In the Thirty Years' War General Tilly conquered Heidelberg and the Palace in 1622. The famous Palatinate Library (Bibliotheca Palatina - 3,500 manuscripts and 5,000 prints), now at the Vatican, was transported over the Alps to the Vatican as war-booty.
The final destruction followed as French troops conquered the city for the French King in the name of Louis XIV in 1688/89 and 1693 during the War of Palatinate Succession. The palace was plundered, pillaged and blown up.
Heidelberg Palace was never fully rebuilt, however has experienced a revival since the Romantic era as one of the most famous palace ruins in Europe. Thanks to the commitment of a French emigrant, Charles Graf von Graimberg, who devoted himself to the preservation of the ruins from 1810 on, Heidelberg Palace is at least open to visitors today as a ruins.
Around 1900 part of the Palace was restored. During the past 40 years the state of Baden-Württemberg has invested approximately DM 40 million in maintaining this attractive historical monument.
A permanent exhibition in the Ruprecht Building (Ruprechtsbau) provides information on the Palatinate near the Rhine (Pfalzgrafschaft bei Rhein) from the Middle Ages to the Reformation. Here the focus is on the varied history of the Palatinate Electorate (Kurpfalz) and its former residential palace in Heidelberg. The office of the Palgrave was once one of the most important functions in the Empire and guaranteed close contact to the German king.