Spend ten days tracing the river Rhine from the comfort of your car. Photo / Getty Images
Julian Ryall spends 10 days tracing the banks of the Rhine by car, discovering sleepy river towns, German wine and the birth town of Beethoven.
The violin notes are clear and haunting as they rise on the warm evening air, drifting over the cobblestoned square and dozens of patrons of bars and cafes that line the Romerberg, in the heart of Frankfurt’s old town.
To the uninitiated – such as this visitor to the fifth-largest city in Germany – the street performer could be playing Bach or Beethoven. But it doesn’t really matter as sight and sound mesh perfectly, bringing together the timber-frame city hall, the spire of the cathedral in the middle-distance, the cafes’ laughter and animated conversations and the perfectly chilled “Weissbier” in a tall glass on my table.
With the biggest airport in Germany, Frankfurt serves as the gateway to the nation and is the perfect jumping-off point for anyone planning to explore the Rhine, one of Europe’s greatest waterways. The city actually sits astride the River Main, but it flows into the Rhine less than 20km to the west and many people take advantage of the many luxurious cruise ships that travel these waters.
The disadvantage, of course, is that joining a cruise makes it impossible to stop off at every location of interest along the river. And because there are so many, I’m going by hire car.
But it would be a waste to not get on the water entirely, so book a 90-minute cruise that provides an excellent introduction to a bustling city that made itself into the financial capital of Germany – with the skyline to match.
Frankfurt cathedral has played a key part in German history all the way back to the Holy Roman Empire as it was the location for the coronation of new emperors. For those with a head for heights, climb the winding staircase to the roof for what is arguably the best view of the old city.
End the day by exploring the Alt-Sachsenhausen, a warren of narrow cobbled streets and squares where restaurants come alive when the sun has set.
Leaving Frankfurt the next morning, I follow the Main until it meets the Rhine, cross to the west bank and turn north. Avoid the autobahn – it’s fast but so much passes in a blur – and stay with the riverside road as it winds through the valley and its picturesque towns.
This is wine country, something else that dates back to Roman times, with vineyards rising up the steep-sided hills growing riesling grapes for some excellent fruity white wines. Castles dominate the highest ground overlooking the river, some in ruins but a surprising number still habitable. Many were the homes of local lords who in centuries past earned their wealth from wine and taxing boats on the river as they passed through.
On the outskirts of many towns, waterfront parks are busy in the summer months, with children playing on sandy beaches and in the water and picnickers beneath the trees. Someone is usually having a barbecue with “oecher puttes” the local favourite, a spicy blood sausage that is heavy in pork and spices with generous amounts of pepper, nutmeg and thyme.
The town of Koblenz has grown up on the low-lying land where the Rhine meets the Moselle, that other great German waterway. And at the exact spot where the two flow into each other is a spit of land that has been turned into a park and is known as Deutsches Eck, or German Corner. This was the site of a huge statue of Emperor William I on horseback, erected in 1897. Damaged in the war it was replaced by the French, who occupied this part of Germany, with a monument to peace and understanding.
After the end of the occupation, the park became a place where Germans’ expression of their desire for a reunited nation was expressed with monuments and the coats of arms of all the nation’s states - including those behind the Iron Curtain. After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, three panels were installed as monuments and, with reunification the following year, a new statue of Emperor William was commissioned and placed on the original plinth.
The burghers of medieval Koblenz clearly did not anticipate modern-day vehicles, which is a positive as the central areas of the town are a maze of narrow, stone-flagged streets giving out on to shady squares. The town has been badly damaged in countless conflicts since at least the 8th century, but each time it has been rebuilt it retains its original character.
And while the people of Koblenz enjoy beer, sausage and other similar German staples, a stroll through the back streets gives a clear indication that local residents also have a sweet tooth. Try some of the excellent pastries.
Take a cable car from close to Deutsches Eck across the Rhine and up to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, a substantial castle 118m above the river and completely dominating the surrounding area. Built between 1817 and 1828, it stands on the site of a far earlier fortification for the archbishop of the university town of Trier. The castle was fought over during the Thirty Years’ War with France in the 1790s, with the interior today a museum that retells its history and includes the Vogel Greif, which at 9 tonnes and 4.6m long was the largest cannon in Europe when it was cast in 1524 – and capable of launching an 80kg projectile some 16km.
Remagen is typical of many of the smaller towns that nudge up to the Rhine and is easily overlooked by anyone driving the west bank of this majestic river. That it is far more significant is an accident of history.
In 1945, the Rhine was the last major natural obstacle that the Allied forces faced in their relentless drive towards Berlin, less than 500km away, and the end of World War II in Europe. US forces were leading the charge in this sector of the front, but every attempt to seize and hold a crossing of the river was frustrated as the retreating Germans blew up bridges.
The Allies’ luck changed at Remagen, however, when the bulk of the explosives placed beneath the Ludendorff Bridge failed to detonate and the crossing point was quickly secured. Immortalised in the 1969 film The Bridge at Remagen, the capture of the strategic crossing point enabled the Americans to put thousands of troops on the eastern bank of the river before the weakened structure collapsed 10 days later, on March 17.
The 400m span was never rebuilt after the war and all that remains on both banks are the twin brick towers that served as defensive strongpoints. Today, the structures on the west side of the river have been turned into the Peace Museum Bridge at Remagen.
The museum is small but includes contemporary maps and photos of the town and the bridge during the war, as well as newsreel footage and eyewitness interviews.
Nearby, a memorial chapel has been built on the site of a prisoner-of-war camp.
A little further north, Bonn is a curious city. A provincial backwater for most of its long history and still with a population of just 330,000 people, it suddenly assumed the title of capital of the new republic in 1949 after the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Bonn bustled with the emergence of the new democratic government and representatives of the occupying powers, while friendly governments hurriedly constructed new embassies.
The city remained the capital until 1999, when Berlin once again took on its historic role. At this point, Bonn slipped back into being a slightly sleepy yet appealing university city on the Rhine, even though it is still home to several ministries.
The city is remarkably low-rise and easy to navigate on foot, with the old town largely pedestrianised and made up of the by-now common squares and narrow streets. The Old Town Hall dominates the Market Square, fronted by the national, regional and city flags, with Bonn’s flag incorporating a golden lion on a red and yellow background. The town hall has an impressive collection of tapestries and oil paintings.
Bonn is extremely proud of its association with Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in the city in December 1770. Beethoven House is devoted to the life and times of one of the greatest composers of all time, incorporating a museum, archives and a hall where chamber music is performed.
The city’s Minster Basilica is also well worth a visit, a church that was built on a Roman burial ground more than 900 years ago still has a 12th-century Romanesque cloister and an impressive 92m spire.
But wherever you are in the oldest district of the city, the Rhine is no more than a short walk away. And on a summer evening, do what the locals do; take a seat in one of the open-air bars overlooking the lazily moving river and watch as cargo ships with the flags of the Netherlands, Hungary or Belgium chug by or the party-goers board their boats for an evening’s entertainment.
Raise that glass of chilled wine or the local Weissbier and relax.
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