With its population of 6415, Heidelberg lies in an attractive setting between the Langeberg mountains and the sea, on the banks of the Duivenhoks River.

In 1689 an explorer, Izaak Schryver, camped here and found so many doves that he gave the river its rather unusual name. Settlers arrived in the valley and in 1725 Andries Gous received a grant for the farm Doornboom (thorn tree).

The area was part of the Riversdale district and on 14 September 1855, the Riversdale church council bought a portion of the farm Doornboom for £5000 on which to lay out a town. They named Heidelberg after that ancient city in Germany, the source of the Heidelberg Catechism and, like the new Heidelberg, built on the banks of a river.

A church and school became the twin centres of the new town. The first erven were sold on 21 November 1855 and in 1862 the first town management board was inaugurated under the chairmanship of Joseph Barry.

Dairy products, cattle, ostrich feathers, wool, tobacco and corn were the products that put the community on its feet and the opening of the railway in 1903 provided that essential link with the outside world.

Heidelberg is a town in Western Cape, South Africa. It is located near South Africa's south coast, on the N2 highway, 276km east of Cape Town (about half way between Cape Town and Knysna). Heidelberg is just east to the Overberg region, and some consider it the beginning of the Garden Route.

Heidelberg is part of the Hessequa Local Municipality.