Cologne, Germany

When we awoke after our overnight trip down the Rhine from Cochem, we were docked in Cologne. The boat was docked across the river from the downtown, so we met our guide and took a bus to Dom Platz.

Our view from the boat of the Cologne Cathedral and the Rathaus (city hall).

Construction of the cathedral began in 1243 after the 818 "Old Cathedral" burned. That period of construction stopped in 1473 after enough of the building was completed so it could be used. At that point the towers only went up to the belfry.

After years of little or no work, construction started again in 1842 and was completed in 1880 meaning it took 632 years to build.

Before the work restarted in 1843, the original plans had been found so they were able to make the new construction blend in with what had been done centuries before. When it was completed, the West facade was the largest of any building in the world. The color of the stone is dark because of the industrial pollution.

The 1800's construction raised the two towers to 515 feet, although one is 6 cm shorter than the other. At that time it was the tallest structure in the world for four years until the Washington Monument was finished in 1884. While these towers were taller, the people of Strasbourg claimed their cathedral was the tallest that was constructed without modern tools and materials. Metal was used in the towers and for the roof beams in the 1800's work. 

At 142 feet high, the cathedral has the highest height to width ratio of any Gothic cathedral. It is almost impossible to understand how huge the cathedral is until you realize it can seat 20,000 people.  

The Lamentation Window, installed in 1847, shows the Last Supper at the top, the death of Jesus in the middle and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John on the bottom.

The newest stained glass window was installed in 2007. It was designed by Cologne artist Gerhard Richter. He used 11,200 same sized pieces of colored glass that look like pixels to make the 1,184 square foot window. That window had been clear glass ever since the original was shattered by WWII bombs. 

Another reason they built the cathedral was to have an appropriate place to display their newly acquired relics, the remains of the Magi - the three kings. Although I question that story, it is a beautiful golden shrine.

The towering vaulted ceiling of the transept. Some of these were damaged during the war. 

The back of the cathedral, which was the first part completed. While Cologne was heavily damaged by Allied bombing during the war, the church was only directly hit 14 times and the soaring towers survived. The word was, Allied pilots were not allowed to bomb the cathedral because they used the towers to align their targets. I have always considered Gothic cathedrals some of the most beautiful buildings in the world and Cologne sure lives up to those expectations.

There are several chalk artists doing drawings on the plaza everyday.  In the evening they are washed away for the next days works.

On the plaza near the cathedral is The German-Roman Museum. When digging for an air-raid shelter in 1941, they uncovered this beautifully preserved mosaic tile floor in what had been a Roman traders villa.

Outside the museum you can literally step back in time and walk on the old stones of the Roman road.

On the other side of the plaza is an arch that was the entrance through the wall that the Romans built for protection.

The Alter Karkt - Market Square. Like much of the city, most of the buildings were built or rebuilt after WWII so there are very few old structures.

In Cologne they call Carnival the fifth season. The season starts at 11 minutes after the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month. Except for a break during Advent and Christmas it continues to the beginning of Lent. The "crazy days" start on Fat Thursday ending on Ash Wednesday. For the festivities they elect a maiden, prince and peasant who dress like these two. Sure sounds like a fun time to me. 

The statue in the square is a tribute to Jan von Werth, a German soldier who became a noble during the Thirty Years War.  

The Gothic style tower of the Rathaus (city hall) was built by the guilds in the early 1400's. It was severely damaged during WWII but was rebuilt in the old Gothic style.

All these people are waiting their turn to get married in city hall. Our guide told us there are many weddings because there are so many divorces in Germany.

Here are Nanc and I with Tunnes and Schal, two famous residents of Cologne. Tunnes is kind of a country bumpkin, while Schal is a city slicker. Rubbing Tunnes' nose while holding Schal's hand is said to bring good luck and wealth.

The dry fountain statue in the Fish Market would normally have the fish in the water while the women on the top wait to sell their fish.

The promenade along the Rhine with the towers of the cathedral dominating the sky as they do the city. 

The Holocaust Memorial in Cologne is a simple tribute to those who perished under the rule of the Nazis. The single rail represents the railroads that were used to transport the Jewish people to the concentration camps. The six segments of the tower represent the 6,000,000 people who were put to death. It is strange there is no sign or information about the memorial at the site. 

The train station is just across the street from the cathedral which explains why it was hit those 14 times by bombs. Today more than 1,200 trains a day pass through the station. The European public transportation system has it all over what we have here in the US.

You cannot be in Germany and not check out a beer hall. We went to Gaffel Brewery for a kolsch beer and a pretzel.

Nanc, Jim, Rick and Denise enjoy a (several) cold one. When you get a beer here it is served in these small glasses. If they see your glass is empty, another quickly takes its place. The only way to stop them is to put your coaster on the top of your empty glass. Neat way to do it so your beer never gets warm (not that it is ever a problem for me). Even Nanc enjoyed a couple cold ones. 

We headed back to the boat and departed at 3:00 in the afternoon, as it was a long trip from Cologne to our last stop in Amsterdam. Here is one last look at the cathedral.

 This part of the Rhine had a lot of industry along the shore and was not very scenic. Oh well, I hit the pool and watched the passing scene while taking a swim. Not a bad way to travel.

Cochem, Germany and Reichsburg Castle

We departed Koblenz late that evening and started up the Mosel River to Cochem. We passed through three locks that raised the boat since we were going upstream. Unfortunately, we did not see much along the way other than village lights as it was dark.

The next morning we awoke to this. Looking out the window of our cabin at the smooth as glass Mosel River we got our first look at Cochem and beautiful Reichsburg Castle towering over the town. We knew we were in for another special day.

Our tour guide met us at the boat and we walked across the bridge from Cond, where the boat had docked, into Mosel. The two towns were not connected with a bridge until the Skagerrak Bridge was built in 1927.

A panoramic view of the castle, town and bridge. 

A view of the town from the bridge. The castle dominates the view of the whole valley while the onion domed Church of St. Martin towers over the town.

Left is Endert Gate, the largest of the three city gates that were built in 1332. This gate has the gatekeepers house, jail and the home of the wall master. On the right is Alte Thorschanke, a half-timber house that was built in 1625 and one of the few buildings in the town to survive the French attack in 1689.

A look through the Endert Gate shows how thick the fortification was. 

The town had several floods (hochwasser) during the 20th century. 

Cochen dates back to 886 when it was settled by Celts and Romans. The beautiful Geschiedenis Monument mosaic tower wall tells the history of the town from then to the 1960's. The town was called by many names through the years, though they all had a similar spelling.  

Cafes and shops along the river front promenade getting ready for the lunch crowd.

Rick, Denise and Nanc prepare to sneak into the town through this low narrow entrance.

The onion spire of St. Martin.

We got a look inside and were treated to a beautiful array of colors with the bright sun shining through the windows.

The Market Plaza was surrounded with many beautiful half-timber buildings. Most of them were rebuilt in the old style after the city was heavily damaged during WWII. 

This half-timber building is one that survived the war with very little damage.

Walking the narrow streets of the town we saw many beautiful old buildings, some that were businesses but many that were homes. This one seems to have settled a bit over the years.

Zom Stuffje is a unique little bar and restaurant. There is not much seating inside but there are picnic tables along the narrow alley.

Not a very big veranda, but they don't have to cut grass.

Tribute to Rhichsburg Castle.

We walked up to Balduin's Gate where there were vans waiting to take us the Reichsburg Castle.

The gate into Reichsburg Castle, the largest on the Mosel. Construction of the castle began in 1000 as the home of Palatinate counts. It was built as a defense fortification that was said to have housed up to 40,000 knights.

Looking down on the Mosel River, Cochem and Cond. Click on the picture to make it bigger and in the top left corner you can see a roller coaster that is on top of the hill. You can see how narrow the river is here. This is where our boat had to back down the river to a spot that was wide enough to turn around that I wrote about in an earlier post.

The mosaic on the castle tower is of St. Christopher.

From 1151 to 1294 the castle was the residence of the royal Stauffen family. It was then loaned to the Archbishop of Trier and was expanded during the 14th century.

In 1689 the castle was captured by the French under the Sun King, Louis XIV. He destroyed the fortifications and the building soon crumbled into ruins. The gates today are only to control the people waiting for their tours. 

In 1868 the castle was purchased by Berlin business man Louis Ravene who reconstructed it in the Neo-Gothic style we see today. 

A timeline of the history of the castle through the years. 

One of the courtyards.

An up close look at the towers. 

The well in this courtyard went all the way down to the river level so they could get water during a siege.

The leaded stained glass windows were beautiful.

The Great Dining Hall.

They must have really been into symmetry. There was a door on the left into the next room so on the right they put in a door that opens to a wall. 

The view from inside the castle of the river and towns below.

The ceiling of the spiral staircase was beautiful.

There are many stained glass windows throughout the castle.

One of many grand fireplaces.

The Knight's Hall had a couple suits of armor. This was one giant knight. There was another one that Nanc could have fit in.

Looking upstream from the castle. The river takes a huge turn at this point but we did not go that way as we turned around and headed back to the Rhine when we departed.

The castle today is used as a wedding and party venue. They have several different tours including a Medieval Knight's dinner, a ghost tour and special wine and Christmas events.

The pastel painted houses were very neat.

Some of the street art in Cochem. The man is a nobleman and the lady is said to be a local busybody.

In the afternoon we did a wine tour in Cond at the H.H. Hieronimi Weinkeller. Our guide was the sixth generation owner of the winery.

Some of the old time wine making equipment.

Barrels in a cave where the wine is aged. 

Nanc enjoying some fine Germany Riesling white wine. We did buy a couple bottles to bring home.

The boat left Cochem at 5:00 heading back to the Rhine in Koblenz and then on to Cologne. Not a great picture but it shows you don't need to be outside to watch the passing landscape as they have it on the TVs in the lounge and cabins.

The first of three locks we passed through on our way to the Rhine. This one had a big lock for big boats and a much smaller one for pleasure boats. 

Another beautiful little town and vineyards along the Mosel River. As with everyday so far we were very busy all day and were looking forward to a relaxing evening.