When the Catholic Habsburgs defeated the Protestant Palatine Elector Frederick V in 1620, they reduced Heidelberg Castle to ruins and carried off the contents of the library as spoils of war - by this time totalling over 3, 500 manuscripts and 13, 000 printed works - to the Vatican Library in Rome where they remain to this day.

BBC: A Point of View: Why didn't Harry Potter just use Google?

Which brings me to Heidelberg, a city steeped in the past--its famous castle and university date back to the eleventh century--but which offers an intriguing glimpse of the future.

FORBES: The Unhidden Machine