  We point out that in the limit of large number of dimensions a wide class of
non-extremal neutral black holes has a universal near horizon limit. The
limiting geometry is the two-dimensional black hole of string theory with a
two-dimensional target space. Its conformal symmetry explains properties of
massless scalars found recently in the large D limit. In analogy to the
situation for NS fivebranes, the dynamics near the horizon does not decouple
from the asymptotically flat region. We generalize the discussion to charged
black p-branes. For black branes with string charges, the near horizon geometry
is that of the three-dimensional black strings of Horne and Horowitz. The
analogies between the alpha' expansion in string theory and the large D
expansion in gravity suggest a possible effective string description of the
large D limit of black holes. We comment on applications to several subjects,
in particular to the problem of critical collapse.
