A small pleasure palace with turrets made of red Neckartal sandstone is located on the slope of the Königsstuhl, a mountain over 560 meters high in the Odenwald. This fairytale gem was donated to posterity by Heidelberg city councilor and pharmacy professor Dr. Louis Posselt. In his will, he stipulated that a “viewing tower and pleasure house” should be built after his death. After Posselt’s death, a narrow tower in the early Renaissance style with an open three-arched porch and viewing platform was built, which could be used as the perfect backdrop for numerous knight films. Posselt, who was born in Heidelberg in 1817, spent 10 years in exile in Mexico after the failure of the Baden Revolution. There, the trained pharmacist worked as a mining expert. After returning to his old home, he was appointed professor of pharmacy in Heidelberg in 1860. He also followed in his father’s footsteps and became a city councilor. The pleasure palace was built according to the plans of Heidelberg’s city architect Gustav Schaber and was inaugurated on the first anniversary of its founder’s death on August 21, 1881. Between 2008 and 2009, the city of Heidelberg carried out extensive renovation work, which was financially supported by the German Foundation for Monument Protection. I visited this small pleasure palace with its observation tower, known as the Posseltslust and named after its founder, in tropical temperatures. Idyllically located in Heidelberg’s city forest, I was able to view this building, which was built for relaxation and contemplation, up close. After crossing a gravel forecourt, I came to the vestibule with its three round arches and a round stone table in the center. Behind it, I discovered the entrance to the 15-meter-high round tower. A spiral staircase leads both to the terrace on the flat roof of the loggia and to the platform on the tower, which are secured by sandstone armor with keyhole-shaped decorative openings.
