Germany
Rhine Gorge
Rhine Gorge: Castles, Vineyards and the Loreley Between Rüdesheim and Koblenz
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Sailing the Gorge
On river cruise itineraries the Rhine Gorge is a stretch of river rather than a quay: the 65 km of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley between Rüdesheim and Koblenz, which ships sail through. Your cruise line will tell you when your ship passes it, and from the open deck there are nearly always at least two castles in sight.
- The valley walls rise about 200 meters above the water. In the bends around Sankt Goar the river narrows to less than 200 meters across.
- No bridge crosses the Rhine between Wiesbaden and Koblenz. Ferries carry cars, bicycles and people between the two banks instead.
- A railway line runs along each bank.
- Most of the vineyards on the slopes belong to the Mittelrhein wine region; the southern end of the gorge falls in the Rheingau and Nahe regions.
Legends, Wine and Fireworks
The story most tied to the gorge, the Loreley who lures boatmen onto the rocks, was first told by 19th-century poets. Wine and the summer fireworks known as Rhine in Flames are the traditions still alive along the banks.
- The Loreley: The rock is a 132-meter slate cliff on the right bank at Sankt Goarshausen. Its name probably comes from old words for "murmuring" and "rock", after the sound of the current and the rock's echo.
- A poets' creation: Clemens Brentano wrote the first ballad about an enchantress called Lore Lay in 1801. Heinrich Heine's poem of 1824, set to music by Friedrich Silcher in 1837, turned her into the siren combing her golden hair above the river.
- Rhine in Flames: Five firework evenings are held along the Rhine each year. Inside the gorge, Oberwesel has one in early September, and in mid-September boats wait in the river between Sankt Goar and Sankt Goarshausen while the fireworks go up. Koblenz holds the largest, on the second Saturday in August.
- Wine on the slopes: The gorge has its own microclimate, and its slopes have long been terraced for vines; the south-facing slopes have good conditions for them.
History
The Rhine has been a trade route into central Europe since prehistoric times, and several of the castles and towers along the gorge were built to collect tolls from boats. War left many castles in ruins, and in the 19th century the valley's scenery came to be seen as typically German.
- Ancient rock: The slate of the gorge was laid down in the Devonian period. The river cut its steep valley much later, as the land rose.
- The Mouse Tower: The Romans were the first to build on this island near Bingen. The tower became a customs post in 1298, was destroyed by a French army in 1689 and was rebuilt in 1855 as a Prussian signal tower.
- Pfalzgrafenstein: In 1326 or 1327 King Ludwig the Bavarian built a toll tower on an island in the river at Kaub. Chains could be raised across the narrow channel to stop boats until they paid, and tolls were collected there until 1867.
- Around 40 castles: As trade made the valley rich, about 40 hilltop castles went up between Bingen and Koblenz. The Marksburg above Braubach is the only one that never fell into disrepair.
- War and ruin: The Thirty Years' War in the 17th century left many castles in ruins. Rheinfels at Sankt Goar, once the largest fortress between Koblenz and Mainz, was wrecked by French Revolutionary troops in 1797.
- Prussia: In the 19th century the valley passed to Prussia, and its scenery came to be seen as typically German.
- World Heritage: UNESCO added the Upper Middle Rhine Valley to the World Heritage list on June 27, 2002.
- To learn more ashore: The Mittelrhein-Museum in the Forum Confluentes on Zentralplatz in Koblenz has a collection focused on Rhine Romanticism, with paintings of Middle Rhine landscapes and towns.
The Rhine Gorge with Children
Children enjoy the gorge most when they have a job on deck: counting castles, spotting the Loreley and hearing the stories that go with them. Be outside for the stretch from Kaub past Sankt Goar, where the toll castle in the river, the Loreley rock and Rheinfels come one after another.
- Younger children: Make it a castle count; there are nearly always two in sight. Pfalzgrafenstein is easy to pick out because it stands on its own island in the middle of the river at Kaub. The writer Victor Hugo called it a stone ship anchored in the Rhine.
- School age: Tell the story of the Mouse Tower near Bingen, where, in a legend with no evidence behind it, a cruel bishop was eaten by mice. Then look for the chains-and-tolls story at Kaub, which is true.
- Teenagers: Read Heine's poem "Die Lorelei" before the ship reaches Sankt Goarshausen, and look for the rock on the right bank. Bands from Roxy Music to the Pogues have referred to her in their songs.
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