THE HEIDELBERG THINGPLATZ: I visited this place a number of times as a kid; we lived in Heidelberg and often hiked up the Heiligenberg, and this place wasn’t far off the path. I found it a bit creepy — the under-stage area had steel bars, and I wondered who was kept there, and why. This account, at least, makes it sound less creepy than I remember.

UPDATE: A couple of readers want to know what I was doing in Heidelberg. My dad taught at the University of Heidelberg for a year when I was a kid. I learned a little German, pretty much all of it forgotten now. I still have fond memories of Kinderbier. I wonder if they still have that.