Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a small crossroads village where Lobsinger Line meets King Street and Kressler Road, with farmland stretching out on every side. At its centre is the Olde Heidelberg House, a former stagecoach stop from the 1840s that still serves as a restaurant and hotel. The Lutheran church of 1869 and Hauser Hall, a former church of 1894, stand among the village's older homes. Heidelberg Park on Lobsinger Line has open green space for play. The village is quiet, with St. Jacobs about 5 km to the east and Waterloo a short drive south.

Heidelberg was settled in 1832, on the line between Woolwich and Wellesley townships, and was named after the German home town of its first postmaster. The post office opened in 1854. The Heidelberg Hotel was a stagecoach stop between Berlin, now Kitchener, and Glen Allen. In 1891 the railway from Waterloo was extended through the village to Elmira.

The 2021 census counts Heidelberg in two parts, one in each township. Together they had about 375 homes, about 225 of them on the Woolwich side. About nineteen in twenty are single detached houses. About two in five were built before 1981, about two in five between 1981 and 2000, and about one in seven between 2001 and 2005.

Lobsinger Line (Regional Road 15) runs east to St. Jacobs, about 5 km away, and to Highway 85, and west to St. Clements. King Street runs south toward Waterloo, and Uptown Waterloo is about 10 km away in a straight line. Highway 401 is about 23 km to the south.

Heidelberg Park at 2915 Lobsinger Line is the township park. St. Jacobs, about 5 km away, has the nearest library, arena and shops, and the St. Clements branch of the Region of Waterloo Library is a short drive west on Lobsinger Line. The Olde Heidelberg House serves meals at the crossroads.

• St. Jacobs Public School — JK to Grade 8. The public school for the whole village, in St. Jacobs, about 5 km away.
• Elmira District Secondary School — Grades 9 to 12. The public secondary school, in Elmira.
• St. Teresa of Avila Catholic School — JK to Grade 8. Woolwich's Catholic elementary school, in Elmira, about 8.5 km away.
• St. David Catholic Secondary School — Grades 9 to 12. The Catholic secondary school for St. Teresa of Avila's family of schools, in Waterloo.