Mosel & Eifel 2004

Mosel River and it's Castles

by Mike Gendreyzig, 2004

Mosel river at Ehrenburg

Starting on the northern banks of the river (left side downstream) the road B416 twisted all the way attached to the Mosel river. For the first time the sun accompanied us the whole day, so it was a romantique drive through the river valley with green vineyards on the hillsides. The first stop-over was Burg Eltz, laying upcountry in a lonely valley to the north, accessible from Münster-Maifeld. The beautiful castle dating back to the 9th century. Due to it's remote site it was never harmfully involved into battle action and could safely grow in size and wealth.
Burg Eltz castle

Nowadays it's busy guiding all the tourists through the many buildings and their fully decorated rooms. The history and traditions can be seen in every piece. This castle is said to be the most beautiful at the Mosel and I can only confirm this. With a heavy heart we left Burg Eltz and found our way back to the riverside. Noon - time to get lunch. In a small town we tried the Mosel cuisine and of course also a sip of local vine - excellent!

Next destination was Cochem crowned by it's majestic Reichsburg Cochem. About 100 m high above the Mosel river the former residence of a rich tycoon overlooks the valley.
Reichsburg Cochem
castle A falconer amused us for a while showing us many hawks, folcons, and owls. A must is the tour through the many rooms and chambers, diclosing all the pompous furniture and detailed accessories. Only an old and historic etching was the base of the newly erected castle back on the turn of the 20th century, as the previous castle was demolished between the middle age.

The dusk was near and we went on to Traben-Trarbach, a twin-town with a big gate at it's connecting bridge. In nearby Kröv we stopped for shopping famous Kröver Nacktarsch vine, direct from the vine-dresser. We made a last stop in Bernkastel-Kues to stroll through the many lanes with their beautiful frame-work houses and the one slanting pretty Spitzhäuschen house next to the market place. The sun already set and we made the rest of the way without another stop.

At the end we reached Trier around 10pm and checked into our Hotel "Zum Christophel" right besides the Porta Nigra gate. The city already prepared for nightly sleep, but we could find a rustic supper of a cheese plate, bread and glasses of Mosel vine in a vine cellar neighboring the huge Trier dome. We could sleep like a rock in our beds refueling energy for next day's Trier sightseeing and Eifel course.