REMAGEN is renowned for its beautiful Gothic church on a hill just below
the village. It was erected under the direction of Zwirner, the
architect of the superb south portal of the Cologne cathedral and is
adorned with large frescoes, which are masterpieces of Modern German
art.
Königswinter is beautifully situated at the foot of the Siebengebirge,
or Seven Mountains, and nearest the castles crag of Drachenfels
(Dragon’s rock). The Siebengebirge form a picturesque volcanic group,
1,000 to 1,500 ft. high, about 5m. square, covered with forests and
ruins. The prospect from Drachenfels and from the Petersberg are among
the finest on the Rhine. A funicular railway reaches the top of the
Drachenfels and the Petersberg. See story of “Nibelungenlied.”
A massive tower and ruined castle at Andernach memorialized in
Longfellow’s “Hyperion.”
HAMMERSTEIN is a 10th century castle where Henry IV. took refuge. It was
held during the Thirty Years’ war by Swedes, Spaniards and Germans.
ANDERNACH, with its ruined castle, ancient walls, and lofty watch tower
is one of the most interesting towns on the Rhine. It was one of the 50
forts of Drusus; recaptured from the Alemanni by Julian in 339; a royal
Franconian residence in the 6th century; an imperial town later; stormed
by Cologne troops in 1496; and burned by the French in 1688. Nearby is
the Benedictine Abbey of Laach, founded in 1093, with magnificent
Romanesque church, on the vast crater-lake of the Laachser See.
KOBLENZ, the capital of Rhenish Prussia, is at the confluence of the
Rhine and Moselle, whence the Romans called it Confluentia. It is a
powerful fortress, with heights crossed with enormous fortifications.
The Palace contains interesting Electoral Hall and Festival Hall. The
Rhine is crossed by a bridge of boats and by a very fine railway bridge.
Across the Rhine is Ehrenbreitstein, (“Honor’s Broad Stone”), “The
Gibraltar of the Rhine,” a vast fortress on a precipitous rock, 387 ft.
above the river, and commanding a wonderful view. It has often been
beleaguered but yielded only twice.