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(click on the map, and you'll get it - or just scroll down!)
| Koblenz/Lahnstein | Braubach | Kamp-Bornhofen |
| Boppard | St. Goarshausen | Oberwesel |
| Kaub | Bacharach | Lorch |
| Assmannshausen | Bingen | Rüdesheim |
| Bad Ems | Nassau | Nastätten |
Also view a panorama (98K) of the Rhine and all its historical castles and villages.
Rhine cruises are offered by a lot of shipping companies along the river. The biggest one is the Köln-Düsseldorfer in Cologne (Phone +49-221-2583011). They are offering scheduled cruises as well as hotel cruises.
A very good description of the River Rhine was given by James Bentley, who also describes how the 19th century painter William Turner was impressed by this river.
North of Lahnstein, in the upper left corner of the
map you can see the eastern part of Koblenz, one of the three
biggest cities and former capital of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz). The name "Koblenz" can be traced back
to the Roman camp "Apud Confluentes" which ment that the rivers Rhine and Moselle are
flowing together here. Today this place is marked by the "Deutsches Eck" (The Rhine
Elbow) with its magnificent monument of the Emperor Wilhelm I.
Opposite of this place, above the
other bank of the Rhine, there is the mighty fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, which was besieged many
times, but could only be taken by starving out its occupants. From the Ehrenbreitstein you have a
splendid view over Koblenz and its surroundings.
Today Koblenz is a city of some 110,000 inhabitants, with industry, universities, authorities and
the biggest army location in Germany.
The Marksburg castle above Braubach is one of the Rhine's main tourist attractions and was not
destroyed ... until 1945, when it was a target for American soldiers. It is now the best maintained
castle on the Rhine and the seat of the "Deutscher Burgenverband" (German Castle
Association).
The Marksburg gives you a greater insight into the life of castle inhabitants of by-gone days than
any other castle on the Rhine. A special attraction at the Marksburg is its annuary "medieval
market" in May. The name Marksburg (Markus castle) results of the evangelist St. Markus, to
whom the chapel of the castle was dedicated.
Providing it's not packed with
pilgrims, you can contemplate in the peace of the Franciscan monastery, "Bornhofen". The
church and right of it some of the monastery's white buildings you can see on the picture.
Two castles called "Sterrenberg" (the white one) and "Liebenstein" lie close
together above the town. They are separated by a wall and the story goes that they were once owned
by two rather antagonistic brothers who fell out with one another.
It goes without saying, of course, that the reality is just a bit different from the
legend.
Boppard tries everything possible to compete with Rüdesheim for tourism. Originally founded
by the Romans, it later became a self-proclaimed free town. It is sheltered by its town walls and
has two interesting churches, the church of St. Severus (a lofty late Roman basilica) and the
Gothic Carmelite church).
A chair-lift takes you up to "Vierseenblick" (four lakes view), one of Mother Nature's
miracles. You have a splendid view of the Rhine, which is broken into four several pieces by a
mountain chain. You have the impression that you are looking at four individual lakes.
Sankt Goar and Sankt
Goarshausen are opposite one another. They were named after a hermit who there lived during the
early middle Ages. Castle "Rheinfels" (right) stands above Sankt Goar and is the largest
of all Rhine castles.
The partner town, Sankt Goarshausen (the white spots left of the castle), is on the opposite bank
and has the "Loreley" rock (below) within its town boundaries. "Lore" means
slate, which the rock consists of, and "Ley" means rock.
There is an absolutely
breathtaking view of the Rhine valley from the "Loreley", and also breathtaking
concerts take place on its large open-air
stage with a noble natural backdrop.
The legendary "Loreley" figure is no longer to be found on the rock, but instead in the
form of a stone statue on the harbour jetty of her home town.
Above St. Goarshausen are two castles: "Katz" (cat), which is named after Duke Wilhelm II
of Katzenelnbogen, the man who built it; and "Maus" (mouse), which was constructed by the
archbishops of Trier.
Oberwesel - on the left bank of the Rhine - is called "The Town of Towers", as 16 of the 21 toweers of the medieval town defences remain today (some are even inhabited), and the old town wall is almost completely intact. altogether, the town has such a harmonious appearance that it is often seen on posters in tourist agencies as publicity for the central Rhine area. The Liebfrauenkirche ("Church of Our Lady") which dates back to the year 1331, the Chapel of St. Martin and the Schönburg ("Beautiful castle") bove the town are all worth a visit.
Kaub was first mentioned in 893, when it was handed over to the Archbishop of Mayence (Mainz).
Today it is always mentioned in connection with its "Pfalzgrafenstein" (Pfalz) castle,
which used to be the most important
toll station of the central Rhine area. Situated on the Rhine island, "Falkenau", this
castle dates back to the year 1336, although the present exterior was not completed until the
17th and 18th centuries.
At Kaub, the Prussian General Field Marshall Blücher let construct a pontoon bridge to cross
the Rhine on New Year's Eve 1813/14. Then he started his attack leading Prussian and Russian troops
against Napoleon to beat him finally at Waterloo.
The Gutenfels Castle above Kaub was erected in the first half of the 13th century. It
was repeatedly besieged in vain. That's how it got its name "Gutenfels" (good rock).
The wine town Bacharach was probably named after the Roman "Bacchi ara" (altar of Bacchus), although the town itself did not exist in Roman times! Therefore, in medieval times Bacharach was a very important wine market. The defensive walls are mostly still intact and you can walk around them, at least for some of the way. The high Gothic ruins of the "Werner" chapel, the church of St. Peter, the old post house, the old mint and the old toll house are all worth a visit.
Lorch is the western edge of the famous Rheingau wine region. Its imposing parish church St. Martin is worth seeing the interior; the main altar dates back to the year 1483.
In 1844 the poet, Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810-1876), completed a collection of poems in the
"Hotel Krone" (crown
hotel) in Assmannshausen. This collection marked his turn from being a romantic visionary to a
realistic writer of democratic convictions.
Assmannshausen is famous for the red vines produced there, and is the only red wine region in the
Rheingau and Central Rhine area.
Since the Romantic Era the
"Mäuseturm" (Mouse Tower) in Bingen has been a landmark of the town. According to
the legend the Archbishop of Mainz, Hatto, was killed here by mice when
he withheld grain from the starving crowd.
St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was the first female German mystic, whose works on
natural-science and medicine are still of cultural and historical interest today. The
"Rochus" chapel dates back to 1666. St. Rochus was appealed to in times of plague.
In former times the "Binger Loch" (hole of Bingen) was feared by sailors and could only
passed with pilots. The reason is that between Bingen and Kaub the Rhine breaks through the
mountains of the "Rheinisches Schiefergebirge" (central Rhine slate rocks) and the
passage was very narrow, with a lot of rocks below the water line.
When people talk about Rüdesheim they mean the "Drosselgasse", the Eldorado for
tourists from all over the world, where you can freely partake of the Rhine wine and buy souvenir
knickknacks.
But Rüdesheim has other attractions, too. So you can visit the nice old town or start a Rhine
trip by boat. Or you can go with a cab lift to the "Germania" figure on the Niederwald
monument, which is 35 m high and weighs 640 hundredweights. From there you have a splendid view
over the Rheingau and Rheinhessen area.
In the 19th century Bad Ems was a famous spa, where very famous people lodged. The
most famous one was the Emperor Wilhelm I. In 1870 his "Bad Emser Depesche" (Bad Ems
wire) started a war between France and Germany, which led to the German union in 1871.
Today Bad Ems is less famous, but still very nice, and is the capital of the Rhein-Lahn district in
Rhineland-Palatinate.
Nassau is a little town on the river Lahn of some 5,000 inhabitants. Here is the origin castle of the Dukes of Nassau who were the forefathers of the Dutch Royal family. So even the more famous capital of the Bahamas, Nassau, got its name from this little town on Lahn.
Nastätten is a nice little town close to the Loreley. although it is not famous, there are some interesting landmarks to visit.
collected and written by Norbert Schreiner, Nastätten © 13.11.1999
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