Heidelberg is deservedly so, one of the most famous of German cities, and certainly one of the most beautiful as far as the old quarter goes. It nestles in among the forests of the Neckar valley and is probably most reputed for its student life of the past duels, romantic songs, sabre scars and drinking, singing sessions. In light opera, any way. But it still is a lovely place to go.
Mark Twain in 1878 sang its praises and gave much attention to the fencing. He also wrote: "One never tires of poking about in the dense woods that clothe all these lofty Neckar hills to their tops. The great deeps of a boundless forest have a beguiling and impressive charm in any country. But German legends and fairy tales have given these an added charm." Then there are villages settled on the tip of sugarloaf mountains: Dilsberg, Dinkelsbuehlis it? And one of its main attractions for the tourist is the castle, or remains of a castle, standing well above city and river, rosepink stone among the trees, a perfect setting for plays and concerts in the open air.
But if Heidelberg is best known to the outside world for its romantic, operettish image, this year the city celebrates its 800th birthday. (The university is not much more than 600 years old.) And a German reporter has been looking around, reading the programme catalogue issued by the city and not finding any reference to what, he writes, is the song that made Heidelberg known throughout the world: "I lost my heart in Heidelberg" (in German "Ich hab' mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren.") He spoke to the woman named as the person to whom enquiries about the jubilee should be directed. She said she didn't know the song, but felt Heidelbergers don't care so much for it because it makes fun of them. Finally, through an article of a few years ago in a local newspaper, he finds out that the author of the lyric was one Fritz Lohner Beda. He was working in the IG Farben artificial rubber (Buna) factory at Auschwitz, where he was criticised as a lazy Jew by a visiting IG Farben director and thereupon done to death. Lohner Beda was, according to the article, the author of several hundred songs including big hits. He wrote the lyrics for Franz Lehar's The Land of Smiles. The heading to the article, in the sober German publication Die Zeit, is "From the Land of Smiles to Auschwitz".