Gläserner Saalbau
Gläserner Saalbau stands within Heidelberg Castle, linking the Friedrichsbau and Ottheinrichsbau wings. Italian-style arcades open the Renaissance façade between these prominent castle buildings. Renaissance columns support a Gothic vaulted ceiling, while sandstone walls meet modern steel and glass.
Elector Friedrich II commissioned the building during his reign from 1544 to 1556. A fire in 1764 destroyed the roof, leaving the upper floors exposed for generations. A vaulted glass roof now protects the surviving structure while preserving its appearance as a ruin. New floors create event spaces with views across Heidelberg’s old town and the castle courtyard.
An upper-floor foyer connects with the neighbouring Ottheinrichsbau and the Kaisersaal. The adjacent octagonal Glockenturm marks the castle’s north-eastern silhouette beside the restored building. In the nearby Torturm, Charles de Graimberg’s reconstructed room displays drawings and copper engravings of the surrounding landscape.
- City
- Heidelberg
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The myTuur app is free, and once you are standing at a spot its story starts by itself.
Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Heidelberg. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.
What is myTuur?
myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.