Today’s travel down 40 miles of the Rhine River from Koblenz to Rudesheim is the reason to do a riverboat cruise on this magnificent river. Referred to as the Rhine River Valley and the Rhine River Gorge, this stretch of the river flows through an area that the Germanic people of the world feel is their spiritual center and a mystical connection to their history. This section of the river epitomizes the romantic notion of the river in most people’s minds. It is an incredibly gorgeous area with beautiful wine villages, lots of very steep vineyards, and of course many castles.
The history of wine in this area is from Roman times. As the Romans used the river for transportation of goods, it became clear to them that the river was becoming polluted and the water was not fit to drink. The fermentation of grapes was well known to the Romans and so to provide a suitable drink, they started importing wine, which became very expensive, so they imported the vines, began growing grapes, and made wine. The river provides a very good environment for grape-growing and the steep hills along the river are covered in vineyards. You can’t imagine how the grapes are harvested because the terrain is so steep. One wrong step and I could see a poor harvester tumbling down the hill into the river. Eighty percent of the grapes grown in this area are white grapes and the most prevalent variety of wine here is Riesling. Also, apparently, ice wine was invented here and ice wines are very popular as well. Every mile or two along the river is a quaint village whose livelihood is entirely wrapped up in growing grapes and making wine.
Koblenz is where this middle Rhine section begins.
There is a castle every few miles along this stretch of the river. Castles started popping up everywhere during the period where nobility and religious leaders were forming their city-states. And the function of the castle was twofold; one as a security measure to protect the inhabitants in the castle and, two, as toll stations along the river. Because each section was its own city-state in the 12th century, each nobleman wanted to cash in and required tolls to pass through “their” section of the river. Then during the Middle Ages castles were constructed mostly as fortresses. When the French arrived in the late 1600s to early 1700s, they ransacked most of the castles and nearly all fell into disrepair. Of the castles we saw today, only one is an original in entirety. All the others have either been renovated or remain in a dilapidated state. Nevertheless, each is thrilling to see.
Marksburg Castle is one of the few originals and has preserved in its original state from the 14th century.
As I mentioned, wine is a big product in this region. We passed by Bopparder Hamm, the largest vineyard in the area. It’s vineyards cover 75 hectares, about 185 acres, all on very steep hills.
The very popular town of Boppard attracts loads of tourists and is a spa resort area as well as the place to drink world-class Riesling wine.
Here are two castles, referred to as The Two Hostile Brothers castles. Their feud led them to build their own castles with a large stone wall in between.
The villages near each of the castles are very charming and picturesque and all have at least one beautiful church.
Rheinfels Castle was once the largest fortress on the Rhine.
Katz Castle is just across the river and the rivals are watching each other. The little village is St. Goar.
We next came to the area of the river where it gets narrow and the current becomes swifter and more difficult to navigate. This is the setting for the famous story about Lorelei, the German maiden who sat naked on the rocks combing her long blonde hair. The sailors would be distracted looking at her and perish on the rocks and in the current.
Next came Oberwesel where you can still see the walls of protection below and above the houses in the village.
The castle at Oberwesel is Schonburg Castle.
And if you haven’t seen enough castles, there are a few more, but now I’ve forgotten most of their names.
I mentioned toll collecting. This one you can clearly understand was built as a toll booth. It’s right on an island in the river.
This one is really incredible up there on the steep hillside in the middle of a large vineyard.
After passing through the Rhine River Gorge and seeing all the castles and beautiful little villages, we docked in the small town of Rudesheim. We visited a mechanical instrument museum, sampled a special coffee that’s made with the local wine and brandy, flambeed, covered in whipped cream and served in these interesting cups. I had mine without the alcohol and it was still delicious. We wandered around the little village for a while and then returned to the ship. Here’s a few photos of Rudesheim.
The music museum contains the largest collection of self-playing musical instruments covering 3 centuries. Unfortunately, our tour through the museum was very brief and it would have been nicer if we had more time. We just got a flavor for some of the instruments. The violin one was amazing. Each violin had only one string. The mechanism twirled around the violins and the “bow” touched each violin’s string with the “fingers,” the mechanical levers that touched the string to make the tone of the note. Amazing!
One of the things that seemed so weird was the heavy-handed use of pollarding of trees. Everywhere there were trees, a lot of Linden and Sycamore, that were pruned back severely. At this time of the year, before leafing out, the trees all look very gnarled and knobby.
As we were having dinner later, another two riverboats came to moor near our ship. And a big surprise for Christine was where one of the ships was registered.
We ended our day in Rudesheim with some beautiful night views of Bingen, the home of Hildegard von Bingen (for you music fans). I learned that Hildegard was an entrepreneur as well and made salves and lotions using all the medicinal flora. Her brand is still being manufactured today using the recipes she developed.
