jo-shane-cochem

[jo-shane-cochem]

To Provins

26/09/2019: It's off to Provins today so up early to check out the castle above, externally. Burgfrieden was the laneway straight at our backdoor which ran, after several name changes to Marktplatz. The other end of the laneway Saint Martinstor was a gateway to the path to the top.

One of the three gates that allowed entry into Cochem. Built as a toll house under the instruction of the Archbishop of Trier during the mid thirteen hundreds, Martinstor apparently had a chain connected to the other side of the Mosel to stop ships from skipping town without paying the toll

As the path rose, the drizzle turned to rain. It was warm but miserable. At the crest of the path and immediately below the castle was a small church, Pestkapelle Saint Rochus, that was locked up. At the bottom of the next valley was another shrine, but more importantly, a track leading through a valley and up to the castle.

Pestkapelle Saint Rochus (Plague chappel) was again, apparently founded when the archbishop waived taxes on Cochem around the fourteen twenties due to the plague. During the ten years grace the original chapel was built. This building is from 1680

The track to the top was quite dreary, a canopy of trees denied the path from most of the sunlight, what could push through the clouds at least but also to some extent dissipated the shower of rain. At the top the path was still well below the castle but levelled out somewhat to circle around the vineyard that was planted on most sides.

A working barge through the rain, near Sehl

Built as far back as the year 1000 (depending on who you ask) by the Ezzo's, it was taken over by King Konrad III in 1151. Once he took control of the castle it became an imperial fiefdom and as such an imperial castle, Reichsburg Castle. From there on in the castle and surrounding properties were administered by the Crown.

Almost one hundred and fifty years later, King Adolf of Nassau undone all of the good work by borrowing against it to cover his coronation costs and couldn't pay it back. The Archbishop of Trier lent him the money and kept the place for centuries.

The castle was destroyed by the invading French in 1688, the Sun King's army occupying and almost totalling the castle and township. The castle was set alight, undermined and blown to smithereens.

Two hundred years later Louis Ravené bought the ruins and turned it in to what we see today.

View of Cochem and the Mosel from up top

As soon as the morning walk was over, we jumped in the car and headed to something that Shane thought would be of interest but Jo had doubts. Obscure or strange places. Just across the river in Cond, on the slopes of the Mosel hillside, were two inconspicuous houses that sat atop a concrete bunker system. During the cold war the bunkers held up to fifteen billion German Marks at any one time. We headed early this time as we lobbed on up there yesterday or the day before and it was booked out. Our stuff was packed so we could depart Moselapart quickly.

The houses, sitting on more than two acres, were purchased from the local doctor by the German Central Bank in 1962. The idea was that with the Cold War in full swing, the fear of nuclear attack and the chance of an influx of poisoned banknotes from the East, a recovery strategy was required that enabled the government to replace the entire country's banknotes within fourteen days. After all, the Federal German Republic, or West Germany, was a "buffer" country separating the Warsaw Pact of the East and the NATO backed countries of the West.

Cochem was chosen as if an atomic bomb were to strike, the village would fare better than most, being protected by a deep valley. Fearing the worst, the locals went along with it as they were told that nuclear bunkers were being built to accommodate the entire town should an explosion occur. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The bunker system was built within two years.

After thinking we were late as numerous people were standing around outside, we headed straight into the ticket office and bought tickets. The guide was taken aback as he had not set up yet as he himself had just arrived. We actually pushed in, probably seeming very rude to the other patrons. As most of the others were German, the guide asked if we minded that he give the tour in German but encouraged us to ask questions as we went. We were okay with that.

After the initial chat and a run through of the historical photos on the wall, we headed down a set of stairs and into a concrete corridor lined with benches and lagged pipes.

Corridor leading to the corridor

The first corridor was all pipes. It connected the houses and Information Centre to the main complex. Within a few dozen metres and a rather heavy security door we were in a different looking corridor with benches to the sides and small rooms off to our right. The benches were to accommodate the workers and locals. Once construction started, detonations, removal of rock and constant trucks up and down the streets drove the locals nuts but they were placated by being assured that the town had its own fallout shelter. They were all promised a spot should the shit hit the fan. It turned out that only one hundred and seventy five people could fit inside, nearly half of them employees. Only one hundred of the thousands of locals could fit. Typical lies from authority.

The rooms off of the corridor were the decontamination room, where all scenarios were considered and if nuclear war broke out, employees would drop their gear in the shaft and shower thoroughly. The toilet was not much further down and provided nothing other than expected.

At the end of the corridor was the antechamber to the vault. This room was full of equipment that air conditioned the vault, keeping the money at a constant temperature. The two foot thick, eight tonne door needing three keys and a combination lock to open it. The keys were kept in Frankfurt and Cochem.

The way into the vault

The vault consisted of a narrow corridor down the centre with caged rooms either side where the cash was kept. There was enough money to prop up the national economy within the cages. Of the twenty six billion in currency available, fifteen billion was stored here. Each cage was secured with multiple locks and only held one denomination of currency. In 1988 the BBKII series was destroyed as it was too easily counterfeited.

100 DM notes, gone. Too insecure

On the way out we checked out the medical rooms, kitchen, staff bedrooms. A workroom, communications room, cooling tower and mechanical room were also about. The bunker was self sufficient with its own water reservoir, well, sewage system and an eighteen hundred litre diesel tank to support it with emergency generator. This could support 175 people for a couple of weeks.

The last stop was a large area that had a stage and must have been for entertainment purposes. The area contained many safe deposit boxes, coming about due to Volksbank Cochem being inundated by the devastating flood of 1993. Their boxes were destroyed.

The way out

We were out of the bunker by eleven and heading back to Moselapart to finish the last snippets of packing and give our regards to Petra and Helmut. They were waiting for us when we arrived so bags went straight into the car and the fridge stuff packed for lunch. As he did on our arrival, Helmut was in the middle of the road waving us out of the garage when it was safe to do so. Great spot and great people.

The trip to Provins was to be a mixture of A and B roads as we had a long way to go. The first hour was the same route as to Trier but without the dead ends. We crossed the Mosel further upstream at Schweich but then crossed it again a short time later at Pfalzelt on the left bank, opposite Trier on the right bank. We left Germany on the A1 and entered Luxembourg after we crossed the Sûre River at Langsur and shortly after were skirting around the city of Luxembourg leading to a short break at Thionville just to the south. After crossing the Mosel, or is it Moselle (as we were now in France) a couple of final times we pulled up for a late lunch at a roadside rest area called Aire du Bois Saint Martin.

Leftovers again. Make it quick we're still three hours away

Not long before seven we entered Provins old town through Porte de Jouy. Our accommodation wasn't much further on. Although our hosts lived on Rue de Jouy we were staying in a garden shed on the back lane, Rue de l'Eperonnerie. After receiving a showing of our accommodation and being left with the keys we unpacked the Jeep and within a half an hour we were looking around the old square for a feed.

Time for bed. Matching PJ's and bedspread

Tomorrow we are off to the Aÿ Champagne district.

[jo-shane-cochem]

Koblenz

25/09/2019: The morning started with a walk around the streets of Cochem with two objectives in mind, the first being the usual souvenir gathering and the second, to seek out a cuckoo clock similar to the one we bought in Füssen a few years ago. That clock is very nice (although its currently not working) and continually reminds us of our trip to Bavaria. Spending more than we wanted to, souvenirs, shoes, handbags and lederhosen for Mason, we thought it would be a good idea to look at an interesting part of the local history, Bundesbank Bunker, but the crowd was too big and no room for us. We just kept on our way.

Working barge on the Mosel

We we're off to Koblenz, the opposite direction to Trier but about the same travelling time. The A8 certainly helped too, cruising at over 160kph. Today, the GPS got it right, took us north along Endertstraße for a dozen kilometres before merging onto the Autobahn.

We parked beneath Görresplatz about one. Named after the Second World War in memory of the Koblenz publicist and historian, Joseph Görres, the park has also been called the “Großer Platz” (Great Square), Paradeplatz (Parade Square), and the French called it “Place verte” (Green Place). In the years of rapid industrial growth it was called “Goebenplatz”. Today it's just a peaceful park with and interesting fountain at its centre. Historiensäule, or History Column stood like a towering layer cake of local, three dimensional history from the Roman Castellum settlement on the wine boat at the bottom to the peaceful times that the city now knows on the top. Between shows the district scenes between from strife and bedlam to nothingness.

Historiensäule was a gift from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate for the 2,000 year anniversary of the city of Koblenz in 1992

From the end of Görresplatz, the GPS told us to turn right along Rheinstraße, toward the river. We chose this part of town as not far away was the confluence of the mighty Mosel with the even mightier Rhine. Under the threat of rain we queued at a small riverfront kiosk for advice on a river cruise. There were none as such but the Stolzenfels was going past and heading toward Mainz. The boat was part of the Köln-Düsseldorfer fleet ferrying people between Cologne and Mainz, amongst other routes.

The kiosk lady was very helpful advising us to catch the two o'clock ferry to Boppard, have a look around the town and return on the ten to five ferry from Mainz. The boat would get back to Koblenz at ten past six. If we missed that one we would not get back until two hours later. Much too late considering the trip back to Cochem. We would get on board the Stolzenfels just before departure, grab a table on the top deck at the stern and get a beer. The weather was at this point dry but quite bleak however there was still a reasonable number of people who joined us.

About to board the Stolzenfels. The Ehrenbreitstein Fortress to the rear

After leaving the pontoon, within a kilometre we travelled under the first bridge, Pfaffendorfer Brücke, built during the nineteen fifties to replace the bridge that the Nazis dynamited when retreating from the Allies several years earlier. Not long after we were travelling under the Horchheimer Brücke, an old rail bridge sitting right next to a much larger and more modern highway bridge. As expected with Germany's major river, the banks was strewn with industry, both operational and remnants of the past. Most with large jetties that utilised the many passing barges.Then after veering to the left on the river at the Koblenzer Brewery, and shortly after the confluence with the Lahn (we intended to have a look around Limburg an der Lahn but didn't have time), the 13th-century burg, since a palace for Prussian Crown prince, Frederick William, Schloss Stolzenfels appeared to our right. This was the first of several castles that we were to encounter on our short experience on the Rhine. It was at this time that the rain set in and the deck emptied. All but us. We just zipped up our coats and sheltered the best we could. Jo settled in on the leeward side of the exhaust funnel.

Keeping dry and enjoying the view

Immediately across from Schloss Stolzenfels was the waterfront Schloss Martinsburg and a little further on the castle Marksburg on high. Both bookending the medieval town of Braubach.

Braubach around 1630. Marksburg top right corner, Schloss Stolzenfels top left corner (Wikipedia)

It was then on past Spay, Osterspai and Filsen, through the Rhine's tightest bend, Bopparder Hamm (also the name of the wine growing district) and onto Boppard, dating back to Roman times.

Once off the boat we intended to spend some time looking around, walked along the promenade until we found the first side street and headed up hill to the shopping area. First stop, Pfarrkirche Sankt Severus, a large white Catholic church with stone trim that bounded the Marktplatz. The inside was similar, rendered and painted white with the stone arches and trim being original. Lovely church but it was getting that you've seen one, you've seen them all. We moved on into the plaza and found the most incredible souvenir shop, bursting at the seams with almost everything. Inside was quite cluttered and claustrophobic with limited time inside enough. It so happened that on the back wall was an excellent display of fair dinkum cuckoo clocks from the hunting lodge type to the chalets. There were several good ones that we were interested in but the one we chose had the typical couples dancing out of the roof top and a hiker and Saint Bernard outside. By the time we paid, signed the paperwork and organised postage, it was time to return to the waterfront. So much for a look around Boppard.

Cuckoo Clock headed for Australia. Teddy didn't get a guernsey

Just along from the pontoon where the ferry docked was a comfortable outdoor café with a lovely garden. It was getting on but still twenty five minutes before the ferry arrived. Le Jardin Rhineterrace was outside of the Bellevue Rheinhotel and within a few minutes a waiter arrived to take our order of tea and coffee. Anxious moments then ensued as, as quick as he was to serve us, the delivery was a little more relaxed and as departure time neared, we thought we may have had to skip the drinks and sail away without paying. It all ended well though as with five minutes to spare we had our refreshments and the check paid. As we downed the last drop the MS Asbach arrived to take us back to Koblenz.

Riverside relaxation

As was with the trip over, not many were on board. This gave us the opportunity to grab a window seat inside up the bow. The large windows gave us a good view of what we had already seen so we just sat back and chilled, the riverside towns and steep vineyards entertaining us. The hour and twenty minute trip gave us time to catch our breath after the vigorous shopping at the cuckoo clock shop. We planned to head to Deutsches Eck before returning to the apartment.

The contoured vines of the Bopparder Hamm

Known affectionately by the locals as where Mother Mosel meets Father Rhine, the German Corner was so named after an order of Teutonic Knights were summoned by the Archbishop of Trier in 1216 to Koblenz and vested the property around the basilica. The Teutonic Order specialised in hospitals and nursing care. Someone came up with the idea to commemorate Kaiser Wilhelm I after his death with an equestrian statue due to him unifying Germany during his lifetime. In 1891, his son chose this spot and within six years a copper monument was inaugurated there. It was destroyed during WWII and in 1993 a bronze reconstruction was put on the old base.

During March 1945, the Third US Army 87th Artillery blew the original apart after three attempts. It took almost fifty years and a cold war before reinstatement. The flags of the 16 Länder of the Rhineland-Palatinate line Deutsches Eck

It was getting on so we headed back to the car and back onto the Autobahn. Dinner was as easy as it gets.

Going crackers over crackers

Tomorrow we head to Provins.

[jo-shane-cochem]

Trier

24/09/2019: The first thing this today was a walk in the morning mist followed by a trip to Trier. Located upstream from Cochem and close to the border with Luxembourg, it is touted as Germany's oldest city. The intention was to check out the town itself and its Roman ruins.

The walk headed down Moselpromenade, past the river cruise boats moored at the pontoons dotted along the waterfront and over Skagerak-Brücke to the other side of the river. From this point the view back along the Mosel to our apartment with Reichsburg Castle above was fantastic.

Cochem and its Imperial Castle from Skagerak-Brücke

History takes us back to 866 when the place was mentioned in a document of the Abbey of Prüm and referred to as Villa Cuchema. It was apparently inhabited by Celts and Romans however the history of Cochem during these times is more or less unknown. One thing that is known is that prior to the Skagerak-Brücke being built in 1927, Cochem had a couple of independent fishing villages nearby, Sehl upstream and along with Cochem, on the left bank of the Mosel while Cond was straight across on the right bank. The opening of the bridge combined the three towns into one. A less palatable history is of the role that the town played during WWII.

Due to the worsening Nazi military situation towards the end of the Second World War, an abandoned railway tunnel across the river stretching between Bruttig and Treis, for years used as a mushroom growing facility became a bomb proof underground factory where Robert Bosch could contribute to the war effort by fabricating spark plugs and other electronic accessories for the Luftwaffe. Cochem became the headquarters for the SS who due to shortages of labour due to the war, established an outpost to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp created after the annexation of Alsace. Around three hundred mainly French POW's came from Natzweiler-Struthof. Within a few weeks the prisoners were returned to Alsace and replaced with seven hundred Polish and Russian prisoners from the Majdanek concentration camp in Lubin, Poland. It must have been a failed operation as six months after it started, it was closed down.

Cochem a few years back (Wikipedia)

At the end of the bridge was a pedestrian crossing leading to a staircase to the road below. Uferstraße was separated from the Mosel by a wide path which led back past a small inlet for mooring smaller craft before widening out to the river. It was a good view of the entire area, to the right was the Pinnerkreuz, the observation platform high in the mist through to Pestkapelle St. Rochus and Martinstor with Reichsburg, the eleventh century castle towering above. Between them could be seen the main township with the many half-timbered riverfront houses through to Pfarrkirche St. Martin and the tower beyond.

Leaving the river, a path led up to small old parish church that seemed no longer in use.

The church (or one of its predecessors) was apparently donated to the Abbey Stablo by Lothar II, King of Lotharingia, in 857. A statue of Saint Remaklus was in the courtyard and World War memorials were attached to the base of the bell tower.

The old Saint Remaklus, apparently donated to the Abbey Stablo by Lothar II, King of Lotharingia, in 857. Superseded these days

A brief walk through the narrow streets and back past the new Saint Remaclus Church, it was over the Mosel to look for a bread shop for breakfast, some croissants and other stuff, then back to the apartment for breakfast.

After breakfast we headed out, put the destination into the navigation system and drove along the river to Sehl where after being directed into Ellererstraße, we ended up in at a boom gate leading into a private golf course. Well done GPS. Its shortest route must have included some long since sold off roads. After a couple more failed attempts at resetting the system we were on our way along the 259 to Trier, joining the A1 at Gewerbegebiet Mehren. After almost an hour and a quarter we arrived at our destination, found a spot in Galeria Kaufhof parking station and looked for the nearby information centre.

Claiming that it has been occupied for well over a thousand years before the Romans took over, Trier was once known as a Celtic village named Treuorum. When the Romans did take over, founded by Augustus Caesar in the year 15, it was called Augusta Treverorum. One hundred years after foundation the city had established itself as a great trading centre and by the end of the third century had become one of the capitals of the Tetrarchy, the Rome of the North. At one point Trier was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire and the seat of the prefecture of Gaul, Germania, Britannia and Hispania, eventually becoming the seat of the vice-emperor of the Western Empire following the imperial reforms of Emperor Diocletian. Boasting a population of over eighty thousand, seven kilometres of walls, four gates and forty seven round towers protecting the great structures such as the Imperial Baths, the largest outside of Rome, Trier was the favoured residence of Roman emperors, particularly Constantine as his Western Empire faded away.

One of the battlements leading to the east tower. Baroque wall reliefs of two characters flank the opening. Saint Ambrosius, a local hero on the right and Saint Martinus, a blow in on the left.

The east tower consisted of an area similar to the west except that the original Roman floor configuration still existed. As such there were a few stairs to manoeuvre here and there to make it work. The eastern end also contained an extra semi circular section between which contained the transept and the choir. At the front of the area were steps leading down to Simeon's cell back down on the ground floor. Apparently, he was the main reason for the tower’s survival, living there as a hermit during the eleventh century. He is also the reason that the church was built as he was canonised shortly after his death in 1035. The then Bishop Poppo had the gate converted into a church in his memory and it remained as such until Napoleon excavated the base in the early eighteen hundreds. Funds became short and the church was finally dismantled ten years later whilst under Prussian control. The choir remained to support the eastern wall.

The stonework up to the first floor battlements in excellent condition due to it being buried. The entire opening was filled with dirt, acting as the nave of a two storey church. Dirt was mounded up on the outside as an access ramp. The battlements were used as side aisles

Enough of Porta Nigra. We took the spiral stairs back to ground level and ended up where we started, on Simeonstraße and looking down the original Roman cardo. Half window shopping and half planning our way through the mall type street took us to Hauptmarkt where people were everywhere, milling around, going about their business or just sitting around at the base of the landmarks. Particularly the sixteenth century Marktbrunnen and the Marktkreuz. From looking around the market marquees that were scattered about, we moved up a small side street to a couple of churches that took our eye. Trier Dom or Saint Peter's Cathedral and Liebfrauenkirche stood side by side.

On the left, Trier Dom or High Cathedral of St. Peter dates back 1700 years or at least the first iteration was. Apparently Helena, Constantine's mother, donated her house to Agritius, the then Bishop to be used as a church building. Something has been on the site ever since. Next door was the Church of Our Lady and again began with Emperor Constantine the Great. Around the same time as Helena gave up her house, Constantine was celebrating twenty years at the helm by building churches everywhere throughout the Roman Empire. The double churches at Trier were part of that. What stands today is a Gothic reconstruction.

We spent some time here but finally finished back in the Hauptmarkt to finish the trifecta, St. Gangolf Kirche which was accessed through a large gateway and courtyard off of the square. St. Gangolf dated back over one thousand years with the current building erected during the fourteen hundreds. This makes it the second oldest church in Trier behind Trier Dom. Being connected to Hauptmarkt makes it very popular for visits.

St. Gangolf is the market church of Trier

Leaving Hauptmarkt, we branched to the right, down Fleischstraße until we were about to cross Metzelstraße into Brückenstraße. Prior to crossing we encountered an interesting fountain, Heuschreckbrunnen or Grasshopper Fountain. The fountain represented the Trier carnival society, founded in 1848 and later to become the Locust. It ended up being a social institution of the upper middle classes of Trier and lasted until now except for a few years of uncertainty during the wars. Still going strong today, the Locust has hundreds of members.

Fastnacht in Trier: Premiere der Heuschreck-Kappensitzung

Constructed by sculptor Willi Hahn in 1977, Heuschreckbrunnen bares a large grasshopper on the top and figures of five characters who were the society's original members. The sculptor protrudes from the pedestal below, head sticking out one side, feet the other

Not long after crossing the road, we happened across the birthplace of Karl Marx. Thinking it might be interesting, we paid the entrance fee and wandered in. How wrong could we have been. As boring as bat shit.

The house was large but devoid of anything of substance, unless you're the type that values socialist rhetoric. In parts, so called inspirational scribbling and artwork adorned the walls, in others were photographs and posters. You could see where he was coming from, born during the industrial revolution, from a time of worker exploitation, class struggle and poverty amongst the masses, his critical theories challenged capitalist establishment philosophy and the social divide between the Bourgeoisie and Proletarians.

As interesting a discussion that capitalism and socialism is, this museum was not. The Chinese seemed to love it though. A must see on their European Vacation.

Not much left now

Our last stop for the day was another public baths that was just up the road, Kaiserthermen. More substantial that Barbarathermen, and much more recent, the joint was never finished. Commenced shortly before the turn of the fourth century as a result of emperor Constantius I Chlorus moving his residence there, Augusta Treverorum was appointed as an Imperial Roman residence. The complex consisted of the thermae, the actual baths and the palaestra, the athletic field. Within a couple of decades the work had stopped, possibly due to the relocation of the residence to Byzantium, soon to become Constantinople. The need for an imperial spa no longer existed. Construction was recommenced some years later but again ceased after attack from the Germanic tribes, ending up becoming barracks and during the Middle Ages, a quarry.

Although some was still standing, most of what was left was under scaffold so we concentrated on the myriad of underground passageways strewn throughout, dodging the hordes of school kids as we went.

Dinner was just along the road again where we were served up another overpriced yet interesting meal.

Tomorrow Koblenz.