Mosel River

August 25, 2011

We have returned from our first weekend “adventure” to the Mosel Valley.  This region is famous for its wine, especially Riesling a sweeter white wine.  The vineyards were loaded with grapes and the weekend was spectacular.  We have actually been to the Mosel Valley before, in 2005.  So, let me back-up. 

In the fall of 2005 we made a trip to Europe with the kids so that Sean could do a month long rotation in the ICU at Landstuhl hospital during residency.  Mayland had decided that this would be a relaxing week to spend with the kids then aged 5 ½ and 2 ½.  At that time we stayed in Cochem and toured the local castle, nick-named the “Pumpkin Castle”, which left a major impression on MJ.  Since we have returned to Germany we heard weekly a plea to return to the “Pumpkin castle”.  Fortunately, the return visit did not disappoint.  

The Mosel Valley was having a wine festival this past weekend, so we were only able to find a place to stay for Friday night.  We had originally booked 2 double rooms, but the family was able to change us to a 2 bedroom suite with a balcony overlooking the town of Ellenz, opposite the very charming village of Beilstein.  A ferry connects the two towns and Bielstein is famous for its castle ruin and Jewish cemetery.  Unfortunately, the ferry closes at 6pm and we were heading over at 4:30 to take a walk up to the ruins and cemetery, followed by a dinner at the local restaurant.      

One of the interesting parts of these towns is how high the Mosel River has risen over the years.  In each town there is a building with hochwasser (high water) marks on the walls, all of which are well over Sean’s head.  So, the “castle” in Beilstein is Burg Metternich.  It was one of the most powerful towns/castles along the river during the 1268-1687’s.  It was destroyed by the French in 1688 and never rebuilt.  The ruins are rather sad, but the view of the river and vineyards is fabulous.  Along the walk up the hill are some pieces of marble that are carved with depictions from the life of Christ.  They look like they could date back to Roman times, but there is no information to confirm or deny.

We continued up the hill to the  Jüdische Friedhof.  The town was once occupied by a large Jewish settlement, that emigrated to the US during the late 1800’s.  Fortunately, only 1 family was in residence at the time of WWII.  The town no longer has any Jewish inhabitants, but it still has a synagogue and the cemetery that is cared for by a small community of Jews in the town of Mainz. 

Thanks to our walk we had worked up a nice appetite that allowed us to eat at the local restaurant that has grapes growing over the patio and a beautiful view of the river where we watched the swans and ducks floating by.  We also met a couple from Washington State, so we had a lovely conversation about our old home state. 

Saturday Morning we headed up to Cochem to visit MJ’s “Pumpkin Castle” which was pretty much exactly as she remembered it.  There are two rooms that the kids really enjoy; the first is the entertainment room.  It is in this room that dinner and dances would have happened.  They have equipped the room to play music and it really does evoke the image of being a “ballroom”.  

The second room is the armor room; there is actually armor there that was worn by a man who stood about 7 feet tall. 

 The real treasure in the room is a panel door that opens to reveal a treasure chest full of gold coins that are really chocolates wrapped in gold foil.  Both Clark and MJ were so excited when we got into the room anticipating that chocolate.  That made their day!

After we finished our tour we had a small lunch and then headed to the train station to go up to the next castle, Burg Eltz.  This castle is not on the Mosel river, but rather an 8km walk from the river through a very small, sleepy little town past some very beautiful gardens.  Both of these castles are fully intact and furnished.  Burg Eltz is unique in that it is still occupied by the family who has been living there for the last 800 years.  So, during the tour you see tapestries from the 1200’s to family photos from 5 years ago.  Absolutely fascinating!  You can easily go on the web to learn more about this amazing castle.

Just to clarify, I refer to things as castles and generally American’s think of a royal residence.  In Europe a Burg is a castle that was a fortification for a powerful family.  A palace is a residence for a royal family.  So, along the Mosel and Rheine rivers there aren’t any palaces as these were two rivers with a lot of burgs because there was a lot of money to be collected as the barges and boats carried goods that were taxed in order to pass to the next bend (burg).  So, when you see burg think local IRS J.