St. Goar with Loreley
The little town of St. Goar lies on the left bank of the Rhine, and its name
derived from a hermit with the same name who lived here in the 6th century.
He was worshipped as a saint even when he was still alive. In 765 one of the
Germany's oldest monasteries was erected where Goar's hermitage was placed,
and today you will find a monastery church (dating from the 11th century)
with its Romanesque crypt built on the foundation walls of this old monastery.
The Gothic frescos in the church interior are part of the most complex cycles
of late medieval painting in the region. St. Goar is towered over by the Rheinfels
fortress, one of the most massive fortifications on the Rhine. The fairy-tale
like scenery of this fortress on a rock spur served as a theme for many drawings,
engravings, water colourings and paintings. Amongst the artists are famous
names such as Albrecht Dürer with a drawing from 1521, and William Turner
with a romantically themed painting from 1817. Even though only one third
of the original fortification exists today, the visible remains are still
very impressive. The earliest parts of the Kemburg date back to 1245, and
were erected by the Earl of Katzenelnbogen as parts of a perfect blockade,
serving as a taxation point for the Rhine shipping. In subsequent centuries
the owners expanded the building systematically. It only ended in 1794, when
French troops conquered it and destroyed all military constructions including
the fortress. Today Rheinfels fortress is owned by the city of St. Goar, and
comprises a hotel, a restaurant, and the local history museum.
A most rewarding hiking path leads from Rheinfels fortress to the plateau
of Biebernheim village, and from there to the observation point located directly
on the banks of the deeply incised Rhine valley. The best view of the rock
of Loreley can be had from here. This rock was immortalized in the ballad
by Heinrich Heine about the beautiful witch Loreley who sat upon the rock
combing her golden hair with a golden comb. She brought death and destruction
to the sailors who watched her and did not pay attention to the rocky reefs
(Ley=rock). A few kilometres downstream from the Loreley rock, we find the
little town of St. Goarshausen with its Katzenelnbogen fortress lying across
the river but connected to it by a ferry. The plateaux above St. Goarshausen
were already populated in Celtic times. For instance, there is a rocky plateau,
which falls down steeply towards three sides, and is only connected to the
rear plateaux by a narrow land connection. On this little rocky plateau there
once was a Celtic plateau settlement with fortification that was built in
the 6th century B.C., and defended by a massive fortification wall. The preserved
parts of the wall and the moat continue to impress visitors today, mostly
due to their very secluded location. This story, set to music by Friedrich
Silcher, has made Loreley the symbol for the romantic Rhine.
Near St. Goar is the Rheinfels fortress, a part of a perfect blockade of the
flow of the Rhine for the purpose of tax collecting. Another part of the blockade
was Neu-Katzenelnbogen on the same side of the river as St. Goarshausen and
locally known as 'Burg Katz' (Cat Castle). It was built in the 14th century
by Earl Johann III von Katzenelnbogen as a counterpart to the nearby Archbishop
of Trier's Peterseck castle, which was immediately was nicknamed "Mouse Castle".
The illustration shows "Cat Castle".