Sunday we took the train to Koblenz and experienced another frustrating day in the life of a train traveller in Germany. Germany’s railways may even be more dysfunctional than the ones in Blighty! The train to Koblenz was late and the trains back (which should have been every hour) were delayed by 35 minutes and then just didn’t arrive at all.
In the end we travelled to Sankt Goar and caught the ferry back to Goarhausen.
In Koblenz, we rode the cable car to the Ehrenbreitstein (why are German words so long!) fortress which was built in the 16th century.
The original baroque castle which was the predecessor of the fortress dates back to the year 1000. The fortress was utilised by the Prussian army until 1918 and was part of a system of fortifications securing the Middle Rhine Valley.
The Deutches Eck can be seen clearly from the cable car descent back to Koblenz. This is where the rivers Mosel and Rhine converge.
We later visited the “altstadt” before embarking on the epic return railway journey!
Today we headed in the opposite direction to Koblenz – to the pretty town of Rudesheim. Our plan had been to catch one of the river boats back to Goarhausen in the evening but as the day wore on, the weather became a little colder and wetter so we decided to cut our losses and travelled on yet another delayed Regional train.
We actually disembarked on the outward journey at the town of Assmanshausen, where following a short walk through the town, we came across a chairlift. No-one spoke any English but there was clearly an issue afoot. Anyhow, we were not able to understand what this was so we bought our tickets and set off. Joe doesn’t like heights at all, add height and a fairly basic chair lift and this journey was way beyond his comfort zone.
At first, we floated across the gardens of houses as we left Assmanshausen behind. You could almost touch the plants.
After disembarking the chairlift, we walked the 3 or 4 km through the woods to the Niederwald memorial which enjoys high, beautiful and expansive views across Rudesheim and the Rhine valley. On arrival at Niederwald, Joe discovered that Brittany Ferries had just released their winter timetable so we had to find a shady corner whilst we booked our sailings!
The monument was constructed to commemorate the founding of the German Empire in 1871 after the end of the Franco-Prussian War. The first stone was laid on 16 September 1871 by Kaiser Wilhelm I. The sculptor was Johannes Schilling, and the architect was Karl Weißbach. The monument was inaugurated on 28 September 1883, stands 38 metres tall and represents the union of all Germans.
We road the cable car down from the Niederwald, just as the heavens opened so a thoroughly unpleasant journey floating over the vineyards.
We lunched in Rudesheim, and after a walk around town, we decided to change our plans and take the train back to Goarhausen, mainly due to the inclement weather. Again more chaos on the railways and something about a Fliegenbombe. Whilst checking on some spelling today, I came across this on one of the websites. Turns out most of the chaos on this line through Goarhausen was a result of the discovery on an un-exploded bomb! It also explained the commotion at the chairlift station.
Liebe Fahrgäste,
aufgrund der Bombenentschärfung wird der Fahrbetrieb am 16.07.2024 ab 13:00h in beide Richtungen eingestellt.
Dinner out tonight and then a day to start packing a few things away, ready for festival at Lorelei.