back next   width="600">   Rhine River Valley Castles, Germany Photos PURCHASE GREAT MEMORIES OF YOUR TRIP TO THE RHINE RIVER VALLEY AND CASTLE HEAVEN , GERMANY- FOR HOME OR OFFICE. Rhine River Valley Castles, Germany Photos This Gallery features photos of the Rine River valley from Rudesheim to Koblenz. The word Rhine is derived from the Celtic language and means "to flow". The river formed the northern boundary of the Roman Empire from 50 BC to 4 AD. The river begins in the Swiss Alps and flows into the deltas of the Netherlands winding up in the North Sea. The length is 1,320 kilometers. The Middle Rhine also known as the Rhine River Valley stretches from Cologne to to Mainz and features a romantic towns and fairytale castles. This part of the river was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2002. Ehrenfels Castle- 15th Century was bombarded by the Swedes in 1636 and by the French in 1689 Burg Rheinstein and Castle -privately owned. Reichenstein Castle- 1000 years old- privately owned. Stahleck Castle- 13th Century is now a hostel. Die Pfalz Castle and Burg Gutenfels- Pfalz built on the river in the 1300's and Gutenfels taxed medieval river traffic. Gutenfels is now a hotel. Schönburg Castle - 12th Century overlooks the town of Oberwesel. Medieval wall and towers survived. Loreley Mermaid Legend Bluffs and Statue-steep slate rock rising 450 feet over the narrowest and deepest part of the Rhine.Legend of a mermaid causing ship wrecks. Burg Katz - 14th Century- with Rheinsfel had commanding view up the Rhine allowing the owners to control traffic and collect fees. Burg Rheinsfel- 1245 Burg Maus Burg Sterrenburg and Burg Liebenstern- known as the hostile brothers castles. Now are hotels. Marksburg Castle near Braubach- The only surviving medieval castle on the Rhine. Now open as a museum. Schloss Stolzenfels - 13th Century Schloss Johannisberg From the year 1716 Schloss Johannisberg belongs to the Prince-Bishop in Fulda, who builds a generous, three-wing palace complex according to the taste of the time. This ownership is also due to the discovery of Spätlese at Schloss Johannisberg. The winery on the Johannisberg is trailblazing for the triumph of Riesling in the Rheingau. In 1720, 294,000 Riesling vines are planted in the vineyards of the old Benedictine abbey. The Schloss was bombed on August 12, 1942 during an air raid on Mainz. The schloss was rebuilt after the war. Electoral Castle - 14th Century Electoral Castle, Eltville, Germany constructed in 1350. This 14th century castle of the Middle Ages was the residence of the archbishops and electors of Mainz for the past 150 years. A Gutenberg Memorial in the tower of the castle attests, that in 1465 Johannes Gutenberg, innovator in letterpress, received a tribute. It was the only one during his lifetime. In 1635, the entire property, except for the living tower (“Wohnturm”), was destroyed by Swedish troops. Only the east wing was rebuilt in modified form in 1682/83. The castle and grounds are open to the public. Emperor Wilhelm I Monument at Deutsches Ecke in Koblenz Deutsches Eck (German Corner) is where the Rhine and Moselle Rivers meet. The location features an equstrian statue of Emperor Williim I. The establishment of the Teutonic Order at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle in 1216 gave this historic site its name, the “Deutsches Eck” (“German Corner”). Koblenz also owes its name to the meeting point of the Rhine and the Moselle - from “Castellum apud Confluentes”, Latin for “fort at the confluence”, which over time became the current name of Koblenz. hortly after Kaiser Wilhelm I’s death, the idea arose of creating a memorial to him, as it was the Kaiser who had brought about the unification of Germany after three years of war. Three years later in 1891, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the grandson of the deceased, chose the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz as the most suitable location. A harbour of refuge in the Moselle estuary was filled in to create space for the memorial. The Deutsches Eck in its present form was created. On 31st August 1897 the copper memorial of Kaiser Wilhelm I was inaugurated in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Destroyed during artillery shelling in March 1945, Theodor Heuß dedicated the riderless pedestal as a memorial to German unity in 1953. It housed a flag pole with the German flag until 1993. A reconstruction of the memorial was finally raised onto the pedestal in the autumn of 1993. The 37-metre high monument - 14 metres of which is the equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I - is now a tourist magnet for over 2 million people per year and has been part of the UNESCO “Upper Middle Rhine Valley” world heritage site since 2002.