Niederwalddenkmal

So that great big statue we saw from the boat trip down the Rhine, well we finally got to it. We could have walked, but Herr Hai said, "Let's ride up in this rickety metal bucket thing on sketchy looking wires..." Yeah sure. That seems safe...

And then, when we got on. Not happy. It wasn't quick and smooth like the one in Mittenwald, but rather kind of clanky and jerky and if you moved just the slightest bit, it swayed...

But we survived. I even took video. At the top, we walked the rest of the way to the monument. It was built to commemorate the founding of the German Empire (and remember folks, Germany wasn't one country until 1871) and the defeat of the French in German-French War (known to us in the US as the Franco-Prussian War). Some of my favorite things about the monument: the Saint Michael Archangel with his trumpet, and the words to one of my favorite German marching songs: Die Wacht am Rhein inscribed on front. (Yes, I do have favorite German marches, I'm weird, sorry) The thirty-four foot statue of Germania holding aloft a crown is also a winner.

There's also some nice hiking up here, and if I wasn't so tired, the weather wasn't so meh, and we had another day, it would have been nice to spend more time here.

Die Wacht am Rhein, courtesy of Dr. Ludwig on you tube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kEmdXYk89cLes mer