekirche is a main landmark in Heidelberg — not as monumental as the old castle, but a central feature and visible from all around. Most often we approached the old town by walking over the hill on the Philosophenweg, an old footpath that follows the ridge parallel to the river, and then descending to cross the bridge. From this elevated perspective it is possible to see a lot of the town, from the waterfront to the castle to the hills that rise beyond.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Roofs of Heidelberg

Roofs of Heidelberg
Roofs of Heidelberg

Roofs of Heidelberg. Heidelberg, Germany. July 12, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

As seen from the tower of the Heiliggeistkirche, the rooftops of the Heidelberg Altstadt extend into the distance

Heidelberg is a city with a very long history, and a lot of this history seems to be maintained in the altstadt or “old town” section of the city, where most buildings are quite old and some date back many centuries, where streets are pre-automobile narrow, and where you can find a combination of small shops, old churches, university buildings, places to eat, and – of course – tourist attractions.

I made this photograph from the tower of the Holy Ghost Church (Heiliggeistkirche), a structure that dominates the view of the old town area and which is located across the street from the historic Ritter Hotel. The interior of the church is also impressive, and I’ll have some photographs of that a bit later. We paid the 1 euro donation to climb the many twisting steps to the walkway far up the church’s tower, from which a spectacular 360 degree view of the city, the Neckar River, and the surrounding hills is seen. I spent quite a long time up there, watching for good moments in the soft light, and making photographs of the city from this high vantage point. This view looks across the altstadt along the path of the Neckar as is leaves this valley and heads towards the valley of the Rhein.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.