33 medical students and young doctors, 750 km, 11 days - these were the basic facts of the IPPNW Biking Against Nuclear Weapons Tour, or BAN Tour in short. The activists, which came from all corners of the world, covered three countries: Germany, France and Switzerland and brought the issue of nuclar abolition to the people in towns and villages on the way. There were meetings with parliamentarians, mayors and media people as well as large public events such as flashmobs or Target installations. In order to read more about the BAN Tour, please click HERE.

On the 20th/21st of August, the tour made a stop in Heidelberg. Perhaps the most romantic and best-preserved old city of Germany, Heidelberg has attracted foreign visitory for hundreds of years. Its location on the Neckar river, the gleaming palace on the hillside and the historic old bridge served as remarkable backdrops for many famous novels and poems. Mark Twain visited the city in 1878 and wrote of his strange and funny encounters in "A Tramp abroad". Today, Heidelberg is famous for its renowned university and sometimes called the Harvard of Germany. It is, in fact, the oldest university in Germany. The city has a vibrant youth and student culture and present itself to us from its best side, as the local IPPNW groups made us feel right at home here. 

On the 21st of August, we held a Target installation and a flashmob right in front of the main university building in the center of town. Later that day, we continued towards the nuclear power plant in Philippsburg, wher we met local IPPNW activists protesting the plant and learned from them the strong connection between nuclear power and nuclear weapons.