Oberwesel & Bacharach

Today we’ll drive 7ms back to Oberwesel (pronounced ‘Oh-buh-vay-zell) for a squiz around town.  Within the Middle Rhine wine region, Oberwesel is one of the biggest winegrowing centres.  80% of the grapes are Riesling, with the other 20% primarily Muller-Thurgau, Kerner, Pinot Blanc, and a little of Dornfelder and Pinot Noir). As if we haven’t had enough already!

Although this town lost many of its old buildings and attractions to the fires of 1802, 1836 and 1850, there are still some beautiful buildings around Marktplatz, and of course the walls and towers from the Middle Ages (1300-1400).  It’s about 22C as we park up (and rising), so quite good conditions for doing the ‘wall loop’.  We’ll follow the old city walls and check out a few of the medieval towers along the way.
But first at Bacharach we walk past Altes Haus (Old House) which is right next to our hotel.  It’s kinda ‘the’ building to see here in Bacharach but it’s decorated with building paper and batons.  Difficult to know where they’re heading with that (and where’s the scaffolding?).  Oh well.  For the record this wonky old building is (quote) ‘one of the most beautiful and original preserved half-timbered houses in Bacharach’. The ‘Grundsteinlegeung’ dates back to the year 1368!!
Meanwhile, at our car park… a Dodge Viper!  Nice, but we’ll take Hermann thanks.
So we started our Oberwesel ‘wall tour’ at the south end of town.  This is Haagsturm (aka Roter Turm – Red Tower), rebuilt between 1864 and 1866 in a neo-gothic style by painter Carl Haag. Privately owned.
We found a point where we could climb the wall to walk along it. Why wouldn’t you?Buildings at Marktplatz.There’s virtually no-one around because today is of course Sunday and everything is closed (except for restaurants and a few souvenir shops).  Still stuck in the dark ages in Europe!  We dropped down some steps to walk around Marktplatz.  Kath sees a giant wooden wine goblet and gets a sudden urge!
Main street Oberwesel. Koblenzer Strasse.
The wall at Marktplatz.
Up the steps we go again.
The next tower (at left) is Hospitalturm, originally constructed so that one side of it would be part of the wall but it was too heavy and the wall couldn’t take the weight so Oberwesel then had its own ‘leaning tower’.  They tried to fix it but only the top is slightly straightened.Eddie Murphy was here!Many of the train tunnels around here have fancy entrances, apparently to blend in with the style of the area.Katzenturm (Cat Tower), the closest (left), and Ochsenturm (Oxen Tower).  Ochsenturm was built in the 14^th century as a lookout / signal tower, but was also built by the local archbishop to impress!  Check out its eight sided top. Impressed?
Approaching Kolner Torturm aka Cologne Gate Tower which has an attached house.  This is the view from the river.And from the side street.
Next we ascended a heap of steps to get up to Martinskirche (St Martin’s Church).  Trivia: The nave and tower date back to 1350 & mid 15th century, with the side nave rebuilt about 1700 after destruction).  The big tower that forms part of this church was (clearly) built well before the church itself and was part of the town’s defensive wall. Obviously in 1350 the locals found a new use for it!
Inside to cool down.  It’s warming up outside as the sun gets higher (and also because of those steps we just climbed!).
Adjacent to the church is this tiny little half-timbered church caretakers house (1625).Beside the church in a prime position.  Maybe this is Boris’s great great great etc grandfather!We now start the downhill trail along the upper wall.  This is the oldest part of the town wall (and can’t be walked).  There were originally 23 towers in Oberwesel. 16 remain. Apparently the city lease the towers at a rate of €1 for 100 years. Not too bad eh, but the catch is that you also have to restore them!  The first tower (Michelfeldturm 1) has had exactly that done to it (there’s a house at the top).  The second (Michelfeldturm 2) is ready for you to lease and restore!!  A perfect Gillies project! 🙂The next tower is in tip top condition and is privately owned. Kuhhirtenturm (Cowherder’s Tower) has its own gate and drawbridge access!

No problem with gatecrashers at their next party. Pulverturm (Powder Tower) needs a bit of TLC.
Back down into the streets of Oberwesel.  On Kirchstrasse is Gelber Turm (Yellow Tower aka Villa Nova Turm) which has also been restored and occupied.  There’s a road that runs through it (currently being resurfaced).At the end of this street is the massive bright red bricked Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady – 1308-1375) which is among the Rhineland’s most important Gothic churches.
And opposite the church is yet another of the old city towers – what’s left of Zehnerturm.
So that was a stroll all the way around the old walls of Oberwesel. Well worth doing.  Even better on a Sunday when very few folk were out.  A nice bit of morning exercise!  On the road back to Bacharach we stopped for another look at Pfalzgrafenstein Castle which sits in the middle of the Rhine River (for info see the Rhine River post).

Here’s a monument relating to a victory (at this point) by the Germans in the Prussian War (I think).
Another monstrous river boat rolls by.
We quickly arrived back at Bacharach and returned to our room to freshen up before going for a stroll around town, which ended up including multiple hikes up through the vines for great views over town.
Just up the road from our hotel is Steeger Turm / Tor (Wooden Tower / gate) with a really old house at front.Through the tower …. all say “ahhhhh”.
Steeger Turm from the high side.We walked up the steps beside the tower.… and up into the vines where there’s a nice view over Bacharach.  The church in the middle is right opposite out hotel.  It’s called Peterskirche (protestant church of St. Peter) and dates back to the year 1094!  To the right is the massive ruins of Wernerkapelle (Werner chapel). Construction on it began in 1294 and 140 years later it was finished. However, during the demolition of Burg Stahleck (up the hill and out of view in this pic) by the French in 1689, debris from the explosion caused the chapel roof to catch fire.  Game over. This is all that remains.
We looped down to a trail that popped out behind our hotel.  If you’re going to stay in Bacharach why wouldn’t you stay here.  Our hotel.  A beautiful building.Through the Old Posthof (mail yard), a building which dates back to the year 1593, we can see the remains of Wernerkapelle.Up the road a bit we decided to head up another trail which follows the old city wall at the south end of town.  After chatting to a local on the trail (while his wife sunbathed topless in the yard behind as we talked. Sorry lads no photo but there is a story) we continued up hill to this lookout point.  Soon the clouds rolled in so we didn’t go all the way to Burg Stahleck, and instead returned to the waterfront.Burg Stahleck. Trivia coming up.Back down on the waterfront park … here’s a shot the includes the War memorial, Kranenturm (Crane Tower), and Burg Stahleck.Kranenturm also has road access into Bacharach (as do 2 other towers).

From the riverside park.Marktturm (Market tower).

And back at our hotel.  This photo shows the accommodation section at right. Our ‘bridal suite’ 🙂 is on the second floor (with flower planters out front) at the far end (a perfect position). Recommended!50 metres along the road is the Kurpfalzische Munze. Gold and silver money was made here in the Middle Ages. From 1214 until 1508 the count palatines operated a mint and coined, among others, the Bacharach gold guldens.
This is our main access point in and out of Bacharach – through Munzturm / Tor (Mint Tower / gate).  Tower trivia:  Of the 16 watch towers along the city wall nine towers still exist. The towers and wall date back to 1322-1366. The wall incorporated all the towers as well as Burg Stahleck.
Ok. After all of this walking we agreed that a beer and food was required so we found what appeared to be a local pub and had a bog standard German pub lunch of Bratwurst mit pomme frittes (grilled sausage and chips).  It did the trick!   The sausages over here never fail. Brilliant. While I think of it… smoking in restaurants is of course still a happening thing over here.  And it’s bloody awful when there’s a couple of folk lighting up next to you (you can guarantee the smoke heads in your direction (even when outside!).  Pub chair art!
With food inside us we wandered along the road and stumbled across a wine tasting shop.  Dahhh… in we go.  Turns out the grapes for this outfit are grown right here in the hills beside town that we’d just walked through. The guy said that his family had been wine making for 350 years!  Needless to say we walked out with a bottle and stuck it in our fridge.
Biker art.
Ok… back at our room balcony. Shame about the paper on the Altes Haus.
From the balcony. Building art.
You won’t believe this but because the weather looked like it was holding (and it was pleasant rather than hot) we decided to hike up through the vines to the top corner of the wall ruins to check out the view from higher up.  It’s gotta be good for you, surely.  The first shot here was taken after we climbed up Postenturm (Post Tower) which sits in amongst the vines.
We continued up hill. Looking across to Burg Stahleck and Liebesturm (Tower of love). Who names these things.  It’s easy to see the layout of where the wall was from up here.
A closer look at Burg Stahleck. Trivia as promised: Burg Stahleck (now Jugendherberge Stahleck hostel) was a 12th century* castle.
* 12th century? It’s been proved that the castle was already inhabited in the year 1095. After being subjected to many attacks (including 8 seiges during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), it was eventually destroyed in the late 17th century.  During the War of the Palatine Succession (1688–97), the castle was completely destroyed* (like most of the fortifications in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley).
* It was surrendered it to French troops in 1688, and they blew it up in 1689. The explosion completely destroyed both the ring wall and the keep, and the residential buildings burned out in the resulting fire.  Debris from the explosion destroyed the Gothic Werner Chapel at the foot of the castle hill (see the next photo down). The castle was so heavily damaged that it was not rebuilt.  But restoration commenced much later in 1909, paused for WW1, and eventually in 1925 the decision was taken to construct a youth hostel at the castle.
The remains of Werner Chapel.
Views from above the wall ruins on the north side.
The path of the towers. The white tower is Postenturm mentioned above. At far right is Steeger Turm, and in the trees is Liebesturm.
Time to return to earth. We see that the grapes have quite a way to go yet.  These are Riesling.As soon as we got back to the hotel we stopped outside, sat down and ordered another round of well earned beers.  Didn’t touch the sides!This is where the people watching happens.  And when you see folk like this walking along the street you know you’re on a winner.  Gold!  I’ve merged these two photos together. We think that there is a 50th wedding anniversary going on here. These two were accompanied by a number of others as they strolled through town.  Note to self:  At 50th wedding anniversary time don’t dress like a plonker!
Back to the hotel room it was shower time and then get ready for dinner. Actually we dined at 8pm. Had a brilliant feed in the downstairs restaurant, accompanied of course by local Bacharach Riesling.  We’ll sleep well tonight!  It rained a little this evening but the temperature remains pleasant.  At least we had an uninterrupted day.  Admittedly we walked way further than planned, but sometimes you just get in the zone and today was one of those days.  Ha… Kath is packing in the zzz’ s already.  I think I’ll do the same. Guten nacht!