Exploring Koblenz by foot and by cable car
Relaxing by the River Rhine.
Koblenz’s central Marktplatz.
Fortified with caffeine, we headed out to explore the town…
The view from our cafe was quite acceptable.
These characters were sitting the middle of the Munzplatz.
Some of the lovely old buildings around Munchplatz square.
Church of Our Lady, Koblenz.
The quiet, peaceful interior of Koblenz’s Church of Our Lady.
The Old Castle of Koblenz is today the town’s public library.
Further around, along the River Moselle, is the Basilica of St Castor, the oldest church in Koblenz. First built in 836 this magnificent cathedral has been added to and extended extensively during its 1200 year history, first in 1208, then in 1498, and most recently in 1812.
Basilica of St Castor, Koblenz.
Added to and extended repeatedly during its 1200 years, this is HUGE church now.
Coming once again around the bend to the Deutsch Eck, we discovered you can actually climb up into the statue of William I that adorns the point there, so we did! The views from inside the monument were great and close up the sheer scale of it was even more intimidating. They REALLY wanted to ensure that statue could be seen by anyone and everyone coming down the river didn’t they?!
Just horsing around…
The monument is huge – this is the back of it.
We climbed up into the monument to get a better view of the surrounding township and the two rivers.
The Mosel meets the Rhine (view from inside the monument of William I).
From the Deutsch Eck we continued on along the riverbank, down the Rhine now. Here we found the station where you can catch the cable car across the Rhine and up to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. This massive fortress dominates the landscape and is the most obvious reminder of Koblenz’s military history. Being at such an important cross-roads (or cross-rivers), Koblenz has been repeatedly besieged, invaded, conquered, retaken and defended. From Roman times the strategic advantages of having a fortress perched atop Mt Ehrenbreitstein were obvious and the current fort, built in 1817, sits on top of 3 or 4 former incarnations. The views across the Rhine Valley from Mt Ehrenbreitstein were great and we had a great afternoon exploring the museum that is now housed within the old fortress.
View from the fortress looking North along the Rhine…
Views south down the Rhine from Mt Ehrenbreitstein.
The current Ehrenbreitstein Fortress was built in the 19th century.
Today the fortress houses a hotel, a museum, and a couple of restaurants.
We had a great afternoon exploring the fortress!
Once back down in Koblenz we decided to whittle the afternoon away, relaxing along the riverfront with a couple of good books. A very mellow end to a very pleasant day of exploring. Having pretty much seen everything the town has to offer, we’ve decided to move on from Koblenz a day early and are going to spend tomorrow cruising down the Rhine instead. Can’t wait for that! Tell you all about it tomorrow evening…
Farewell Koblenz – tomorrow we’re off cruising down the Rhine…
Categories: Germany
Wandering Soles 