Sunday afternoon in Koblenz

A day spent travelling took us by plane from London to Frankfurt and then on by train to Koblenz, ready for a week long holiday centred around the Rhein, Moselle and Neckar valleys.

It was a rather pleasant afternoon so we took ourselves out to the Rhein promenade and joined a good many sunday strollers taking in the views of the seemingly ceaseless flow of river traffic (mostly cargo ships and tankers).

Strolling along the Rhein promenade

To make the most of the good weather we took the cable car from the riverside up to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. It is located on an excellent position atop a rocky promontory overlooking the city so it’s not really any great surprise to learn that there have been fortifications here for three thousand years.

The supposedly impregnable fortifications in front of us today were constructed by the Prussians between 1817 and 1828, after the previous fortress was demolished by the French in 1801. It now houses a collection of museums, galleries, restaurants and a youth hostel.

An orientation map helps you take a wander through the historical highlights of the fortress, though this was a somewhat disjointed and frustrating experience at times. Amongst the sights we stumbled across were reconstructed quarters from the post war period, a gunsmithery and fortress church. The most moving piece of this jigsaw was the Memorial of the German Army (Ehrenmal des Deutschen Heeres) which was built into the ravelin and inaugurated in October 1972.

Memorial of the German Army (Ehrenmal des Deutschen Heeres)

After wandering around for a couple of hours we headed back down to the Deutsches Eck (the point where the Mosel meets the Rhein) and the old down, before finally giving in to exhaustion!

Gallery