GERMANY-2
(Last updated 12/25/07)

The Rhine River, backbone of the busiest inland waterway network in Western Europe, arises in the Alps in eastern Switzerland, flows along the Swiss border with Liechtenstein, thru a sliver of land at the tip of Austria, then back into Switzerland's Lake Constance to journey west. At Basle, it bends sharply north to leave Switzerland and flow thru the valley between the French Vosges range and Germany's Black Forest, then continues north into Germany until it turns gradually west again just past Duisburg, one of the largest inland ports in the world (at the confluence of both the Ruhr River and the Hern-Rhine Canal), to flow thru the Netherlands as it finishes its 820 mile journey to the North Sea.

In the middle Rhine, the river turns sharply west outside of Wiesbaden when it bumps into the southern hillsides of Hessen's Taunus range (they form the south-facing slopes of the Rheingau), then almost due north again at the town of Bingen (located at the confluence of the Nahe River), plunging past the rapids and rocks of the Bingerloch (whirlpool) into one its wildest sections, a narrow 35-mile long gorge cut thru the schist massif of the Rhenish Slate Mountains (called the Loreley region after its most famous landmark). Because of the commercial importance of river traffic on the Rhine since Roman times, and especially in the Middle Ages, the cliffs and steep hills of this small gorge hold the highest density of castles of any river valley in the world - for he who could control and tax the flow of goods on the Rhine had wealth and power indeed...

A view of the town of Bingen, with its latest version of the Drusus Bridge (rebuilt after WWII; the first was constructed by the Romans) over the mouth of the Nahe on the right; the twin spires of the Basilica of St Martin (1416) can be seen in the center of town (the original was built in 793, rebuilt in 1220, destroyed by fire in 1403). Burg ("Castle") Klopp (right) is just visible above town on the left - the "modern" castle (built in 1282 on the site of the Roman Castellum Bingium, destroyed many times thereafter - including by the French in 1689, restored by a Cologne businessman in the mid-19th century) has served as City Hall since 1897

The Mäuseturm (left; originally "mautturm," or toll tower, now the Mouse Tower - from a legend about the downfall of the 9th century Archbishop Hatto II of Mainz), was built ca 1210 on an islet (first fortified by the Romans) just downstream from Bingen; the ruins of Burg Ehrenfels (center; built 1208-19 by the brothers von Bolanden, damaged by Swedish troops in 1636 during the Thirty Years War, destroyed by the French during the War of Palatine Succession in 1688) sits directly across the river in the middle of a vine-covered bluff - straddling the narrowest part of the river in tandem with the Mäuseturm, it served as a toll station for the Archbishops of Mainz. The 114-ft Niederwald Monument (right; 1877-83; designed by Johann Schilling of Dresden, topped by the 33-ft bronze statue of Germania, dedicated by Wilhelm I to commemorate the re-establishment of the German Empire after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1) stands above Ehrenfels near the summit of the Niederwald-Denkmal, a broad hill that constitutes the southwestern apex of the Taunus (Rüdesheim and Assmannshausen sit at the foot of its southern and western slopes, respectively); a cog railroad for tourists was added in 1884, supplemented by a cable car in 1954

Assmannshausen (left; actually a part of Rüdesheim), starting point for the cable car to the N-D, is surrounded by hillsides of grapes - located on the western side of the Rheingau, considered Germany's finest white wine district, it's often called the "Red Island" for its locally famous Spätburgunder red (pinot noir). Burg Rheinstein (right), one of the Rhine's oldest castles, sits on a 270-ft cliff across the river from A'hausen; originally called the Vogtsburg when it was built ca 900 as a customs post, renamed Konigstein when it served as home to the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph von Habsburg (1282-6) during his campaign against the robber-knights (see below), controlled by the Archbishops of Mainz from the 14th-17th c, renamed Rheinstein when its ruins were purchased and rebuilt (1825-9) by von Lassaulx in pseudo-Gothic style for Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig of Prussia, it was recently purchased (1975) and restored by the Hecher family, who have opened it to the public

Just downstream on a cliff above Trechtingshausen (site of St Clement's Chapel) sits the massive 11th c Schloss Reichenstein (left); the stronghold of a band of robber-knights (initially led by Gerhard von Rheinbodo and his descendents, then by Phillip von Hohenfels of the von Bolanden family) who preyed upon river travelers in the 13th c, it was finally captured and razed by the Emperor in 1290; rebuilt shortly thereafter and given to the Archbishops of Mainz in 1344 (who leased it out for the next 150 years), it was bought as a ruin in the 19th c by Baron von Barfuss, renovated by the architect Strebel (1899-1902) for the iron mogul Nicholas Kirsch-Puricelli - the castle is now open to the public, and part of it serves as a hotel. On another left-bank cliff nearby sits Burg Sooneck (right), another castle of the robber-knights; dating from the early 11th c, it was destroyed by the Emperor in 1282, rebuilt in the 14th c, eventually renovated (ca 1843 by the military engineer Karl Schnitzler) as a hunting lodge for King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia - it is now open to the public

Just downstream, Burg Heimburg, with its 82-ft tower, sits at the mouth of the Heimbach Valley above the left-bank towns of Ober- and Niederheimbach (left) - the steeple of the 13th c St. Margareta parish church is visible on the right; the castle's ruins were purchased in the 19th c and rebuilt as a summer residence by Hugo Stinnes - still owned by the Stinnes family, it's not open to the public. On the same bank further downstream above the village of Rheindiebach, the ruins of the 13th c Burg Furstenberg (right) sport a matching 82-ft tower; along with many of its neighbors, it was destroyed by the French in 1689

The town of Lorch (left), at the northwestern corner of the Rheingau, was officially recorded as a "wine town" in 1085, but is several centuries older - it sits on the river's right bank at the mouth of the Wisper River valley; its Gothic parish church, St Martin's, contains the largest carved alter (1483, by Hans of Worms) in the country. The ruins of the 11th c Burg Nollig, once part of the town's fortifications, are perched on a hilltop at the confluence of the Wisper (right) - the small tower nearest the hillside has recently been restored by its private owners

Looking across the river, one first sees Burg Stahleck high on a hill (left), then the town of Bacharach (right) comes into view. Founded in the 10th c, before that a Celtic settlement (according to legend named after the "Bacchi ara," a huge rock in the Rhine used as an altar to the wine god Bacchus, still the focus of a local celebration), the town has been an important wine market since Medieval times; from far left, the high Gothic ruins of the Werner-Kapelle (from ca 1400; its roof was destroyed by debris when the town's castle was blown up by Napoleon's retreating troops - who also razed the town), the Martturm (one of 10 towers that used to be part of the town wall), the spire of the Church of St Peter, and the Liebesturm (tower of love)

The 11th c Burg Stahleck (left) was originally owned by the Archbishops of Cologne, but in 1214 became the seat of one of the counts Palatine (a rulers with special powers granted by the Palace/Emperor), in 1356 (after the Golden Bull of Charles IV) that of the Palatine Elector; it withstood a siege by French troops during the 30 Years War, was renovated by Elector Count Ludwig in 1666, destroyed when the French attacked again in 1689, restored by the crown prince of Prussia in 1829, renovated by the Rhine River Society starting in 1910 - and opened to the public as a youth hostel in 1926. Just downstream, the fortress of Pfalzgrafenstein (right; built by Ludwig of Bavaria in 1326-7), stands sentinel on the rocky island of Falkenau near the town of Kaub (the site of a daring river crossing by von Bluecher and 60,000 Prussians on New Years Day of 1814 in their pursuit of Napoleon) - once the most important toll station on the central Rhine, its original pentagonal keep was surrounded by a 40-ft high, turreted hexagonal wall (1338-42) in the form of a ship and renamed the Pfalz after the castle was sold to the Palatine counts; its outer walls were reinforced and a second level upper walkway were added in 1607 by Prince Friedrich IV; never captured during the many conflicts on this part of the Rhine, in 1803 the castle was transfered to the Duchy of Nassau, in 1866 to the Kingdom of Prussia, in 1946 to the German state of Rhineland-Palatine, which renovated it in the early 1970s - it is open to the public (when water levels permit)

Behind Kaub, on a rocky ridge above a steep terraced hillside of grapes, Burg Gutenfels (left) was once one of the most important fortresses on the Rhine; built ca 1200 by the count of Falkenstein, it survived a siege during the War of German Succession (after the death of Conrad IV) in 1252, became part of the Palatine (together with Kaub) in 1277, was home to Adolf of Nassau before his election in 1292 as Holy Roman Emperor, was renamed Gutenfels in 1508 after withstanding a 4-yr siege in the Bavarian-Palatine War of Succession, was besieged again by the Spanish allies of the Landgrave of Hessen in 1620, was finally captured by the Swedish allies of Hessen in 1632 - whose troops were displaced by the French in 1645, was captured again by the French in 1793; its ruins were rescued in 1833 by the archivist Friedrich Habel, renovated by the architect Gustav Walter in 1889-92, briefly served as a rest home, then as a youth conference center, in the 1950s - its three-story palace and 95-ft high tower are now a hotel. Downstream, on the opposite bank, the Medieval town of Oberwesel (right; called Wasalia in the 5th c by the Franks, renamed Wesel in 966 by Kaiser Otto I) still has nearly all of its almost two miles of fortified walls intact, as well as 16 of its original 21 towers, including the turreted Ochsenturm, now a river semaphore station - the Gothic Martinskirche, with its distinctive tower, dominates this view of the town

The pride of Oberwesel, however, is the red sandstone, high Gothic Liebfrauenkirche ("church of our lady"; left - begun in 1308) - located south of town, the church has a 114-ft high nave (its decorations include the oldest known rendering of the town of Koblenz), a tower containing five bells cast between 1353 and 1404, a hand-carved, gilded main altar (1331) with several early 16th c altarpieces, and an 18th century baroque organ by the master Franz Joseph Eberhardt. Directly above the church, Burg Schonburg (right)

Just downstream, the 430-ft high, stark slate cliff of the Loreley (left) squeezes the river channel into its narrowest (just over 300 ft), deepest, and most dangerous point; a statue of the legendary river siren (right; 1983, by Natascha Jusopov) now sits on a nearby island - her current personification, supposedly first described by the German writer Clemens Brentano in his novel "Godwi," was made famous in an 1823 poem by Heinrich Hein (translated by Mark Twain in 1880) which has been set to music by more than 25 composers

The town of St. Goar (left) sits on the opposite bank a few hundred yards downstream - its name derives from the saint who brought Christianity to the people of the central Rhine area in the 6th c; while the town's architectural focus is the Church of St Goar, which originally combined elements of both Romanesque and Gothic styles but is actually a late 19th c reconstruction (although it does have a famous cycle of Gothic frescoes and a 1480 painting of the saint), it is better known as a tourist town, complete with the world's largest cuckoo clock and beerstein, and one of only two outlets in Germany for Steiff teddy bears. Burg Rheinfels (right) is the largest fortress ruin in Europe; built above St Goar in 1245 by Graf (Count) Dieter von Katzenelnbogen, it was enlarged as a fortress over the next three centuries, converted into a Renaissance mansion in the 16th c by the Landgraves of Hesse, into an even larger and more formidable fortress at the start of the 17th c; it withstood enemy attacks for the next two centuries, but was finally destroyed by Napoleon's troops in 1794 - it is now owned by the city, and houses a museum, restaurant, and hotel

Across the river, above the town of St. Goarshausen, Burg Katz (left), and just beyond, Burg Maus (left)

On the left bank, in a horseshoe-shaped curve of the river, Bad Salzig (left), site of a famous spa known for its salt wells, is now a district of the town of Boppard (right), which sits in a relatively open site on the left bank where several small valleys meet; in Boppard, from left to right - the Kürfurstliche Burg (electoral castle), built by Baldwin of Trier in 1327, the twin spires of the Church of St Severus (1236), and at far right, the spire of the Baroque-style Carmelite Church (1730; rebuilt after the original 14th c church burned)

Across the river, on a high bluff above the town of Kamp-Bornhofen, the "Hostile Brothers" - Burg Sterrenburg (left) and Burg Liebenstein (right) face each other on adjoining promentories

In K-B, the major landmark is the Marien-Wallfahrts cloister church (left). The town of Braubach, with its half-timbered houses (center) and St Barbara Church (right; 1276), sits further downstream as the river bends back to the north

Burg Marksburg (left), on a hill behind Braubach; the left-bank town of Rhens (right)

Burg Lahneck (left), on a bluff above the right-bank town of Lahnstein overlooking the mouth of the river Lahn; on the left bank just south of Koblenz, the Schloss Stolenfels (right)

Koblenz, at the confluence of the Moselle, marks the end of the gorge; its Romanesque St. Castor's Church, just behind the Koblenz wharf (left). The KD motor cruiser Wappen von Mainz, with the Ehrenbreitstein Citadel (1816-32; built by the Prussians after they took control of the city) on the cliff across the river (right)


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