Koblenz by the Rivers: Rhine, Moselle & City Stories

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You're standing on the very tip of land where the Moselle pours into the Rhine. This point isn't entirely natural: in the 1890s the old Moselle harbour was filled in to create a stage for a monument to Wilhelm I, the first German emperor. His grandson Wilhelm II unveiled it in 1897. The rider alone is fourteen metres t…

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The promenade stretching before you along the Rhine's left bank wasn't always this peaceful. For centuries, this waterfront was Koblenz's commercial lifeline—where Rhine barges met Moselle traders, where merchants haggled over wine from upstream vineyards and grain from downstream plains, where news and goods from half…

Koblenz im Buga-Jahr 2011 - Rheinanlagen 07 | 🔗 wikipedia.org

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At the water's edge stands an octagonal tower that's been watching these rivers since 1611. Elector Lothar von Metternich built it as a crane—one of those massive wooden structures that lifted cargo from barges onto the docks. For over two centuries, it was the muscle of river commerce here, hoisting wine barrels and t…

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Standing here at Görresplatz, you're looking at something quite unusual—a ten-meter column that functions as Koblenz's autobiography in bronze. Sculptor Jürgen Weber created this in 1992 for the city's 2,000-year anniversary, and it's structured like a vertical timeline, with ten distinct relief panels stacked one abov…

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File:Koblenz im Buga-Jahr 2011 - Rathaus 07 | 🔗 wikimedia.org

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File:Schaengelbrunnen | 🔗 wikimedia.org

Photo: Holger Weinandt / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0Wikimedia Commons

Here in the town hall courtyard stands Carl Burger's bronze fountain, set up here in 1941—a cheeky boy perched on a basalt pedestal, and about every three minutes he does exactly what mischievous boys do: he spits. Not metaphorically. The fountain actually sprays unsuspecting visitors, which is entirely the point. This…

Photo: Holger Weinandt / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Photo: Holger Weinandt / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Those distinctive onion domes rising above the old town have marked Koblenz's highest point since the 17th century, when they were added to a church that had already stood here for over a thousand years. The Liebfrauenkirche traces its origins to the 5th century, when Franks built the first sanctuary within the ruins o…