Koblenz and the Marksburg Fortress

Tuesday, April 26th

Docked in Koblenz, Germany. A town of about 106,000 souls, necessarily on the Rhine. It lies at the juncture of the Rhine and the Moselle rivers. On the tip of the juncture, is a statue of Emperor Wilhelm I, placed here is 1879, destroyed in 1945, and rebuilt in 1993. (A lot of turmoil, don't you think?)  Impressively large statue, that I did not photograph so it is not included. (Sorry.) Our morning was brief with a walk into the town, then back to buses for a trip to Marksburg castle.

During our brief walk, we saw some of the impressive churches in Koblenz, and shops. This town is a business center for the export of automotive parts, pianos, paper, machinery, boats and barges. The headquarters of the German Army Forces Command is located here. From this castle, the views of the Rhine are impressive.

The Martzburg fortress is where we spent the majority of the morning. Taking a bus about 25 kilometers from the dock, we arrived at an impressive structure bordering the Rhine, and situated on a rocky hill. This castle was built around 1230, and it lies above the town of Braubach. It is the only medieval castle which has never been destroyed in the area of the "middle Rhine."  It's height on the mountain is impressive, and it is clear why it was never destroyed. It is one of the sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Rhine Gorge. I believe it is now maintained by the State.

We made it back to the ship for a nice lunch on the sun deck. This was a traditional German lunch of pork barbecue (not flavored like North Carolina), sausages, hamburgers(allegedly invented in Hamburg,Germany),and jelly rolls (or called Bismarks when I was a child in Chicago), and Black forest cakes (tasty, but terrible for a diet). Then it was off again on the Sky (our boat) and up the Rhine. Taking in the sites of this stretch of Rhine was beautiful. It is a protected site with no bridges, and the towns are neat and tidy.

All in all, the trip is an excellent time to consider. Consider what? Consider people, what they are, their history , and the future. Germany is a powerful country. Its people seem to be proud, organized, and industrious. Quite respectable.  I have noticed little trash on the sides of the river, and no evidence of deterioration of the houses along the route. They are well preserved with clean and fresh looking paint. I am looking forward to further travels up the Rhine. 

Cologne Germany

In the morning, we landed in Cologne, Germany. Germany is an interesting country. A bit smaller than the state of Montana, it has a population of 82.2 million people, and it is an economic powerhouse. Germany is one of the top five economic powers in the world, and Cologne is the forth largest city in Germany and a significant reason for that economic success. Located on the Rhine river, Cologne has been a transportation center for the shipment of goods (a source of much of its economic power).

It's current population is around 1 million residents. Prior to WWII it's population was 800,000 shrinking to 40,000 after the war. With the allied bombing, over 90% of the center of Cologne was destroyed by war's end, but it has essentially been rebuilt since that time.

The most incredible structure in Cologne is the Cathedral. This building (picture nearby) was begun in the 13th century, but was not completed until 1880 (union job). There were numerous delays, the longest from 1560 to 1842 when Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia laid the ground stone to finish the building.

Incredibly, this structure was not destroyed during the allied bombing in WWII. Numerous explanations are available, but the most convincing seems that the American's did not want to damage it because of a "deal" with the Germans not to bomb St. Paul's Cathedral in London.  (Our guide told us that he had talked with American Veterans from WWII, and they confirmed this story.) Almost as plausible is the thought that the two spires were good land marks for the pilots, and they did not want to lose them. As one might guess their is also a theological explanation which I won't go into.   On our trip we saw photographs of the rubble in  this city and around the Cathedral after the war, and either way, the Cathedral's survival was certainly a miracle.

This city is well known for German beer, and for lunch, I stuffed myself with wienerschnitzel (fried pork), potatoes, and German beer. It was excellent, but quite filling--ruined my "diet" again.

Probably the most interesting thing for me  about this city--I am interested in strange things-- is that everywhere you look there are people and families enjoying life together. Children playing, young people in love, middle aged folks sitting and talking about the events of the day and the month, and shoppers. Isn't it true that we all want to do these things--have a good time and "connect" with each other. It is difficult to believe that merely 70 years ago our United States was bombing and killing all this human joy. Don't get me wrong, I know these are  complicated issues, but none of us like it. Do we? How can we continuously get ourselves into situations where we justify these kinds of depraved activities. Apparently, it is not the people that do this, it is the governments. I know that sounds idealistic, but if no one makes these kinds of statements, we are doomed to continual violation of our fundamental and, as I believe, innate instincts as people: "love one another," isn't that better?