DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61007#0018
8
Historical remarks.
deavours tended to restore the prosperity and promote the
sunken population of the country. But the union of his
daughter with Philip of Orleans, brother to King Lewis
XIV of France , brought new calamities upon the country,
by means of the French, who laid the whole country
waste under Turenne in 1674. The horrors of devasta-
tion rose, however, to a yet higher degree, when, after
the decease of the son and successor of Charles I (1685),
Philip William of the family of Pfalz - Neuburg took
possession of the government, whilst France claimed
the succession. A French army invaded the Palatinate,
occupying Heidelberg Oct. 24, 1688, and, spite of all
promises , put it under contribution, and devastated it
unmercifully. The castle was the chief object of the
fury of these modern Vandales. The magnificent build-
ings of Frederick the Victorious , the venerable edifice of
Robert, the noble palace of Otto - Henry, the excellent
plantations of Frederick V, on the western side of the
castle (vid. below), all was blown up, ruined , or burnt
down. In the town the armoury, the mews, the magni-
ficent townhouse, together with many other houses, were
committed to the flames, and even the noble bridge
across the Neckar was destroyed. These scenes of cruelty
and devastation, which remind us of the names of Lou-
vois and Melac, were repeated in 1693, when the town
and castle got again into the hands of the French by the
negligence of the governor, the cowardly general Hey-
dersdorf. The town now was utterly destroyed; only a few
houses were spared by the flames; the churches were pro-
faned and consumed by fire, the corpses of the palsgraves
and electors were thrown out of their graves, the living,
who had escaped the sword of the enemy and of the
falling houses, were ill-treated and robbed; even the
castle experienced anew the horrors of devastation. It was
Historical remarks.
deavours tended to restore the prosperity and promote the
sunken population of the country. But the union of his
daughter with Philip of Orleans, brother to King Lewis
XIV of France , brought new calamities upon the country,
by means of the French, who laid the whole country
waste under Turenne in 1674. The horrors of devasta-
tion rose, however, to a yet higher degree, when, after
the decease of the son and successor of Charles I (1685),
Philip William of the family of Pfalz - Neuburg took
possession of the government, whilst France claimed
the succession. A French army invaded the Palatinate,
occupying Heidelberg Oct. 24, 1688, and, spite of all
promises , put it under contribution, and devastated it
unmercifully. The castle was the chief object of the
fury of these modern Vandales. The magnificent build-
ings of Frederick the Victorious , the venerable edifice of
Robert, the noble palace of Otto - Henry, the excellent
plantations of Frederick V, on the western side of the
castle (vid. below), all was blown up, ruined , or burnt
down. In the town the armoury, the mews, the magni-
ficent townhouse, together with many other houses, were
committed to the flames, and even the noble bridge
across the Neckar was destroyed. These scenes of cruelty
and devastation, which remind us of the names of Lou-
vois and Melac, were repeated in 1693, when the town
and castle got again into the hands of the French by the
negligence of the governor, the cowardly general Hey-
dersdorf. The town now was utterly destroyed; only a few
houses were spared by the flames; the churches were pro-
faned and consumed by fire, the corpses of the palsgraves
and electors were thrown out of their graves, the living,
who had escaped the sword of the enemy and of the
falling houses, were ill-treated and robbed; even the
castle experienced anew the horrors of devastation. It was