A Cistercian convent since 1250, the nuns were relocated in favor of the Jesuits in 1580 until…read moretheir expulsion by the 1773 order of the Holy See. This part of historic old town is still known as Jesuitenplatz. Like many other church properties during the French occupation, it was seized and used for non liturgical purposes including as the Kaiserin Augusta Gymnasium, now the Görres Gymnasium. In 1895, it became the 5th home of the Rathaus. The Rathaus has expanded since then to five buildings in the Jesuitplatz. The Citykirche am Jesuitplatz was largely destroyed in the air raids of 1944. Its ruins were demolished in 1956 and replaced in 1958-1959 by a new building designed by Gottfried Böhm . Although the destruction and demolition of the Baroque building are often lamented today, the new church is nevertheless an important monument of post-war architecture. Koblenz Rathaus is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Upper Middle Rhine Valley. S

THE TREK (WALKABILITY) The castle is located DOWN a very…read moresteep hill from the parking lot, so be ready for a very long walk down and BACK up, unless you want to pay 2 euros (cash only, no cards) to take the shuttle, which comes and goes every 7-10 mins. Once you get down to the castle, getting into the castle is a bit tricky, as the steps are very worn out stone. Going up isn't as bad as going down when you leave the castle. THE CASTLE The Burge Eltz Castle is beautiful, from a far and up close, in person. You definitely get the vibe of fairytale castle from Burg Eltz! THE TOUR Upon entry, you get a 'gold coin' that bears the crest of the family on one side and a depiction of the castle on the other. The tour itself was well explained and well paced. Our guide did need to be told to slow down his speech rate, as he was speaking particularly fast in English, but it was otherwise fine. We were not allowed to take photos of the interior of the castle during the Castle, which was fine. I appreciated that they informed our group of this at the very beginning. MISC The only restroom is located just outside of the Castle, so you do need to completely exit the castle to access it. There is no ATM on site, and the gift shop cannot provide euros to tourists via credit cards. If you would like to use the shuttle to get back UP to the parking lot, go to the cafe and order a coffee or beer, they put a 5 euro hold on the cups. When the cups are returned, they will give patrons 5 euros in cash, in return. I do appreciate that they have a method for guests to obtain euros.

Nestled into the countryside and hidden from streetview is the storybook Burg Eltz…read more To start, visiting Burg Eltz takes a bit of planning. You'll want to either hire a tour company to drive you there from a bigger city like Frankfurt (about an hour drive), or rent a car. We went on a small tour and while it was really fun to hear the guide talk to us about the countryside and what we were seeing etc. I do think we could have handled the drive had we decided to rent a car. Once you arrive, if you are American and familiar with the National Parks here in the states, it's going to remind you a lot of US National Park Service parking lots. It's not a massive lot, but in general big enough for tourists and busses to offload people as they arrive. I'm not sure if it costs anything to park but my gut says it probably does as I think I saw some euros exchanged from our driver to the parking attendant. Once you are parked, you have two choices: to either walk directly to the castle along a street, or take the hiking path. I cannot stress how much I encourage everyone to take the hiking path. It's a very easy hike through meandering forest and once you can get the castle into view it's breathtaking. Kind of like how I imagine the castle from Beauty and the Beast to be hidden in the film, is how this is tucked away. It takes a while before it will come into view which adds to the general charm and mystique of the place. All of this being said, the road is great for the walk back if you don't want to hike uphill, there is a shuttle bus that will take you up the road if you are tired, and because of the shuttle and the fairly even path of the road, it makes this castle much more accessible to those who have mobility needs. While at the actual castle there are two lines for tours - one for a German speaking tour, and one for an English speaking tour. This is important to note because we were there on a German holiday and the German speaking line was over an hour wait, while the English speaking line was only about 20 minutes. So, make sure you inquire about which line you are in! The tour itself is very good. The tour guide we had clearly took his job very seriously and had a lot of interesting information to share. My biggest takeaways were that this is one of the most intact medieval castles in Europe, largely due to its remote location as it avoided many bombs that impacted other parts of the continent, and that it is still occupied by descendants of the original owners. Knowing that this is still in the family was really remarkable and added to the general uniqueness of this historic location. Overall, it was a gorgeous castle to visit, and as many others have noted it's well nestled into wine country, so make a day of it and sample some riesling at one of the nearby villages on your way back to the city!

We went to the medieval dinner at the castle. It is held on some Saturday nights beginning at 6…read morepm. It is delivered in German. My wife and I went and used our Google Translate to follow most of the tour and the dinner and it worked fairly well. we enjoyed the tour, the dinner was very good and the event was fun and enjoyable. Sam was the head of the house and the host of the dinner. He is first rate and is an extraordinary talent.

Stunning. Nearly unbelievable that it's real!…read more Beautiful medieval castle overlooking Cochem and the Moselle River. The scenery is extraordinary. The castle tour is well worth it as is the drive to it. There is a small cafe/restaurant there. We had some excellent soups and some nice beers. Prices were reasonable considering the incredible view and historic setting. Pro Tip on Parking: Just keep driving up. The parking is all the way up by the castle and there are several areas. Many people park down the road and walk up. Don't do this... unless you want the cardio. Pro Tip on Photos: There are several excellent photo stops while on the drive down into Cochem before driving up to the castle as in my photos. Pro Tip on Cochem: Very cool town. Tourist restaurants are on the castle side of the river but there are a couple great places on the other side of the river that offer higher quality fare and a great view of the castle.

Koblenz is named for the Roman word for "confluence" for the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle…read moreRivers. Specifically, the rivers meet at Deustches Eck. The equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilheilm I was erected in gratitude for the unification of the German Empire in 1897. After WWII, the monument was declared a symbol of German unity, which is bold given that Germany was divided between East and West at the time.

The Deutsches Eck or German Corner, is where the Rhein and Mösel rivers converge in Koblenz…read more The corner has several memorials to German history, including pieces of the Berlin Wall and renaming a street after Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. But the corner is dominated by a huge bronze statue of German Emperor and the King of Prussia, Wilhelm I the Kaiser's father. It was rebuilt in 1993. One of the more emotional and sad histories shown in laminate placards (photos) here, is the the erection of the Berlin Wall by the communists and the solders who shot at anyone who trying to crossover to the west. It was clearly a painful time for the Germans themselves and the west, which felt helpless to stop these atrocities. The German Corner became a symbol for German Re-Unification both by Adenauer and President Theodor Heuss for the German people Today, the flags of the sixteen German Länder States fly here, in remembrance of German unity. Btw, the Basilica of St. Castor, the oldest church in Koblenz is very close and worth seeing.

Ehrenbreitstein Fortress is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Upper Middle Rhine Valley…read more Construction of the present iteration of Ehrenbreitstein Fortress was completed in 1817 by the kingdom of Prussia as part of the fortress of Koblenz. The first traces of human habitation date from around 3,000 B.C. An archaeological dig in 2003 at the Fahnenturm (Flag tower) uncovered the remains of a Celtic nobleman's residence. Later, a Roman fortress, a medieval castle, and until 1801 a baroque fortress and residence were built here. After its destruction by the French, Ehrenbreitstein was a ruin until the foundation stone for the current fortress was laid in 1817. On its completion in 1828, the fortress was considered impregnable. This version of the fortress was never attacked. This place was every military fort design fantasy brought to life. Warfare has changed so much since then. Summary and captions adapted from the Orientation Map for the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress provided by the Cultural Centre of the Koblenz State Museum. https://www.visit-koblenz.de/sehe.../festung-ehrenbreitstein

Took a ride with my (slightly scared of heights) girlfriend in the cable car up to the fort. The…read morebuilding is in a better condition than I previously expected. Very well done. Plenty of interesting things to see, from objects they recovered from the grounds of the area to photos of old armies and of course the Americans in WW2. The only downside was that my girlfriend does not understand German all that well, so she was a little annoyed that pretty much all of the signs only had German text on them to explain what you see. I believe there was something she could have gotten, though. Like a brochure in English or even some sort of audio guide device. So, keep that in mind.

Together with the Palatinate Higher Regional Court of Zweibrücken, Oberlandesgericht Koblenz forms…read morethe top of the ordinary jurisdiction of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate. This one on Stresemannstraße 1-5 was originally built as the Oberpräsidium of the Rhine Province, the seat of the President of the Prussian Rhine Province in Koblenz. It, too, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Across from it stands the Mahnmal für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus in Koblenz, built to commemorate the victims of the Nazis in the city between 1933 and 1945. It's inscription reads: "Remember the persecuted, the abused, the murdered 1933-1945". Every courthouse should have such a memorial to remind them what happens when the judiciary failed to curb abuses and instead actively cooperated with an authoritarian government, legitimized state-sponsored terror, enforcied discriminatory laws, and handed down death sentences or severe prison and forced labor sentences. Many individuals convicted here were later transferred to concentration camps or handed over directly to the Gestapo for "special treatment". https://olgko.justiz.rlp.de https://mahnmal-koblenz.de/index.php/der-foerderverein

This was a walk along the Quai was to end where the two rivers meet…read more And we come to a Magnificent Bronze Statue of Wilhelm, King of Prussia. A short walk away are 3 sections of the Berlin Wall complete with details in two languages Nice.

Love, love, love this jewel of the Eifel region! Monreal is a tiny 1/2 timbered village that oozes…read morecharm. It's a sleepy little place so don't expect many shops or restaurants (go to Mayen, about 10 minutes away for those). The castle ruins offer nice views down into/onto the village below. A walk through this town can last 10 minutes or two hours depending on how many places you stop to take pictures. Go and see this lovely tiny village.