Rüdesheim and Koblenz, Germany

When you follow the course of the Rhine from its source to the North Sea then you will come to Rüdesheim on the Rhine River at the halfway-point of your journey. This is a town where both nature and history have left many treasures. The historical roots of the town of Rüdesheim reach back to before the Roman era. Together with the surrounding quarters of Assmannshausen, Aulhausen and Presberg, Rüdesheim forms the centre of the Rheingau region.

From Rüdesheim north the Rhine Valley becomes a 400 meter deep gorge for over 60 kilometers. The sides of the gorge are sometimes sheer, with an occassional near vertical drop. There are many steep terraces along the river that are set with vinyards. Nowhere else along the Rhine are castles found in such clusters.

Koblenz (also Coblenz in older German spellings; French Coblence; from Latin Confluentes, "confluence" or "merging rivers") is the third largest city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Koblenz lies in the Rhineland, 92 kilometers (57 miles) southeast of Cologne by rail, pleasantly situated on the left bank of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle. Population: (2005) 107,064.

Its defensive works are extensive, and consist of strong forts crowning the hills encircling the town on the west, and of the citadel of Ehrenbreitstein on the opposite bank of the Rhine. The old city was triangular in shape, two sides being bounded by the Rhine and Mosel and the third by a line of fortifications. The last were razed in 1890, and the town was permitted to expand in this direction. Immediately outside the former walls lies the new central railway station. The Rhine is crossed by a road bridge and, a mile above the town, by a beautiful bridge of two wide and lofty spans carrying the Berlin railway referred to above. The Moselle is spanned by a Gothic freestone bridge of 14 arches, erected in 1344.