Old University, Heidelberg
The Old University was built over a period of 23 years between 1712 and 1735, based on plans by the baroque architect Johann Adam Breunig.
The structure replaced a four-story college building belonging to the university called the "Casimirianum," which had been erected in 1591 by the Count John Casimir.
In 1886, on the occasion of the 500 year anniversary of the founding of the University of Heidelberg, the Alte Aula ("Old assembly hall") in the west wing was remodelled in the Renaissance Revival style.
On the five hundredth jubilee of the University in 1886, the hall was redecorated in the Renaissance Revival style, following a plan by Josef Durm [de].
The rear wall of the hall, behind the speaker's platform, is built on a strictly symmetrical plan in the form of a triumphal arch.
The decoration of the wooden ceiling consists of four round paintings by the painter Rudolf Gleichauf [de] (1826-1896), which depict the faculties of the University at the time in an allegorical fashion, as seated female figures with characteristic attributes: a scroll and a globe for philosophy, a snake and a cup for medicine, a sword of justice, book of law, and a diploma for jurisprudence, and a Bible and tablet with the Ten Commandments for Theology.
They range from Marsilius of Inghen, the founding rector of the University in 1386, to 19th century professors like the chemist Robert Bunsen and the physicist and physician Hermann von Helmholtz.
The lion fountain in front of the west facade of the Old University was one of the most important water sources for the citizens of Heidelberg for several centuries.
