Scenic Cruising and Koblenz 30
November & 1 December 2019
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| An Old Church Along the Rhine |
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| Niederwalddenkmal Monument |
We over-nighted in Mainz but left about 7 AM to cruise the
most scenic part of the Rhine – a valley that has many castles on both sides of
the river. When we left Mainz, the sun
was shining, but as we cruised further up the Rhine, fog and cold descended
upon us. Leaving Mainz we saw a
beautiful old church by the riverside, the ruins of the Booseburg Castle in the
daylight, and the Niederwalddenkmal Monument that we had taken the cable car up
to last night. This section of the Rhine
is also dotted with many vineyards.
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| Booseburg Castle |
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| Vineyards Along the Rhine |
Then we began our parade of castles. We saw the first few
castles, but then most of the others were shrouded in fog. We did have a clear view of the Lorelei as we
sailed past her, but there is nothing spectacular about this rock. It rises about 440 feet in the area, and
according to Greek and German legends, the rock was inhabited by a siren, a
beautiful woman-like creature who would lure sailors to their deaths in the
reef below the rock. Unlike our previous
Rhine river cruise, the crew did not perform a comic rendition of the Lorelei
song/poem. And after the Lorelei, it was
time to back into the ship’s lounge for some hot chocolate.
Below is a picture and brief description of the castles we
saw as we sailed down the Rhine.
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| Ehrenfels Castle |
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| Mauseturm |
Ehrenfels Castle (in ruins) was built in 1208-1220 by
Philipp des Bolanden in the name of Archbishop Siegfried II. After Bolanden’s death in 1218, his widow
wanted to keep it as her residence, but in 1222, the court ruled it belonged to
Archbishop Siegfried. Its role was to
collect duties and tolls from the passing ships.
Mauseturm (a tower not a castle) is presumed to have been
built in the Roman times. It became part
of the toll collection system on the Rhine.
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| Rheinstein Castle |
Rheinstein Castle has been around since 1323 and was part
of the defensive system of Mainz until the 14th/15th century. It was finally left to fall into decay in
1572. In 1825, Prince Fredrich Wilhelm
Ludwig of Prussia bought the ruins and restored it. It has changed hands several times, and since
1975 it is privately owned by the Hecher family.
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| Reichenstein Castle |
Reichenstein Castle has been in existence since the 11th century. Several of its earliest owners unfortunately
became robber knights and lost control of the castle. Finally, King Rudolf I decided he had had
enough of the robber knights, so in 1282, he put the castle under siege until
the current owner surrendered. He then
had both Reichenstein and Sooneck castles burnt down. Around 1300, a rebuilding of the castle was
started and was completed in 1349.
During the 16th century it was again allowed to fall into ruins. In the late 19th century,
restoration was begun again. It is now a
hotel and museum.
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| Sooneck Castle |
Sooneck Castle was believed to have been built in the 11th century for the
protection of the Abbey that owned land around this area. It is also believed that Reichenstein Castle
was built for the same reason. In fact,
governors of the Abbey lived in both castles.
Because of the robber knights in Reichenstein Castle, both castles were
besieged and subsequently burnt down. It
was restored in the mid-14th century but was blown up by the troops of Louis XIV in
1689. From 1843-1861 it was rebuilt as a
royal hunting lodge. Today it is under
the control of the state castles of Rhineland-Palatinate. Today you can tour the interior of the
castle.
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| Heimburg Castle |
Heimburg Castle was built between 1294 and 1305 by the
Archbishop of Mainz to help protect his exclave from the owners of Reichenstein
and Sooneck Castles. When Reichenstein
fell to the Mainz in 1344, Heimburg lost its significance and eventually fell
into decay. It was finally destroyed by
Louis XIV troops in 1689. Although
rebuilt in the 19th century, it is not open to the public.
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| Stahleck Castle |
Stahleck Castle, built around 1100 on a hilltop overlooking
the Lorelei Valley, is about 31 miles southof Koblenz. It also has a water-filled
partial moat which is a rarity for Germany.
Built on the orders of the Archbishop of Cologne, it was also destroyed
in the 1689 by French troops, as were most of the castles on this part of the
Rhine It was rebuilt in the early 1900s
and is now a hostel.
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| Lorelei Rock |
Lorelei is a steep rock overlooking the Rhine whose name
translated from German means “murmuring rock.”
It got its name from the strong currents in this part of the Rhine and a
small waterfall (no longer visible) which, when combined with the special echo
of the rock, caused it to create a murmuring sound. Today, with all the urban development around
the rock, you cannot hear this sound.
Because of the strong current and sharp bend in the river it has been
the scene of many boat accidents. The most
popular legend of this rock tells the story of an enchanting young woman who is
said to bewitch and entice sailors to their death on the rock.
The following is a poem “The Lorely” by Heinrich
Heine
I know not if there is
a reason
Why I am so sad at hear,
A legend of bygone ages
Haunts me and will not
depart.
The air is cool under
nightfall.
The calm Rhine courses
its way.
The peak of the
mountain is sparkling
With evening’s final
ray.
The fairest of maidens
is sitting
So marvelous up there,
Her golden jewels are
shining,
She’s combing her
golden hair.
She combs with a comb
also golden,
And sings a song as
well
Whose melody binds a
wonderous
And overpowering spell.
In his little boat, the
boatman
Is seized with a savage
woe,
He’d rather look up at
the mountain
Then down at the rocks
below.
I think that the waves
will devour
The boatman and boat as
one;
And this by her son’s
sheer power
Fair Lorelei has done.
After our scenic cruising, the trip directors had a little
surprise for us. They had brought on
board a glassblower from Koblenz who was going to demonstrate how he created
his glassware. It was strange to see the
lounge set up as a glassblower’s workshop, complete with propane tanks and all
the other equipment that was needed. The
glassblower did an amazing job in describing how he creates the pieces of art
that he does. He made a glass Christmas
ornament, complete with the addition of several colors. After his demonstration, we were free to
browse through the items that he had brought for sale. I found a cute glass snowman ornament and a
set of six small glass ornaments. Now I
just have to get them home.
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| Old City Wall and Tower |
About noon we arrived in Koblenz, a 2,000-year-old city
located on the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel Rivers. It was heavily bombed in WWII, but most of
the town has since been restored. Our
boat was docked on the Mosel River just in front of part of the old wall and a
tower built as part of the city’s defenses.
One of the early rulers of the city had the tower built along the
waterfront as a means of escape from both external forces (he would see then
coming and escape into the town) or internal forces (if attacked by his own
citizens he could flee to the river where he also had a bridge across the Rhine
built).
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| The Eye Roller |
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| The Peppermint Lady |
After lunch, our trip directors took us on a short walking
tour of the Altstadt (Old Town). The
first place we went to on our walk was to see the Heine Sum Mittelrum building
which houses a museum. The interesting
thing about the building is the sculpture of a man’s face just below the clock,
called the Augenroller or Eye Roller. As
the story goes, the image on the sculpture is that of Johan Lutter, a 16th century robber
who was sentence to death in 1536, but who still keeps watch over Koblenz’s Old
Town. His eyes move back and forth as
the pendulum swings and every half hour he sticks out his tongue to mock the
good citizens of Koblenz. We also saw a
statue of an old Lady, called the Peppermint Lady, who sold peppermint candy to
earn money to feed stray cats and dogs.
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| Peace of Koblenz Fresco |
An interesting piece of artwork along the way was called
the Fresco “Peace of Koblenz.” After the
death of Charlemagne his kingdom had been divided among his sons and then after
their deaths to their sons. However,
peace and unity were not to be as the sons fought against each other for
control of the Frankish empire. Finally,
in 860 AD, at the urging of King Lothar II (whose sphere of control included
Koblenz), the other two kings, Louis the German and Charles the Bald, met in
Koblenz to resolve their differences and restore unity and friendship. This fresco is in commemoration of that
meeting.
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| Rathaus Advent Calendar |
We walked by the Liefgrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), a 13th-century Gothic
basilica with twin towers capped by onion-shaped spires, that was built on the
highest point of the city. We also saw
the Rathaus (town hall) whose rooftop windows had been turned into an Advent
Calendar for the Christmas season. In
the town square by the Rathaus is a statue of a spitting boy who periodically
spits at people. Tourists beware!
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| Spitting Boy Statue |
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| Max and Moritz Mural |
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| Duck Fountain |
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| Angel of Culture |
We were then turned loose in the Old Town square to enjoy
the Christmas Market I think these
markets were some of the prettiest that we had seen. In one, there was Father Christmas (their
equivalent of our Santa) who was listening to the young children (and some
adults) telling him how good they had been.
Of course, we again had to sample the Glühwein, and, as in other cities,
it was hot, spicy and delicious! Now the
questions remains – how will I get all these mugs home. When you buy the Glühwein, you also buy the
mug, but if you do not want to keep the mug, you can return it to the vendor
and get 2 euros back.
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| Christmas Market |
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| Christmas Market |
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| Father Christmas |
Back at the ship we rested until Happy Hour. This evening was dedicated to Christmas as
our Trip Directors discussed Christmas in their home countries and what they
most remembered and enjoyed about their Christmas customs. We then had our Christmas dinner with a
selection of either Venison Sirloin or Filet of Halibut with a Caramel Parfait
for dessert.
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| Pieces of the Berlin Wall |
We over-nighted in Koblenz and had the next morning free
before sailing to our next port. Bill
and I walked along the Mosel waterfront toward the German Corner, a piece of
headland that extends out into the water where the Rhine and Mosel rivers
meet. Along the way we stopped to see
the three pieces of the original Berlin Wall.
The German Corner is shaped like the bow of a ship and around the Corner
are the flags of the 16 German states, the European Union, and the United
States. The US flag is there as a sign
of support for the victims of 911.
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| German Corner |
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| Statue of Wilhelm I |
Directly across the Rhine from the German Corner, on a rock towering 400’ above the Rhine, is Ehrenbreitstein, Europe’s largest preserved fortress. It was built between 1817 and 1832 to guard the Middle Rhine Valley from invading troops. From where we were the best way to reach the fortress was by the cable car. So again, I made poor Bill ride a cable car up to a fortress! We did not try and go into the fortress area as it was cold, and we did not have a lot of time. We did climb up an observation platform and were rewarded with beautiful views of the town of Koblenz on both the Rhine and Mosel Rivers.
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| Ehrenbreistein Fortress |
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| Ehrenbreistein Fortress |
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| View of Koblenz from the Fortress |
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| View of German Corner from the Fortress |
Returning back down the cable car, we walked to St. Kastor
Basilica, dedicated to Castor of Karden, which sits behind the German
Corner. It is the oldest surviving
church in Koblenz and features four towers.
Originally built in 836, the current building is from the 12th century. From the church I made one more walk through
the Christmas Markets on my way back to the ship.
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| Sta. Kastor Basilica |
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| Christmas Market |
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| Christmas Market |
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| Christmas Market |
After lunch we set sail for Cologne. In the evening before dinner, the Captain and
our Trip Directors hosted a champagne Inner Circle Party for those Grand Circle(GCT)/Overseas
Adventure Travelers(OAT) who have taken 3 or more trips with the company. It is one of the nice things OAT/GCT does for
its returning members. It is hard to
believe, but on this ship alone there were about 3 travelers who had 30 or more
trips with OAT/GCT. Bill and I need to
get going – we are only at 11.
Dinner tonight was a typical German meal – Sauerbraten (or
filet of cod if you desired). And
dessert was a tarte tatin, a French apple pie.
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| Church Along Our Cruise to Cologne |
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| Our Trip Leader Stefan |
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