One of the city’s oldest squares, Market Square is framed on the east by the town hall and on the west by the Church of the Holy Spirit. In the center of the square stands the majestic Hercules Fountain, erected between 1706 and 1709 as a reminder of the immense efforts required to rebuild the city after its almost destruction in the War of Palatinate Succession, 1689-1693. The Church of the Holy Spirit was constructed from 1400 by Ruprecht I as both a collegiate church and a final resting place. The distinctive feature of the church is its loft galleries, where originally the famed Bibliotheca Palatina was housed as a safely enchained library, until its abduction and transport to the Vatican during the Thirty Years’ War. Today the Church of the Holy Spirit is the city’s main Protestant church and attracts visitors in large numbers to its concerts and church services.

Together with its famed Bridge Gate, which was once a part of the city wall, the Old Bridge has always been a symbol of Heidelberg. The statues of Karl-Theodor (who built and gave his name to the current stone bridge) and of Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom and culture, stand enthroned here above the Neckar. The Bridge Monkey, re-erected in the 1970s on the Old Town side of the bridge, is one of the most popular photo motives. On the closest bridge column, below the statue of Karl-Theodor, are chiseled the impressive flood markings of recent centuries.