Scenic Cruising – Castles and Koblenz

31 March, 2025

Boozy Hot Chocolate

The 40 mile stretch of the Rhine between Bingen and Koblenz is home to more than 28 castles, strategically placed for defensive advantage or to control commerce along the river. The oldest castle dates from 966 and the newest from 1371. Several castles are nothing but ruins, a few are private residences, and several are hotels, hostels, or a combination. 

We approached the first castle of the series around 9:30 in the morning and arrived at the last castle just before 12:30. The views were spectacular and the weather was absolutely frigid. In addition to our coats, hats, scarves, and gloves, we were supplied with heavy blankets and provided some amazing boozy hot chocolate to steel ourselves against the elements.

Stolzenfels Castle

The southern terminus of the Middle Rhine is the Niederwald Monument, featuring a statue of Germania, located in Rüdesheim. The northern terminus is the Deutches Eck, or German Corner, in Koblenz, with a statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I. Between these two endpoints is a huge rock, made famous in a story about Lorelei, a jilted young lover who leapt to her death and became a siren, luring sailors to their deaths.

Lorelei

In hindsight, I would have taken a photo of each castle's entry in the guide Viking provided as we approached. This would have made cataloging photos much easier, because the photos in the brochure, taken from different angles, can diverge wildly from photos taken from the river.

Many or most, if not all, of the castles share a similar narrative that can be summarized as "The castle was built, it was burned by the French, then it was rebuilt."

Katz Castle

The scenery was spectacular and the weather cooperated all morning, despite a forecast for intermittent showers. Very few people managed to hold on from end to end, but other than a brief restroom break, Brent and I passed every kilometer on deck.

After passing the last castle, which wasn't long before we arrived in Koblenz, we retreated inside to thaw our hands and feet while we charged phones and gathered our QuietVoxes (Voxi? Voxen?) and water bottles in preparation for an afternoon in the Mosel Valley tasting a bit of wine.

Terraced Vineyard

We met our guide at the end of the gangway and after a brief introduction we took a short walk to our waiting (Viking-branded) bus. As we drove out of town we were provided a history of the town and the development of the wine industry in the valley. We drove along the Mosel (French, Moselle) River for several miles, observing the steep terraced vineyards, which are considered some of the most labor-intensive in the world. While they do provide more direct sun exposure to the vines, the increased costs and risks generated by the geography are contributing to their steadily declining contribution to the annual production. The vast majority of the grape production comes from the hillside vineyards overlooking the village, easily accessed by a series of paths that emerge from between the houses and snake over the hillside. 

Winningen

After driving through the bottom of the valley we went to the top of the valley, adjacent to the local airfield. From here we could survey the vineyards surrounding the village of Winningen, which is home to a dozen or so boutique wine producers. The majority of the wineries have passed from generation to generation, with some sold to new families from time to time. The consistent factor among all the wineries is personal involvement and direct knowledge of the grape from bud to
harvest.

Our final stop was at Winegut Weyh, where Peter provided an informative briefing on the history of his winery as well as the challenges they face as small producers in an environment of rising labor costs. Peter invited us in to his tasting room where we sampled several wines, all of which were well done. (This is where it's important to distinguish between good wine and bad  wine vs. wine that you like and wine you don't like.) While all of the wines Peter poured for us were technically quite good, I didn't particularly care for a couple of them, while I would have arm wrestled you over several.

Peter is a gracious and knowledgable host with a relaxed style. If you find yourself in the area of Winningen I give my highest recommendation for a visit. We boarded our bus to return to Koblenz and learned more about the town and the unification of Germany (not the reunification in 1990, the first one, in 1871) under Kaiser Wilhelm. If you visit the Dutches Eck be aware that the current statue is a replacement, erected in 1993. The original was destroyed by artillery fire in 1945 and the pedestal remained vacant for 48 years.

Brent seeing how he measures up