Our Rhine River Cruise

It is usually a great day when the senior missionaries get together to learn first-hand a little about the land where we are serving. Some call this “touring,” but the purpose is to get education and understanding. More than a dozen couples and nearly half a dozen single sisters filled up the necessary cars to travel approximately 45 minutes mostly west from Frankfurt to a city on the Rhine River called Rüdesheim (Rew-des-hime). There we purchased a group ticket and boarded a small passenger cruise ship (about 150 feet long) for a short trip on a stretch of the Rhine River.

Going downstream (to the North) took about 2 hours to get to an old city called St. Goar. In this stretch of the Rhine, it has cut through the Taunus “mountain” area, and so the “hills” rise high above the river valley on both sides. There were many quaint villages with old castles above them on the hillside. For centuries castle fortresses have existed on the hillsides overlooking the Rhine. The river is navigable from Lake Constance – a part of the border between Switzerland, Austria, and Germany and thus in the foothills of the Swiss Alps -- north between Germany and France, then through the most powerful industrial cities of Northern Germany, finally turning a little to the West to traverse the Netherlands and empty into the part of the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and England known as the “North See.”
At Lake Constance, the altitude is only 395 feet high, and the Rhine flows 820 miles before it reaches the sea. That is an average of less than 6 inches drop per mile, so the water doesn’t move very fast most of the way, but this section through the ridges of the Taunus is the exception.
For at least 2000 years the Rhine has been a major means of transportation for Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Austria, as well as the tiny nation of Lichtenstein. It also separates people on one side from the people on the other, and is a major part of the border between France and Germany.
Over the centuries, many hundreds of kingdoms, dukedoms, fiefdoms, etc. rose along the Rhine, most of which were financed by taxing of the river traffic. It seemed that there were castles built next to the river every few miles. At one point we could see three at one time.
The steep sides of the Rhine river valley through the Taunus Mountains are a great place for vineyards and you can see grape vineyards almost everywhere on the mountainsides except at the steepest places. Almost every picture of the Rhine valley that I had ever seen included a view of these vineyards. The French, who are infatuated with wine, have coveted the land along the Rhine for centuries, During Napoleon’s march across Europe he came through and burned nearly all the castles and villages. He wanted to drive the Germans out.

Later, after WWI, the French demanded that the Germans be punished for starting the war, and for their part, the French took over everything west of the Rhine. This French occupation weakened Germany tremendously. Hitler’s rise to popularity was in part due to his success in taking back this part of Germany out of the hands of the French.
The Rhine is a natural barrier between the lands to the East and those to the West. There are bridges over the Rhine in the big cities, but in places like St. Goar they still have to use boats to cross from one side to the other. As we travelled on the river we could see major highways and railroad lines in the river valley on both sides. As we got into the most mountainous parts, we saw that the trains couldn’t follow the curvature of the river, so tunnels had been cut through the rocky hills. A fun thing was to see castle-like arches built at each end of these tunnels to help the tunnel blend in with the traditional countryside.
In one view we saw that the local king had built a building shaped like a ship on a little island in the river. It housed the king’s tax collection authorities, and at river level it was quite effective. Most of the kingdoms or dukedoms of Europe levied taxes on traffic on the roads or rivers, and this is how they became rich. Travel or shipping at that time was therefore rather expensive Travel from one part of Europe to another often involved being taxed at dozens of locations, and this hindered the economic growth of the land. The Fathers of the Constitution of the United States recognized the problems this created, so the constitution explicitly prohibits such taxing on traffic between states.
One of the interesting sites on this section of the river is called the Loreley (German “Lorelei” pronounced Lorra-lie). . The river flows around this ridge in a narrow channel. The water is fast and deep, but the bottom had many huge boulders on it. It was considered the most dangerous point on the river. The mountain faces at this point created strong echoes. Many traditions say that sounds would be heard from seven to eleven times. It is an area where the river cuts deeply through the Taunus Mountain leaving a very high and steep rocky ridge. The legends of the river people spoke of a beautiful woman, a siren, calling them to her, and her voice being repeated by seven voices of fairies. The boatmen would be so enchanted looking for the woman that they didn’t watch for those submerged rocks, and their ships would be broken on them and sink. Legend said that in addition to the cargo of these ships there was also a famous treasure (The Niebelungen Treasure) buried in the waters by the Loreley. When the train tunnels were cut through the mountain, it eliminated this eerie echo, and the dangerous underwater rocks have been blasted away, so the river traffic now travels safely past the Loreley. One of the most beloved of folk songs in Germany is a song about these legends known as Die Lorelei.
Shortly after passing the Loreley we reached St. Goar, which is now a quaint tourist town. As we disembarked, we first decided to walk through the town on up to the castle on the hillside above the village. (Actually it was more like Elder Howlett pulled Sister Howlett up the hill to the castle.)
The castle is called Burg Rheinfels--burg means castle fortress. It was begun in 1245 and was once the biggest castle on the Rhine. By 1650 it was completed and with a bakery, pharmacy, herb garden, living quarters, brewery, well, livestock and a huge pantry, it could house up to 4,500 people during a siege.
The walls were plastered white and it was quite a striking site.
It withstood a siege of 28,000 French troops in 1692. But in 1797 the French Revolutionary army of Napoleon destroyed it. Now it is only a fraction of the size it used to be. This picture is of our Zone Leader, Elder Roger Cutler, standing in the pillory. He’s just holding the chains, however. Close to this central area of stocks and pillory was the well that supplied water for 4,500 during a siege, and around the corner was a stack of stone catapult balls that were collected after the battles. Enemies using catapults had tried to break down the walls with these stones, and they were collected afterwards as it took a lot of work to make them, so were quite valuable.
We climbed up to the top of the highest remaining tower, from which we had a beautiful view of the town of St. Goar and the Rhine River. Notice the train tracks, roads and river--all important modes of travel in Germany. The river has influenced history for many centuries. From here we can see far across the countryside and far down the river. It must have been a very important look-out in past history. Because this castle fortress has had no military use for several hundred years, it was not bombed during WWII, though for generations it was used as a quarry. Now it is only a small fraction of its original size, and the stones from the other parts have been reused elsewhere.

Back on the river boat and traveling against the stream we went much slower, but we again saw the beauty of the hillside vineyards, villages and castles. In this picture we were enchanted by the large old church in this village with a smaller church high up the hillside behind it, nestled in the vineyards.

We disembarked at Rüdesheim, where we had left the car, but before starting the drive back to Frankfurt we walked through part of the old town of Rüdesheim. In this picture we can see Sister Howlett standing at the beginning of a narrow and very busy street in Rüdesheim.

Walking along it we could see the German shops and restaurants full of patrons talking, and enjoying their Saturday afternoon, and we could hear German music playing to entertain all. It was a fun day, and what a treat to take a cruise on the Rhine River. Hey, Elder Howlett took his wife on a cruise!