Rhine Valley
The Rhine Valley is storybook Germany, a fairy-tale world of legends and robber-baron castles. Cruise the most castle-studded stretch of the romantic Rhine as you listen for the song of the treacherous Loreley. For hands-on castle thrills, climb through the Rhineland's greatest castle, Rheinfels, above the town of St. Goar. Castle connoisseurs will enjoy the fine interior of Marksburg Castle. Spend your nights in a castle-crowned village, either Bacharach or St. Goar. With more time, mosey through the neighboring Mosel Valley.
The Rhine
Ever since Roman times, when this was the Empire's northern boundary, the Rhine has been one of the world's busiest shipping rivers. You'll see a steady flow of barges with 1,000- to 2,000-ton loads. Tourist-packed buses, hot train tracks, and highways line both banks.
Many of the castles were "robber-baron" castles, put there by petty rulers (there were 300 independent little countries in medieval Germany) to levy tolls on passing river traffic. A robber baron would put his castle on, or even in, the river. Then, often with the help of chains and a tower on the opposite bank, he'd stop each ship and get his toll. There were 10 customs stops in the 60-mile stretch between Mainz and Koblenz alone (no wonder merchants were early proponents of the creation of larger nation-states).
Some castles were built to control and protect settlements, and others were the residences of kings. As times changed, so did the lifestyles of the rich and feudal. Many castles were abandoned for more comfortable mansions in the towns.
Most Rhine castles date from the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. When the pope successfully asserted his power over the German emperor in 1076, local princes ran wild over the rule of their emperor. The castles saw military action in the 1300s and 1400s, as emperors began reasserting their control over Germany's many silly kingdoms.
The castles were also involved in the Reformation wars, in which Europe's Catholic and "protesting" dynasties fought it out using a fragmented Germany as their battleground. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) devastated Germany. The outcome: Each ruler got the freedom to decide if his people would be Catholic or Protestant, and one-third of Germany was dead. Production of Gummi bears ceased entirely.
The French — who feared a strong Germany and felt the Rhine was the logical border between them and Germany — destroyed most of the castles prophylactically (Louis XIV in the 1680s, the revolutionary army in the 1790s, and Napoleon in 1806). They were often rebuilt in neo-Gothic style in the Romantic age — the late 1800s — and today are enjoyed as restaurants, hotels, hostels, and museums.
For information on Rhine castles, visit www.burgen-am-rhein.de. For more on the Rhine, visit www.loreleytal.com (heavy on hotels but has maps, photos, and a little history).
Sights — The Romantic Rhine
These sights are listed from north to south, Koblenz to Bingen.
Der Romantische Rhein Blitz Zug Fahrt — One of Europe's great train thrills is zipping along the Rhine in this fast train tour. Here's a quick and easy, from-the-train-window tour (also works for car, bike, or best by boat; you can cut in anywhere) that skips the syrupy myths filling normal Rhine guides. For more information than necessary, buy the handy Rhine Guide from Mainz to Cologne (€4.50 book with foldout map, at most shops or TIs). Or for skimpy information and a longer, prettier map, try the Long Rhine Tour map (€5.20).
Sit on the left (river) side of the train or boat going south from Koblenz. While nearly all the castles listed are viewed from this side, clear a path to the right window for the times I yell, "Crossover!"
You'll notice large black-and-white kilometer markers along the riverbank. I erected these years ago to make this tour easier to follow. They tell the distance from the Rhinefalls, where the Rhine leaves Switzerland and becomes navigable. Now the river-barge pilots have accepted these as navigational aids as well. We're tackling just 58 kilometers (36 miles) of the 1,320-kilometer-long (820-mile) Rhine. Your Blitz Rhine Tour starts at Koblenz and heads upstream to Bingen. If you're going the other direction, it still works. Just hold the book upside down.
Km 590: Koblenz — This Rhine blitz starts with Romantic Rhine thrills — at Koblenz. Koblenz is not a nice city (it was really hit hard in World War II), but its place as the historic Deutsche Eck (German corner) — the tip of land where the Mosel joins the Rhine — gives it a certain historic charm. Koblenz, Latin for "confluence," has Roman origins. Walk through the park, noticing the reconstructed memorial to the kaiser. Across the river, the yellow Ehrenbreitstein Castle now houses a hostel. It's a 30-minute hike from the station to the Koblenz boat dock.
Km 585: Burg Lahneck — Above the modern autobahn bridge over the Lahn River, this castle (Burg) was built in 1240 to defend local silver mines; the castle was ruined by the French in 1688 and rebuilt in the 1850s in neo-Gothic style. Burg Lahneck faces another Romantic rebuild, the yellow Schloss Stolzenfels (out of view above the train, a 10-min climb from tiny car park, open for touring, closed Mon).
Km 580: Marksburg — This castle (black and white with the 3 modern chimneys behind it, just after town of Spay) is the best-looking of all the Rhine castles and the only surviving medieval castle on the Rhine. Because of its commanding position, it was never attacked. It's now open as a museum with a medieval interior second only to the Mosel's Burg Eltz (see self-guided Marksburg tour, below; for self-guided tour and all the details on Burg Eltz, see next chapter). The three modern smokestacks vent Europe's biggest car battery recycling plant just up the valley.
Km 570: Boppard — Once a Roman town, Boppard has some impressive remains of fourth-century walls. Notice the Roman towers and the substantial chunk of Roman wall near the train station, just above the main square.
If you visit Boppard, head to the fascinating church below the main square. Find the carved Romanesque crazies at the doorway. Inside, to the right of the entrance, you'll see Christian symbols from Roman times. Also notice the painted arches and vaults. Originally most Romanesque churches were painted this way. Down by the river, look for the high-water (Hochwasser) marks on the arches from various flood years. (You'll find these flood marks throughout the Rhine and Mosel Valleys.)
Km 567: Burg Sterrenberg and Burg Liebenstein — These are the "Hostile Brothers" castles across from Bad Salzig. Take the wall between the castles (actually designed to improve the defenses of both castles), add two greedy and jealous brothers and a fair maiden, and create your own legend. Burg Liebenstein is now a fun, friendly, and affordable family-run hotel (9 rooms, Db-€90, suite-€110, giant king-and-the-family room-€180, easy parking, tel. 06773/308, www.castle-liebenstein.com, hotel-burg-liebenstein@rhinecastles.com, Nickenig family).
Km 560: While you can see nothing from here, a 19th-century lead mine functioned on both sides of the river with a shaft actually tunneling completely under it.
Km 559: Burg Maus — The Maus ("Mouse") got its name because the next castle was owned by the Katzenelnbogen family. ("Katz" means "cat.") In the 1300s, it was considered a state-of-the-art fortification...until Napoleon had it blown up in 1806 with state-of-the-art explosives. It was rebuilt true to its original plans around 1900. Today, the castle hosts a falconry show (€6.50, daily at 11:00 and 14:30, 20-min walk up, tel. 06771/7669, www.burg-maus.de).
Km 557: St. Goar and Rheinfels Castle — Cross to the other side of the train. The pleasant town of St. Goar was named for a sixth-century hometown monk. It originated in Celtic times (really old) as a place where sailors would stop, catch their breath, send home a postcard, and give thanks after surviving the seductive and treacherous Loreley crossing. St. Goar is worth a stop to explore its mighty Rheinfels Castle. (For information, a guided castle tour, and accommodations, see below.)
Km 556: Burg Katz — Burg Katz (Katzenelnbogen) faces St. Goar from across the river. Together, Burg Katz (built in 1371) and Rheinfels Castle had a clear view up and down the river and effectively controlled traffic. There was absolutely no duty-free shopping on the medieval Rhine. Katz got Napoleoned in 1806 and rebuilt around 1900. Today, it's under a rich and mysterious Japanese ownership. It's technically a hotel — Germany wouldn't allow its foreign purchase for private use — but it's so expensive, nobody's ever stayed there. Below the castle, notice the derelict grape terraces — worked since the eighth century, but abandoned only in the last generation. The Rhine wine is particularly good because the slate absorbs the heat of the sun and stays warm all night, resulting in sweeter grapes. Wine from the flat fields above the Rhine gorge is cheaper and good only as "table wine." The wine from the steep side of the Rhine gorge — harder to grow and harvest — is tastier and more expensive.
About Km 555: A statue of the Loreley, the beautiful but deadly nymph (see next listing for legend), combs her hair at the end of a long spit — built to give barges protection from vicious icebergs that occasionally rage down the river in the winter. The actual Loreley, a cliff, is just ahead.
Km 554: The Loreley — Steep a big slate rock in centuries of legend and it becomes a tourist attraction, the ultimate Rhinestone. The Loreley (flags on top, name painted near shoreline), rising 450 feet over the narrowest and deepest point of the Rhine, has long been important. It was a holy site in pre-Roman days. The fine echoes here — thought to be ghostly voices — fertilized the legendary soil.
Because of the reefs just upstream (at kilometer 552), many ships never made it to St. Goar. Sailors (after days on the river) blamed their misfortune on a wunderbares Fräulein whose long blonde hair almost covered her body. Heinrich Heine's Song of Loreley (the Cliffs Notes version is on local postcards) tells the story of a count who sent his men to kill or capture this siren after she distracted his horny son, causing him to drown. When the soldiers cornered the nymph in her cave, she called her father (Father Rhine) for help. Huge waves, the likes of which you'll never see today, rose from the river and carried Loreley to safety. And she has never been seen since.
But alas, when the moon shines brightly and the tour buses are parked, a soft, playful Rhine whine can still be heard from the Loreley. As you pass, listen carefully ("Sailors...sailors...over my bounding mane").
Km 552: Killer reefs, marked by red-and-green buoys, are called the "Seven Maidens." Okay, one goofy legend: The prince of Schönburg Castle (ober Oberwesel) had seven spoiled daughters who always dumped men because of their shortcomings. Fed up, he invited seven of his knights up to the castle and demanded that his daughters each choose one to marry. But they complained that each man had too big a nose, was too fat, too stupid, and so on. The rude and teasing girls escaped into a riverboat. Just downstream, God turned them into the seven rocks that form this reef. While this story probably isn't entirely true, there's a lesson in it for medieval children: Don't be hard-hearted.
Km 550: Oberwesel — Cross to the other side of the train. Oberwesel was a Celtic town in 400 B.C., then a Roman military station. It now boasts some of the best Roman wall and medieval tower remains on the Rhine and the commanding Schönburg Castle. Notice how many of the train tunnels have entrances designed like medieval turrets — they were actually built in the Romantic 19th century. OK, back to the riverside.
Km 546: Burg Gutenfels and Pfalz Castle: The Classic Rhine View — Burg Gutenfels (see white painted "Hotel" sign) and the shipshape Pfalz Castle (built in the river in the 1300s) worked very effectively to tax medieval river traffic. The town of Kaub grew rich as Pfalz raised its chains when boats came and lowered them only when the merchants had paid their duty. Those who didn't pay spent time touring its prison, on a raft at the bottom of its well. In 1504, a pope called for the destruction of Pfalz, but a six-week siege failed. Notice the overhanging outhouse (tiny white room — with faded medieval stains — between two wooden ones). Pfalz is tourable but bare and dull (€2 ferry from Kaub, €2.10 entry, April-Sept Tue–Sun 9:00–13:00 & 14:00–18:00, Oct-March until 17:00, last entry 60 min before closing, closed Mon and Dec, tel. 06774/570 or 0172/262-2800).
In Kaub, a green statue honors the German general Blücher. He was Napoleon's nemesis. In 1813, as Napoleon fought his way back to Paris after his disastrous Russian campaign, he stopped at Mainz — hoping to fend off the Germans and Russians pursuing him by controlling that strategic bridge. Blücher tricked Napoleon. By building the first major pontoon bridge of its kind here at the Pfalz Castle, he crossed the Rhine and outflanked the French. Two years later, Blücher and Wellington teamed up to defeat Napoleon once and for all at Waterloo.
Km 544: The "Raft Busters" — Immediately before Bacharach, at the top of the island, buoys mark a gang of rocks notorious for busting up rafts. The Black Forest is upstream. It was poor, and wood was its best export. Black Foresters would ride log booms down the Rhine to the Ruhr (where their timber fortified coal-mine shafts) or to Holland (where logs were sold to shipbuilders). If they could navigate the sweeping bend just before Bacharach and then survive these "raft busters," they'd come home reckless and romantic, the German folkloric equivalent of American cowboys after payday.
Km 543: Bacharach and Burg Stahleck — Cross to the other side of the train. Bacharach is a great stop (see details and accommodations below). Some of the Rhine's best wine is from this town, whose name means "altar to Bacchus." Local vintners brag that the medieval Pope Pius II ordered it by the cartload. Perched above the town, the 13th-century Burg Stahleck is now a hostel.
Km 540: Lorch — This pathetic stub of a castle is barely visible from the road. Notice the small car ferry (3/hr, 10 min), one of several along the bridgeless stretch between Mainz and Koblenz.
Km 538: Castle Sooneck — Cross back to the other side of the train. Built in the 11th century, this castle was twice destroyed by people sick and tired of robber barons.
Km 534: Burg Reichenstein, and Km 533: Burg Rheinstein — Stay on the other side of the train to see two of the first castles to be rebuilt in the Romantic era. Both are privately owned, tourable, and connected by a pleasant trail.
Km 530: Ehrenfels Castle — Opposite Bingerbrück and the Bingen station, you'll see the ghostly Ehrenfels Castle (clobbered by the Swedes in 1636 and by the French in 1689). Since it had no view of the river traffic to the north, the owner built the cute little Mäuseturm (Mouse Tower) on an island (the yellow tower you'll see near the train station today). Rebuilt in the 1800s in neo-Gothic style, it's now used as a Rhine navigation signal station.
Km 528: Niederwald Monument — Across from the Bingen station on a hilltop is the 120-foot-high Niederwald monument, a memorial built with 32 tons of bronze in 1877 to commemorate "the reestablishment of the German Empire." A lift takes tourists to this statue from the famous and extremely touristy wine town of Rüdesheim.
From here, the Romantic Rhine becomes the industrial Rhine, and our tour is over.
Biking the Rhine — In Bacharach, you can rent bikes at Hotel Hillen (€7/half-day, €10/full day, cheaper for guests, 30 bikes) and at Pension Malerwinkel if you're a guest (€6/day), or get a free loaner bike if you're staying at Pension Winzerhaus. In St. Goar, Hotel am Markt rents bikes to its guests.
You can bike on either side of the Rhine, but for a designated bike path, stay on the west side, where a 35-mile path runs between Koblenz and Bingen. While the stretch between Bacharach and Bingen hugs the riverside, I'd join the in-line skaters along the fine and more interesting roadside bike lane connecting Bacharach and St. Goar in six miles. In 2004, new sections of the bike path will be finished between Bacharach and Bingen, making the trip completely road-free.
Consider taking a bike on the Rhine boats (free with ticket) and then biking back, or designing a circular trip using the fun and frequent shuttle ferries. A good target might be Kaub (where a tiny boat shuttles sightseers to the better-from-a-distance castle on the island).
Hiking the Rhine — For a good two-hour hike from St. Goar to the Loreley viewpoint, catch the ferry across to St. Goarshausen (€1.50 round-trip, 6/hr until 20:00, then 2/hr, May-Oct until 23:00, Nov-April until 21:00), follow green Burg Katz (Katz Castle) signs up Burgstrasse under the train tracks to find steps on right (Loreley über Burg Katz) leading to the Katz Castle (now a private hotel for Japanese elite) and beyond. Traverse the hillside, always bearing right toward the river. You'll pass through a residential area, hike down a 50-yard path through trees, then cross a wheat field until you reach an amphitheater adjacent to the Loreley Visitors' Center (shops and restaurants, see above) and rock-capping viewpoint. From here, it's a steep 15-minute hike down to the river, where a riverfront trail takes you back to St. Goarshausen and the St. Goar ferry.
Bacharach
Once prosperous from the wine and wood trade, Bacharach (BAHKH-ah-rahkh, with a guttural kh sound) is now just a pleasant half-timbered village of a thousand people working hard to keep its tourists happy.
Local Guides: Get acquainted with Bacharach by taking a walking tour. Charming Herr Rolf Jung, retired headmaster of the Bacharach school, is a superb English-speaking guide (€30, 90 min, call to reserve, tel. 06743/1519). If Herr Jung is not available, the TI has a list of other English-speaking guides, or take the self-guided walk, described below.
Introductory Bacharach Walk
Start at the Köln-Düsseldorfer ferry dock (next to a fine picnic park). View the town from the parking lot — a modern landfill. The Rhine used to lap against Bacharach's town wall, just over the present-day highway. Every few years the river floods, covering the highway with several feet of water. The castle on the hill is a youth hostel. Two of its original 16 towers are visible from here (up to 5 if you look real hard). The huge roadside wine keg declares this town was built on the wine trade.
Reefs up the river forced boats to unload upriver and reload here. Consequently, Bacharach became the biggest wine trader on the Rhine. A riverfront crane hoisted huge kegs of prestigious "Bacharach" wine (which in practice was from anywhere in the region). The tour buses next to the dock and the flags of the biggest spenders along the highway remind you today's economy is basically tourism.
At the big town map and public WC (€0.30, daily 9:00-18:00), take the underpass, ascend on the right, make a U-turn, then — if you are less than 2.3 meters tall — walk under the train tracks through the medieval gate (1 out of an original 15 14th-century gates) and to the two-tone Protestant church, which marks the town center.
From this intersection, Bacharach's main street (Oberstrasse) goes right to the half-timbered, red-and-white Altes Haus (from 1368, the oldest house in town) and left way down to the train station. To the left (or south) of the church, a golden horn hangs over the old Posthof (TI, free WC upstairs in courtyard open from 11:00). The post horn symbolizes the postal service throughout Europe. In olden days, when the postman blew this, traffic stopped and the mail sped through. This post station dates from 1724, when stagecoaches ran from Köln to Frankfurt.
Step into the courtyard — once a carriage house and inn that accommodated Bacharach's first VIP visitors. Notice the fascist eagle (from 1936, on the left as you enter) and the fine view of the church and a ruined chapel above. The Posthof is the home of the Rhineland Museum, which hopes to open in 2004 with a cultural landscape exhibit on the Rhine Valley. Manager Bitz's vision even includes wine-tasting (www.mittelrheintal.de).
Two hundred years ago, Bacharach's main drag was the only road along the Rhine. Napoleon widened it to fit his cannon wagons. The steps alongside the church lead to the castle. Return to the church, passing the Italian Ice Cream café, where friendly Mimo serves his special invention: Riesling wine–flavored gelato (quite tasty, €0.60 per scoop, opposite Posthof at Oberstrasse 48).
Inside the church (daily 9:00-18:00, English info on table near door), you'll find grotesque capitals, brightly painted in medieval style, and a mix of round Romanesque and pointed Gothic arches. Left of the altar, some medieval frescoes survive where an older Romanesque arch was cut by a pointed Gothic one.
Continue down Oberstrasse past the Altes Haus to the old mint (Münze), marked by a crude coin in its sign. Across from the mint, the wine garden of Fritz Bastian is the liveliest place in town after dark (see "Eating in Bacharach," below). Above you in the vineyards stands a ghostly black-and-gray tower — your destination.
Take the next left (Rosenstrasse) and wander 30 yards up to the well. Notice the sundial and the wall painting of 1632 Bacharach with its walls intact. Climb the tiny-stepped lane behind the well up into the vineyard and to the tower. The slate steps lead to a small path through the vineyard that deposits you at a viewpoint atop the stubby remains of the old town wall (if signs indicate that the path is closed, get as close to the tower base as possible).
A grand medieval town spreads before you. When Frankfurt had 15,000 residents, medieval Bacharach had 4,000. For 300 years (1300–1600), Bacharach was big, rich, and politically powerful.
From this perch you can see the chapel ruins and six surviving city towers. Visually trace the wall to the castle. The castle was actually the capital of Germany for a couple of years in the 1200s. When Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor, went away to fight the Crusades, he left his brother (who lived here) in charge of his vast realm. Bacharach was home of one of seven electors who voted for the Holy Roman Emperor in 1275. To protect their own power, these elector-princes did their best to choose the weakest guy on the ballot. The elector from Bacharach helped select a two-bit prince named Rudolf von Hapsburg (from a two-bit castle in Switzerland). The underestimated Rudolf brutally silenced the robber barons along the Rhine and established the mightiest dynasty in European history. His family line, the Hapsburgs, ruled much of Central Europe until 1918.
Plagues, fires, and the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) finally did Bacharach in. The town, with a population of about a thousand, has slumbered for several centuries. Today, the castle houses commoners — 40,000 overnights annually by youth hostelers.
In the mid-19th century, painters such as J.M.W. Turner and writers such as Victor Hugo were charmed by the Rhineland's romantic mix of past glory, present poverty, and rich legend. They put this part of the Rhine on the old "grand tour" map as the "Romantic Rhine." Victor Hugo pondered the ruined 15th-century chapel that you see under the castle. In his 1842 travel book, Rhein Reise (Rhine Travels), he wrote, "No doors, no roof or windows, a magnificent skeleton puts its silhouette against the sky. Above it, the ivy-covered castle ruins provide a fitting crown. This is Bacharach, land of fairy tales, covered with legends and sagas." If you're enjoying the Romantic Rhine, thank Victor Hugo and company.
To get back into town, take the level path that leads along the wall up the valley past the next tower. Then cross the street into the parking lot. Pass Pension Malerwinkel on your right, being careful not to damage the old arch with your head. Follow the creek past a delightful little series of half-timbered homes and cheery gardens known as Painters' Corner (Malerwinkel). Resist looking into some pervert's peep show (on the right) and continue downhill back to the village center. Nice work.
St. Goar
St. Goar is a classic Rhine town — its hulk of a castle overlooking a half-timbered shopping street and leafy riverside park busy with sightseeing ships and contented strollers. From the boat dock, the main drag — a pedestrian mall without history — cuts through town before winding up to the castle. Rheinfels Castle, once the mightiest on the Rhine, is the single best Rhineland ruin to explore.
St. Goar's Rheinfels Castle
Sitting like a dead pit bull above St. Goar, this mightiest of Rhine castles rumbles with ghosts from its hard-fought past. Burg Rheinfels was huge — once the biggest castle on the Rhine (built in 1245). It withstood a siege of 28,000 French troops in 1692. But in 1797, the French Revolutionary army destroyed it. The castle was used for ages as a quarry, and today — while still mighty — it's only a small fraction of its original size. This hollow but interesting shell offers your single best hands-on ruined-castle experience on the river.
Cost and Hours: €4, family card-€10, mid-March–Oct daily 9:00–18:00, last entry at 17:00, Nov–mid-March only Sat–Sun 11:00–17:00.
Self-Guided Tour: Rather than wander aimlessly, visit the castle by following this tour: From the ticket gate, walk straight. Pass Grosser Keller on the left (where we'll end this tour), walk through an internal gate past the zu den gedeckten Wehrgängen sign on the right (where we'll pass later) uphill to the museum (daily 9:30–12:00 & 13:00–17:30) in the only finished room of the castle.
1. Museum and Castle Model: The seven-foot-tall carved stone immediately inside the door (marked Keltische Säule von Pfalzfeld) — a tombstone from a nearby Celtic grave — is from 400 years before Christ. There were people here long before the Romans...and this castle. Find the old wooden library chair near the tombstone. If you smile sweetly, the man behind the desk may demonstrate — pull the back forward and it becomes stairs for getting to the highest shelves.
The sweeping castle history exhibit in the center of the room is well-described in English. The massive fortification was the only Rhineland castle to withstand Louis XIV's assault during the 17th century. At the far end of the room is a model reconstruction of the castle (not the one with the toy soldiers) showing how much bigger it was before French revolutionary troops destroyed it in the 18th century. Study this. Find where you are (hint: look for the tall tower). This was the living quarters of the original castle, which was only the smallest ring of buildings around the tiny central courtyard (13th century). The ramparts were added in the 14th century. By 1650, the fortress was largely complete. Ever since its destruction by the French in the late 18th century, it's had no military value. While no WWII bombs were wasted on this ruin, it served St. Goar as a quarry for generations. The basement of the museum shows the castle pharmacy and an exhibit on Rhine region odds and ends, including tools and an 1830 loom. Don't miss the photos of ice-breaking on the Rhine — which, thanks to global warming, hasn't been necessary since 1963.
Exit the museum and walk 30 meters yards directly out, slightly uphill into the castle courtyard.
2. Medieval Castle Courtyard: Five hundred years ago, the entire castle circled this courtyard. The place was self-sufficient and ready for a siege with a bakery, pharmacy, herb garden, animals, brewery, well (top of yard), and livestock. During peacetime, 300 to 600 people lived here; during a siege, there would be as many as 4,500. The walls were plastered and painted white. Bits of the original 13th-century plaster survive.
Continue through the courtyard, out Erste Schildmauer, turn left into the next courtyard, and walk straight to the two old, wooden, upright posts. Find the pyramid of stone catapult balls on your left.
3. Castle Garden: Catapult balls like these were too expensive not to recycle — they'd be retrieved after any battle. Across from the balls is a well — essential for any castle during the age of siegeing. Look in. The old posts are for the ceremonial baptizing of new members of the local trading league. While this guild goes back centuries, it's now a social club that fills this court with a huge wine party the third weekend of each September.
If weary, skip to #5; otherwise, climb the cobbled path up to the castle's best viewpoint — up where the German flag waves.
4. Highest Castle Tower Lookout: Enjoy a great view of the river, castle, and the forest that was once all part of this castle. Remember, the fortress once covered five times the land it does today. Notice how the other castles (across the river) don't poke above the top of the Rhine canyon. That would make them easy for invading armies to see.
Return to the catapult balls, walk down the road, go through the tunnel, veer left through the arch marked zu den gedeckten Wehrgängen, go down two flights of stairs, and stop at the top of the next staircase before turning left into the dark covered passageway. From here, we will begin a rectangular walk taking us completely around the perimeter of the castle. But first, take a look at the...
5. Covered Defense Galleries: Soldiers — the castle's "minutemen" — had a short commute: defensive positions on the outside, home in the holes in the wall you see below. Even though these living quarters were padded with straw, life was unpleasant. A peasant was lucky to live beyond age 45.
Now let's walk left through the dark gallery and to the corner of the castle, where you'll see a white painted arrow at eye level. Stand with your back to the arrow on the wall.
6. Corner of Castle: Look up. A three-story, half-timbered building originally rose beyond the highest stone fortification. The two stone tongues near the top just around the corner supported the toilet. (Insert your own joke here.) Turn around and face the wall. The crossbow slits below the white arrow were once steeper. The bigger hole on the riverside was for hot pitch.
Follow that white arrow along the outside to the next corner. Midway you'll pass stairs on the right leading down zu den Minengängen (sign on upper left). Adventurers with flashlights can detour here (see "Into the Mine Tunnels," below). You may come out around the next corner. Otherwise, stay with me, walking level to the corner. At the corner, turn left.
7. Thoop...You're Dead. Look ahead at the smartly placed crossbow arrow slit. While you're lying there, notice the stone-work. The little round holes were for scaffolds used as they built up. They indicate this stonework is original. Notice also the fine stonework on the chutes. More boiling pitch...now you're toast, too.
Continue along the castle wall around the corner. At the railing, look up the valley and uphill where the sprawling fort stretched. Below, just outside the wall, is land where attackers would gather. The mine tunnels are under there, waiting to blow up any attackers (read below).
Continue along the perimeter, jog left, go down five steps and into an open field, and walk toward the wooden bridge. You may detour here into the passageway (on right) marked 13 Hals Graben. The "old" wooden bridge is actually modern. Angle left through two arches (before the bridge) and through the rough entry to Verliess (prison) on the left.
8. Prison: This is one of six dungeons. You walked through an entry prisoners only dreamed of 400 years ago. They came and went through the little square hole in the ceiling. The holes in the walls supported timbers that thoughtfully gave as many as 15 residents something to sit on to keep them out of the filthy slop that gathered on the floor. Twice a day, they were given bread and water. Some prisoners actually survived longer than two years in here. While the town could torture and execute, the castle only had permission to imprison criminals in these dungeons. Consider this: According to town records, the two men who spent the most time down here — 2.5 years each — died within three weeks of regaining their freedom. Perhaps after a diet of bread and water, feasting on meat and wine was simply too much.
Continue through the next arch, under the white arrow, and turn left and walk 30 yards to the Schlachthaus.
9. Slaughterhouse: Any proper castle was prepared to survive a six-month siege. With 4,000 people, that's a lot of provisions. The cattle that lived within the walls were slaughtered in this room. The castle's mortar was congealed here (by packing all the organic waste from the kitchen into kegs and sealing it). Notice the drainage gutters. "Running water" came through from drains built into the walls (to keep the mortar dry and therefore strong...and less smelly).
Back outside, climb the modern stairs to the left. A skinny, dark passage (yes, that's the one) leads you into the...
10. Big Cellar: This Grosser Keller was a big pantry. When the castle was smaller, this was the original moat — you can see the rough lower parts of the wall. The original floor was 13 feet deeper. The drawbridge rested upon the stone nubs on the left. When the castle expanded, the moat became this cellar. Halfway up the walls on the entry side of the room, square holes mark spots where timbers made a storage loft, perhaps filled with grain. In the back, an arch leads to the wine cellar (sometimes blocked off) where finer wine was kept. Part of a soldier's pay was wine...table wine. This wine was kept in a single 180,000-liter stone barrel (that's 47,550 gallons), which generally lasted about 18 months.
The count owned the surrounding farmland. Farmers got to keep 20 percent of their production. Later, in more liberal feudal times, the nobility let them keep 40 percent. Today, the German government leaves the workers with 60 percent...and provides a few more services.
You're free. Climb out, turn right, and leave. For coffee on a great view terrace, visit the Rheinfels Castle Hotel, opposite the entrance (WC at base of steps).
Optional Detour — Into the Mine Tunnels: To protect their castle around 1600, the Rheinfellers cleverly booby-trapped the land just outside their walls by building tunnels topped with thin slate roofs and packed with explosives. By detonating the explosives when under attack, they could kill hundreds of invaders. In 1626, a handful of underground Protestant Germans blew 300 Catholic Spaniards to — they figured — hell. You're welcome to wander through a set of never-blown-up tunnels. But be warned: it's 600 feet long, assuming you make no wrong turns; it's pitch-dark, muddy, and claustrophobic, with confusing dead-ends; and you'll never get higher than a deep crouch. It cannot be done without a light (flashlights available at entry — see above). At stop #6 of the above tour, follow the stairs on the right leading down zu den Minengängen (sign on upper left).
The Fuchsloch sign welcomes you to the foxhole. Walk level (take no stairs) past the first steel railing (where you hope to emerge later) to the second steel railing. Climb down. The "highway" in this foxhole is three feet high. The ceiling may be painted with a white line indicating the correct path. Don't venture into the more narrow side aisles. These were once filled with the gunpowder. After a small decline, take the second right. At the T-intersection, go right (uphill). After about 10 feet, go left. Take the next right and look for a light at the end of the tunnel. Head up a rocky incline under the narrowest part of the tunnel and you'll emerge at that first steel railing. The stairs on the right lead to freedom. Cross the field, walk under the bigger archway, and continue uphill toward the old wooden bridge. Angle left through two arches (before the bridge) and through the rough entry to Verliess (prison) on the left. Rejoin the tour here at stop #8.
For lots more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves' Germany & Austria guidebook.