In 1945, the University was reopened relatively quickly as a result of the initiative of a small group of professors, among whom were the anti-Nazi economist Alfred Weber and the philosopher Karl Jaspers. The surgeon Karl Heinrich Bauer was nominated rector.
On December 9, 1945, US Army General George S. Patton had a car accident in the adjacent city of Mannheim, and died in the Heidelberg US Army hospital on December 21, 1945. The funeral ceremony was held at the Heidelberg-Weststadt Christuskirche (Christ Church), and he was buried in the 3rd Army cemetery in Luxembourg.
During the post-war military occupation, the U.S. Army used the Thingsst�tte for cultural and religious events. Civilian use started in the early-to-mid 1980s for occasional concerts and other cultural events. Today, the celebrations on Hexennacht (Witches' Night, also called Walpurgis Night), the night of April 30, are a regular "underground" fixture at the Thingst�tte. Thousands of mostly young people spontaneously congregate there to drum, to breathe fire, and to juggle. The event has gained fame throughout the region, as well as a certain notoriety due to the amount of trash left behind
