The Haus zum Ritter St. Georg is the oldest surviving residential building in Heidelberg's Old Town.
The Ritter opposite the Heiliggeistkirche was one of the few houses in Heidelberg to survive the destruction of the Palatinate War of Succession. This late Renaissance building was erected in 1592 on behalf of Charles Belier, a Huguenot who had emigrated from France. The knightly figure of St George at the top gave the house its name. The "Knight" is famous above all for its lavishly ornamented Renaissance façade.
The cloth merchant Carolus Belier and his wife Francina had the gabled house built in 1592 from carved stone, full of fluted columns and artistically chiselled window blocks; today it is a listed building. "Persta invicta, Venus" - "Always remain unconquered, beauty": these words are inscribed in golden letters on the gable of the Renaissance building.
There is no record of how many remodelling projects may have changed the interior of the house during its eventful history. But at all times, the respective owners were aware of this mission when designing the rooms behind the magnificent façade. The building, the only one to survive all the wars and fires in Heidelberg, was first mentioned as an inn in 1681.
The architectural beauty and elegance of the Renaissance building make the Romantik-Hotel Ritter St Georg the most beautiful historical and equally valuable town house in the city of Heidelberg.
And the charm of nostalgia is by no means limited to its splendour - it accompanies guests of the former merchant's house through every room and into every corner of the building.
