In addition to providing a trade route, the Rhine River area is perfect for grape growing in support of the world famous Rhine wines. Tourism is a big industry in this area, as one might expect.
Rhine River
The Rhine River is the longest river in Europe and as such is a major highway for commerce. In medieval times, the same was true, so many castles were positioned along the banks of the river to either protect the traffic or to exact tolls from passing boats. Most of the castles were destroyed by the French long ago, but many were restored to one extent or another in the 19th century. Today, they are hotels, restaurants, museums, and even private homes.
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Rheinfels Castle, above the town of St. Goar was destroyed by the French in the 1700s. This castle must have been huge before its destruction. Printed guide sheets keep visitors well informed of the important points of interest and a museum, on the grounds, gives a good insight to life in the castle.
To gain some perspective of how close the castles along the Rhine are, look at the photo on the far right. There is another castle on the far hill. If you were to look the opposite direction, you could see another one, but it was looking into the sun, so no photos of it.
Bacharach is an old market town that was once one of the more important towns along the river. Today, as with many of the local towns, the chief industry is tourism. If you look under the surface, the timbered houses, castle, and ruined cathedral all have stories to tell.
Left: The castle at Bacharach is now used as a youth hostel. Middle: Barge traffic on the river hauls heavy goods and materials both north and south. Right. A barge passes in front of Pfalzgrafenstein, a medieval toll collecting fortress. High on the hill in the background is Burg Gutenfels our hotel for our last night in Germany in 2003.
Here are some interesting sites on the World Wide Web concerning the subject of this page.
Rhine
River
The Water Page
- Rhine
Pfalzgrafenstein
Bacharach