The Great German Escape 2019 # 5 – Police arrest fair dodger and Students go to Prison !

My friend Dozzer says that Heidelberg is great and the one thing you absolutely must do is go to prison…… but she didn’t say how

The public transport system in Heidelberg is fantastic. The trams and bendy buses are clean and run efficiently and frequently and because so many people use the trams, buses, ride bikes – and lots of people ride bicycles – or walk, the air quality around these areas is amazingly good.

The fare system seemed simple, though do not rely on this blog as evidence to protect you in court – remember check before you travel!!! It could be an expensive assumption. It appeared to be the case that any journey going in one direction cost €1.40 – at least this is the price of the bus ticket which came home as a memento. It wasn’t validated which probably means the trip was illegal. Had a ticket inspector missed his breakfast, been in a grumpy mood and happened to get on the bus we may have been in trouble and received a finger wagging at best. However, all the inspectors were busy elsewhere eating apfelstrudel and the journey from Bismarck Platz to Necarmünz-platz was remarkably unarresting.

The Tourist Information Office was great for two reasons:

the first is that jail was avoided for two days as a consequence of fare dodging by buying a two day HeidelbergCARD
and secondly because they have the cutest teddy bear blowing bubbles by the entrance door.

To get the best value from this deal we decided to ride the trams to see as much of the city as quickly as possible, catching the number 5 from Bismarck Platz to Handschuhsheim Nord Burgstr. However, these best laid plans were derailed when we jumped off the tram at Hans-Thoma Platz. Crossing to the platform opposite to catch the 21 or 24 back to the river, no tram arrived but a police car did promptly blocking the number 5 tram and a second police car blocked tram number 5 coming in the opposite direction. How exciting! but what was happening? A lovely student waiting for the 21 explained that the ticket inspector, who had seen and approved our 2 day CARD, had asked to see the ticket of a young man who had no ticket and refused to show any form of identity. The police were called and took the young man away in a ‘Book him Danno’ moment.

The 21 Tram arrived at Jahnstr. stop next to the Leinpfad gardens where birds geese stepped into the Neckar to cool off.

Most jails require payment to get out, we paid €2.50 each to get in to the Studentenkarzer behind the Universitatsmuseum Alte Aula. This is where students used to be locked up for “gentleman’s offences” from 1778 to 1914.

It was a curious section off the main festival hall of the university. Tickets are sold in the student shop and the prison accessed via wooden steps with a rope handrail to one side. The most noticeable point of this prison are the graffiti images and text painted onto the walls and ceilings and carved into any surface and all wooden furniture. The silhouettes were created by fellow prisoners using charcoal from the fires to black in the profile shadows created by the posers head on the walls. The heads are larger than life and additional creative embellishments have been added in the form of heraldry and flags. It is reputed that riotous students would ensure that they were imprisoned with likeminded mates to ensure the best time was had during the punitive incarceration.