Oberwesel
The Schönburg sits majestetically above the town. Its history can be traced back to the 12th century. Enjoy the marvelous view from up there, overlooking the wending River Rhine, while feasting like a lord.
In the valley below the medieval Oberwesel nestles inside its well fortified town wall. Having been lovingly restored, wide parts of the town wall and some of its defense towers are accessible for visitors.
Oberwesel has preserved its medieval character like hardly any other town in the Mid Rhine Valley. The well established viticulture once enticed abbeys from other regions to maintain external vineyards there. Today visitors from near and far are attracted by the charm of its hospitality treat you to a pleasant visit too!
Churches and ruins of abbeys bear witness to the former might and influence of the clergy. Not only St. Martin and the Wernekapelle are richly decorated. The Liebfrauenkirche from the early 14th century holds the valuable golden altar in its sanctuary, one of the earliest Rhenish carved altars. One of the few preserved jubes in Germany is a jewel of Gothic craftsmanship.
The mighty Baroque organ from the years 1740 to 1745 fills the building with its festive sound during concerts and recitals a feast for senses!
Passion for Viticulture 
Oberwesel is one of the largest viticulture communities of the Mid Rhine Region. The extensive vineyards on the steep slopes around the Schönburg yield hundreds of thousands of liters of the coveted juice of the grape every year.
Take a wine tasting tour to a vineyard and discover the variety of delicious wines, best during a hearty “Winzervesper” (wine grower’s dinner). Your host will be very happy to explain what to look out offer wine hiking tours through vineyards flooded with sunlight, an unforgettable experience.
Building Germania took six years
High on the hills above Rüdesheim stands one of Germany’s most famous monuments, Germania. Dubbed the “Prussian Maddonna,” the 31-ton lady with the 20 ft. waist is over 100 years old. She symbolizes the first re-unification of Germany and the revival of its empire.
The monument is over 123 ft. high and about 120 ft. wide, although with the adjacent stairways, terraces and wall, the total area extends to about 560 ft.
The sculpture work is outstanding and 35 ft. long and over 8 ft. high is the largest bronze relief made in Europe in the last century.
The middle of the sub-base shows the figures of nearly 200 people, all life-size! The monument took six years to build and cost today’s equivalent of about € 700,000. It was prompted by the unification of Germany following war with France in 1870 and 1871. Until then, Germany was a divided country but victory over France brought the German states together and King William I of Prussia was proclaimed emperor in January, 1871.
But there was less unity when it was decided to build a memorial. Arguments arose over where and how Various place were put forward, including Berlin and Frankfurt, but finally convincing arguments were advanced for Niederwald, above Rüdesheim.
The emperor went up on horseback to the Niederwald and was immediately fascinated by the view, and there and then ordered the national monument to be built on the spot. Expert then argued about the design for years but finally that submitted by a Dresden sculptor, Johannes Schilling, was chosen. The architecture was designed by Karl Weissbach, also from Dresden.
More years went by as public appeals for funds failed to meet targets and in the Reichstag had to foot the bill. Eventually inauguration day arrived, and princes, generals, and many other civic leaders, as well as the designers and craftsmen gatthered at the memorial.
Thousands lined the approach roads to greet the emperor who first reviewed a fleet of staemboats on the Rhine. But as he was driven up to the monument, with salute guns firing and bands playing, the Emperor was unware of an attemt on his life.
Anarchist August Reinsdorf, a 34-year-od typesetter, wanted to kill the emperor and other nobility but fell ill on the day, and so two accomplices, Reinsdorf and Kuchler, dynamited the approach road.
But humidity that day foiled the detonation, and so the conspirators hurled the dynamite at the hall where the emperor was attending a banquet whit his top guests. But the explosion did only superficial damage and no one was killed. All the conspirators were soon caught and Reinsdorf and Kuchler were executed.
St.Goar cuckoo clock still holds the world record
Suspended high above a shop window in St.Goar is a timepiece with a unique distinction – it is the largest free-hanging cuckoo clock in the world.
Copies of the clock have been made elsewhere but none has achieved the St.Goar clock’s record.
The clock is the symbol of an old-established business, the Cuckoo Clock Centre, run by members of the Montag family.
Now just over 30 years old, the extraordinary time piece is 3.5 meters high and 2.5 meters wide, and weighs about 5 cwts.
Every single piece of the clock has been made by hand. It is carved from linden wood and is hand-painted. 
It took seven months to build and was constructed just as all genuine Black Forest Clock have been made for over a century – and as they are made today.
Indeed, it was a Black Forest firm, Alfons Herr, of Hornberg, that made the famous St.Goar clock from plans drawn up by company executives.
The time function of the clock is electronically controlled. Movement of the pendulum is maintained by a slow-running motor.
From tiny microphones in the office master-clock, the cuckoo’s calls and dancing tunes are relayed and amplified to the giant clock.
Weather is the major threat to the beautifully carved and painted linden wood. The clock has its own special cover for extreme conditions but even then, restoration work is periodically needed.
Early in 2004 a storm damaged one of the birds in the headpiece and it lost its wings. The entire section had to be carved again, a job that took four weeks.
The opportunity was taken to repaint the entire clock, and so by March the whole timepiece had been completely restored.
St. Goar
The town of St.Goar was named after the Saint, who built a chapel and lived as a hermit on the site of today’s Collegiate Church (Stiftskirche) in the 6th century. Before 765, the Counts of Katzenelnbogen were assigned as patrons of the monastery and awarded toll rights for the Rhine. They built Castle Rheinfels in 1245. Today it is the largest and one of the most impressive castle ruins on the Rhine.
Our town bears the name of St.Goar, who lived around the year 520. He established a hermitage, a chapel and hospice downstream from some dangerous rapids, where he helped travelers, cared for the sick, fed the poor and evangelized the people. The many legends about the Saint all emphasize his famed hospitality, a tradition, which the town of St.Goar has preserved to this day.
The many-faceted culinary range, the unsurpassed Rhine wine and the classy hotel industry will round off your visit to the hospitable St.Goar. When you go wine tasting, you are sure to find your favorite wine. Take a few bottles home and each time you have a glass, some nice memories of your stay in St.Goar will come back to you. To good health!
Discover and Explore
St.Goar’s impressive landmark is Castle Rheinfels, one of the largest castles ever. Immerse yourself in the moved history of town and castle. Explore the extensive fortifications with their steep turrets and their halls and passages carved into the rock (bring a touch!). Solve the mysteries of the Castle Museum’s exhibits—history comes alive here! If you want, enjoy a rustic or princely on Castle Rheinfels, the choice is your…
Saunter through the narrow alleyways of the densely built-up town with its century-old timber frame houses or take a stroll down the Rheinpromenade. Those interested in history will appreciate the late Gothic wall and ceiling Church (Stiftskirche) or the cover plate of St. Goar’s tomb in the Catholic parish of St. Goar.
Enjoy the scenery around the Rhine from a different perspective – from a riverboat. Of particular interest is the stretch between Oberwesel and St. Goar, past the rocky reefs called the “Seven Maidens” and the narrowest and deepest part of the Rhine.
“He break through and the rocks move aside and look down on him in astonishment and admiration”, Heinrich Kleist wrote in 1803 during his River Rhine journey about the 1320 km long stream cutting through the slate mountains between Bingen and Koblenz.
The Mid Rhine Valley, ennobled as “World Heritage” by the UNESSCO in 2002, has probably always fascinated those who saw it. On one hand rugged and ancient, on the other cultivated by man and graceful, it has inspired generations of poets and painters. Probably the most famous is the Loreley Song, a poem by Heinrich Heine (translated into English by Mark Twain in 1880, “An ancient legend of the Rhine”), first published in 1824 and set to music 13 years later by Friedrich Sichler.
Uncounted drawings and paintings by such famous artists as William Turner from an integral part of the Romanticism and enchant the beholder.
