Ludwigsbau

Ludwigsbau stands on the eastern side of Heidelberg Castle, where plain walls once supported the castle’s daily life. Completed around 1524 under Elector Ludwig V, the three-storey building gathered a main kitchen, bakery, food stores, ammunition rooms and quarters for staff, guests and pages. Its practical design centred on a stair tower that still rises through the surviving structure.

In 1556, the northern half was demolished to make room for the Ottheinrichsbau, leaving older masonry visible in the southern wall. A small arrow slit and a higher round window probably came from a thirteenth- or early fourteenth-century medieval building. Nearby, the Ökonomiebau preserves the remains of a large historic oven, while the late Gothic Brunnenhalle formed part of the castle’s water supply.

Look closely at the stair tower for a coat of arms showing the Palatine Lion, Wittelsbach lozenges and Vicar’s shield. Beneath it, two carved monkeys play Strangkatzenspiel, a tugging game associated with the young pages at court.