Over the Gate Tower, the main entrance to the Heidelberg Castle, are two Medieval knights that were created in 1535. Between them are two Palatine Lions which once held a now missing coat of arms. But maybe this is symbolic not only of the 300 current or former towns, villages and countries that used this lion symbol for their coat of arms but also for the ruined conditions of the Schloss Heidelberg. It was destroyed twice by the French army in the late 17th century, struck by lightning and then picked apart as a quarry for building materials.
