The Trip That Keeps Growing: 14 October 2023 Sailing the Mosel River and Bernkastel

14 October 2023 Sailing the Mosel River and Bernkastel

The Mosel River is a tributary of the Rhine River and flows through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. It flows through a region that has been influenced by mankind since it was first cultivated by the Romans. Today, its hillsides are covered by terraced vineyards where "some of the best Rieslings grow” and numerous ruined castles dominate the hilltops above wine villages and towns that line the riverbanks. It is not as busy as the Rhine and you do not see as many river cruises on the Mosel, although more and more companies are beginning to offer cruises up the Mosel.

This morning we cruised up the Mosel to Bernkastel. I think this may be the most beautiful river in Europe, where both sides are lined with quaint little villages and acres of vineyards. The vineyards are well-groomed in straight lines going straight up the steep slopes. It is like a patchwork quilt or a paint-by-number scene where the little squares are in varying shades of green, yellow, brown and the occasional red. It was a bit overcast, but the river was calm. And near almost every small village were swans gracefully gliding over the water and ducks and cormorants swimming and diving for food. What a picturesque postcard! During the morning, our crew also served us High Tea. We arrived in Bernkastel about lunchtime.

Cruising Along the Mosel

After lunch we took a stroll around Bernkastel, one of the prettiest villages along the Mosel, with its castle perched on a hill overlooking the Mosel and the city. Bernkastel is actually two villages with its sister Kues located on the opposite bank of the Mosel. Located above the city are the ruins of Bernkastel Castle, originally called Burg Landshut. It was built sometime around 1291.

Our first stop was to St. Michael Church, a Roman Catholic church built in 1496. Its tower is considered the landmark of the city, although the original church did not have a tower. The current tower was originally built in the late 13^th century as a free-standing defensive tower. It was then integrated into the city walls when they were built and eventually was merged into the church. St. Michael’s Church is the only preserved 14^th century baroque-styled church in the Mosel region. Of particular interest was the Crucifixion sculpture on the side of one outer wall.

St. Michael's Church and Tower

St. Michael's Church

Numbers in Top Left Indicate that the
Priest has Blessed the House

The main part of town, is pedestrian only and there were many picturesque alleyways with their splendid half-timbered homes and shops. These colorful homes date back to 1608 and surround the Marktplatz, the medieval main square of the town. In the Marktplatz is St. Michael’s Fountain that during the September Wine Festival flows with wine instead of water. One of the buildings had paint on one corner showing the dates and heights of all the floods the city had endured. The main town square had wonderful little shops, especially this one pastry shop that had the most delicious cherry crème cake. We just could not resist! But the most photographed building and the oldest building is the Spitzhäuschen or pointed house. Built in 1416, the house is very narrow, but the upper floors overhang the bottom level making it appear that the house will tumble down. Here were two reasons why many homes in Germany were built with jetted-out upper levels. First it allowed wagons to travel on the narrow alleyways by the houses, and second, and most importantly, many cities taxed home owners on the area of the houses foundation. Today this house is a wine bar. There are also two other unique statues in and around the city center – the Two-faced statue and the Bear Statue, that was named for the bears that once roamed the forests around the city (Bern means bear in German).

Half-timbered shops in Main Square

Bernkastel Main Square

Narrowest Building in Bernkastel

Statue of Jesus

2-Faced Statue

St. Michael's Statue

We had some free time before our wine tasting, so I wandered around the little town admiring the beautiful quaint homes and shops with their flower boxes breaming with flowers. I eventually came to Barenbrunnen, the Bear Fountain. This fountain, containing two bears leaning up against a lava pillar adorned with grapes, replaced an older Bear fountain that had been destroyed in 1899. Bears are synonymous with Bernkaskel. As I rested by the fountain a man with his Black Lab came up to the fountain. While I found the temperature to be a little to cold to go swimming, the Black Lab did not. He jumped in and had a grand time racing around the fountain and drinking the water that came out of the spigots.

Bear Fountain

Dog Enjoying the Fountain

After our walk we had a wine tasting at one of the area’s most famous winery. The wine tasting was held in a cave built into the side of a vineyard. Almost all the wine in this region is white. The vineyard is called Dr. H. Thanisch (orBerkasteler Doktor) and is one of the most famous and prestigious Riesling vineyards in Germany. It got the name Doctor many, many years ago when a prince in the area became very ill and nothing the doctors did was able to help him. The wine grower brought him a bottle of his wine and said to drink it for the next several days. Whatever had ailed the Prince was cured and the name “Doctor” stuck with the vintner. All the wines we tasted were various types of Rieslings, and as a white wine lover, they were all very good!