Romantic Rhine - Germany
The Rhine is a 1,232.7 km long river in Western and Central Europe and one of the busiest waterways in the world.
The source area of the Rhine lies mainly in the Swiss canton of Graubünden, its estuary arms reach the North Sea in the Netherlands, of which it is the most water-rich tributary. From the confluence of the two main source branches Vorderrhein and Hinterrhein, the river is usually divided into the following main sections: Alpenrhein, Hochrhein, including the Seerhein through Lake Constance, Oberrhein, Mittelrhein and Niederrhein, including the three estuaries of the Deltarhein, Waal, Lek and IJssel.
In this project I take the viewer on a short journey through the area of the Middle Rhine, between Bingen and St. Goar. Here the Rhine shows its dreamy and romantic side.
Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, also known as the Palatinate near Kaub, was built by Ludwig the Bavarian, the Count Palatine near the Rhine and later Roman-German king and emperor, in the Rhine near Kaub as a toll castle. It had the task of supervising the collection of the ship's customs duty in the opposite paying office on the right bank of the Rhine at Kaub. Because of this purpose, the Inselburg - unlike other castles on the Middle Rhine - never served for residential purposes. Over the years, the building was constructed from a tower erected by Ludwig the Bavarian between 1326 and 1327.
Pfalzgrafenstein, along with Marksburg Castle and Boppard Castle, is one of the few undestroyed and hardly changed castles in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Furthermore, dendrochronological investigations have made it possible to determine the exact date. In 1803 the castle came to the Duchy of Nassau under Napoleon. Only in 1867, after both sides of the Rhine had become Prussian, did the last customs officers leave the island.
Since 2002, the Pfalzgrafenstein Castle has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Furthermore, it is a protected cultural asset according to the Hague Convention.
Ehrenfels Castle is the ruin of a hillside castle west of Rüdesheim am Rhein halfway to Assmannshausen in the Rheingau-Taunus district of Hesse. It stands on the northeastern bank of the Rhine on the steep slope of the Rüdesheimer Berg, which includes several of the best vineyards in Germany.
The 4.6 meter thick, 20 meter high shield wall with its two 33 meter high corner towers as well as remains of the palace and a gate building have been preserved from the former customs castle, which once had an area of almost 600 square meters.
Since 2002, Ehrenfels Castle has been part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Liebfrauenkirche in Oberwesel is a Gothic sacred building on the Middle Rhine.
Since 2002 the Liebfrauenkirche has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley.
Since 2002 the Liebfrauenkirche has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley.
Originally located outside the city walls at the foot of Schönburg Castle, the church, first mentioned in 1213, was probably founded in the 12th century. In 1258 it was elevated to a collegiate church. The present building was constructed in the first half of the 14th century. The start of construction is dated 1308 by an inscription consisting of 44 letters, which runs on glass windows in the tracery of the choir, 30 of which have been preserved in the original, [1] even if the inscription itself was made later, probably around 1331. [2] The choir's consecration in 1331 is documented, its completion can be dated according to dendrochronological dating of the west tower after 1351. In the following period, there were hardly any significant structural changes. Around 1400, the church was included in the city fortifications when the city wall was extended. The most serious cut was the demolition of the monastery buildings and the cloister after secularization in 1803.
The Binger Mäuseturm is a former defense and watch tower. It stands on the Mäuseturminsel in the Rhine before the Bingerbrück district of Bingen. The 24.65 meter high Mäuseturm, built as a customs watch tower at the beginning of the 14th century, received its name from a legend.
According to a legend, the Archbishop of Mainz, Hatto II, had it built in the 10th century. At that time, the hard-hearted bishop is said to have denied help from his filled granaries to the poor when there was a famine in the country. When they continued begging, he is said to have locked them into a barn, which was then set on fire by his henchmen. He is said to have mockingly commented on the cries of the dying with the words, "Do you hear how the little grain mice whistle?
At that moment, according to legend, thousands of mice came crawling out of every corner and swarming across the table and through the bishop's chambers. The mass of rodents had put the servants to flight, and Hatto is said to have taken a ship down the Rhine to the island, where he thought he was safe. But when he had locked himself up there, he was eaten alive by the mice.
The Niederwalddenkmal is located at the edge of the Niederwald Landscape Park above the city of Rüdesheim am Rhein. At its feet are the vineyards of the Rüdesheimer Berg.
The monument should remind of the unification of Germany in 1871. Planning and construction took a total of twelve years from the first suggestion in 1871 to the inauguration on September 28, 1883. The construction time was six years.
Together with the Barbarossa Monument on the Kyffhäuserberg, the German Corner in Koblenz, the Hermann Monument near Detmold in the southern Teutoburg Forest, the Kaiser Wilhelm Monument at the Porta Westfalica, the Battle of Nations Monument in Leipzig, the Bismarck Monument in Hamburg and the Walhalla near Donaustauf, the Niederwald Monument is one of the monumental commemorative buildings in Germany that were predominantly erected during the time of the German Empire.
Since 2002 the Niederwald Monument is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley.
