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The club from a small town in the south of Germany have come from the fifth tier to the Bundesliga and European football on an epic journey which spans 17 years.
There has been no sugar daddy. No oil-rich nation, large club network, or Hollywood stars investing their cash. Just an extremely modest budget made to stretch an almighty way.
The credit for that has to go to manager Frank Schmidt, who has been in charge for every game of their incredible rise since 2007.
The 50-year-old former player is from Heidenheim itself, another heartwarming touch, and eschews the norm of short-term managers and quick fixes.
The man in the dugout next to him at Tynecastle on Thursday night, Hearts head coach Neil Critchley, could only dream of such longevity having been brutally sacked after 12 games by Queen’s Park Rangers last year.
He’s far from the only one.
Hearts and Heidenheim both have two wins from two so far in the Conference League and those 100% records will be put to the test in Edinburgh.
With Critchley starting brightly there is justified confidence Hearts can maintain their momentum, but this group of Bundesliga underdogs are about as far from a soft touch as it’s possible to get.
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