Koblenz

Again, we sail overnight along the Rhine and arrive in Koblenz, Germany.

After breakfast, we take a walking tour of the old town. This city is enchanting, and a place one could spend several days. It has a population of around 110,000 people.

Koblenz was established as a Roman military post in 8 BC. Its name originates from the Latin of the word confluence. The Moselle empties into the Rhine at this spot. The city celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 1992. This area has been populated for over 9,000 years.

Where the 2 rivers coverage is a huge equestrian statue of Emperor Wilhelm 1.

We walk through a park and come upon 3 panels of the former Berlin wall, which came down in 1989. Around 1000 Germans were shot attempting to escape from East Betlin. Koblenz was in West Germany.

We then see the historic St. Kastor Basilica. It is the oldest preserved church in Koblenz. The collegiate church, consecrated in 836, was the scene of significant historical events. The monastery of St. Kastor was the meeting and arbitration place of emperors and kings as well as their descendants. In 842, the Romanesque church was the venue for the negotiations of the sons of Emperor Louis the Pious, which led to the partition of the Frankish Empire in the Treaty of Verdun the following year. This Treaty separated the Empire into what is today France and Germany.

After WW2, a group of people started to create an interesting memorial to the Jews who lost their lives in the holocaust. All over European cities and towns where the atrocities were done, brass plaques have been inscibed with the victims names, and placed in the walkway of where they lived.

We go to a square where the city hall is located. Back in the 1600s there were many robber barons who preyed upon the merchant ships that plied the Rhine. One story is that when one of those robber barons was caught, tried, and sentenced to death, on his way to the gallows he rolled his eyes back and forth and stuck out his tongue at the towns people. The town hall has a clock with the face of the robber baron. The clock's eyes roll back and forth constantly, and a big red tongue sticks out of his mouth every 15 minutes.

After the tour, we take a gondola across the Rhine and up to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. For 3,000 years, people have used this high rocky outcrop as a refuge. From the top, there are spectacular views of the Rhine, Moselle and Koblenz, and the surrounding towns.

The Fortress was built by Prussians and was once one of Europe's largest fortresses. Built on the remains of an older Fortress destroyed by the French in the early 1800s, it was built between 1817 and 1828. It has never been attacked.

We have learned that there are bike tours along the Rhine. Perhaps we'll check that out one day.Read more