Along the Rhine

Marksburg in Braubach, Sankt-Goar, Loreley, Oberwesel, Bacharach, Mainz, Wiesbaden, Sankt Goarshausen & Kaub (more to come).

During the early spring holidays 2026, Kim and I went on a brief holidaytrip along the Rhine river in Germany. We started at its shores in between Brey and Spay with a stunning view on the 12th century Marksburg in sunny weather. What a start! Here we had lunch with a view on the castle and the village off Braubach below it at the opposite side of the river. The following days we went all the way to Mainz alongside the river and back to Braubach where we visited the castle and stayed for one more night at the Wohnmobillstellplatz. 

The Marksburg in Braubach

Braubach turned out a very nice village with a lot of Fachwerkhäuser in the Altstadt. It only has nearly three thousand inhabitants. The Marksburg was first mentioned in 1231. The powerful Eppstein family expanded it around 1117 into a Romanesque hilltop fortress to protect Braubach and control Rhine River trade. In 1283, the castle passed to Eberhard von Katzenelnbogen, whose family added the Gothic elements that still define its silhouette today. Over the centuries, Marksburg remained remarkably intact, making it the only hilltop castle on the Middle Rhine that was never destroyed, though it did suffer minor damage from Allied artillery in March 1945. The damage was limited, affecting mainly roofs and some exterior structures, and did not compromise the overall integrity of the fortress. Today, Marksburg stands as one of Germany's best-preserved medieval castles and a key landmark of the UNESCO-listed Upper Middle Rhine Valley. 

A little wider view of Braubach and the Marksburg on top of the 100 meters high hill with the Barbarakirche on the left and the Kriegerdenkmal in the middle seen from the opposite site of the Rhine River.

Another path ends at the Rhine River close to from where Kurt Hilescher made his photo so maybe he arrived here at the shore of the river.

Visiting the Marksburg on Saturday February 21st 2026 a few days later. 

The Phillipsburg in Braubach really was a pleasant surprise while it was the entrance for us to the Altstadt coming from the Wohnmobilstellplatz. It was built in between 1568 and 1571.

Fachwerk in Braubach at night.

Sankt Goar

Then we moved on  along the Rhine to Sankt Goar and check out Burg Rheinfels. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. What could possibly go wrong? 

Burg Rheinfels, Sankt Goar, 1924. Photo: Kurt Hielscher.

Well, Kim🥰 and I parked the van as planned at the Gründelbach from where you already could see the Burg high up the hill. 

According to Google Maps, we could cycle around the hill and visit the castle, but when we took off the main road at Knab's Mühlenschenke, the path was more for mountaineering, narrow, steep, muddy and full of rocks than for bikes, not even my mountain bike let alone Kim's heavy city bike, though electric driven, which by the way was the best bought ever for a person in her condition. 

We went down again into the city center where I decided to go for another photo first, the one from the opposite side of the Rhine River with a view on Burg Katz in Sankt-Goarshausen. It really was a pleasant ride along the river side. 

In Sankt Goar.

View on Sankt Goarshausen from Sankt Goar with Burg Katz.

Because of the high water level, I couldn't get exactly into the right angle. The photo is made just east of Sankt Goar where the Rhine makes a turn at the famous Loreley statue at the Signalstelle, the traffic lights for the boats. When the water levels are way less high in the summer, there's even a small beach here. On the photo we see Burg Katz, built in between 1353-1388, initially Burg Neukatzenelnbogen, but now named Katz, as counterpart of a castle 5 kilometers to the north: Burg Maus. The Burg is situated on a 98 meters high hill and is UNESCO World Heritage. Below near the Rhine River, it is the 23 meters high white Viereckiger Turm, the Square Tower, or Ostturm that catches the eye.

First we got stuck at the Train Station and then the hill became so steep we left the bikes.

This way, we could approach the Schloss from the southeast, but at a certain point we got stuck again, this time through a dead end at the train station. When we finally found the road up to the castle, it turned out so steep we had leave the bikes and moved on by foot which was quite challenging for Kim. Sorry Kim😔. In the end we managed, but only to find out the castle was closed for visitors. Luckily, we found another reward in having a cappuccino with a pie in Hotel Schloss Rheinfels, which actually was open, with a nice view on the Rhine River Valley. We were the only guests so I guess everyone else knew the castle was closed. Then it was time to check out the famous Loreley, about which later more. 

Burg Rheinfels was closed.

So I tried to make a few nice pics anyway, though not in the footsteps of Kurt Hielscher. We made the best of it.

Luckily, we found another reward in having a cappuccino with a pie in Hotel Schloss Rheinfels, which actually was open, with a nice view on the Rhine River Valley. We were the only guests so I guess everyone else knew the castle was closed. Then it was time to check out the famous Loreley. 

After visiting Burg Rheinfels in Sankt-Goar we cycled further upstream to get the right view on the famous Loreley, a 132 meters high rock formation at the opposite side of the Rhine River. At this point, the river makes a sharp bend and is here the Rhine is at its narrowest, only 113 meters, but also at its deepest with 25 meters of depth, creating a strong current. Due to the huge number of boats that shipwrecked here, there were plenty of stories of dwarves, nymphs, and mountain spirits. When humans started to settle the banks of the river, it was said that one nymph who could not bear to leave the river, remained on the high rock. From where she had a view over the entire river. With her beautiful, mournful song, her beauty, and her long, golden hair, she managed to enchant the sailors, who lost focus on their ships and were swept onto the rocks by the strong current, many lost their lives.

Clemens Brentano introduced the sorceress Lore Lay in his novel Godwi, specifically in the ballad "Zu Bacharach am Rheine" (1801). This was the first association of the rock with a female figure. Quite a few modern day songs tell the story, among them The Scorpions and Blackmore's Night and the lesser known Dschingisch Khan. The Loreley is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape of the Oberes Mittelrheintal.

From Camping Loreleyblick I could make the photo quite easily though it was hard to see from where the photo was exactly made. There is no depth in the image so it is a wild guess, with the consequence of the castleruine to not exactly match both photos. Next to that the water was really high.

Visitors information centre at the top of the Loreley rock late at night. It was closed and we were the only ones. We stayed in the van for the night, but in the morning it was raining so we just left.

A new statue of Loreley on the top of the rock at the visitors centre at night, an older one on the peninsula on the Rhine river the morning after and my own Loreley the week before at the Campsite Loreleyblick at the opposite side of the river.

Oberwesel

Waking up in Oberwesel close to the Rhine River with high water leves and a bit of fresh snow up on the hills.

In Oberwesel, we stayed in the van for the night really close to the Rhine River with its high waterlevels which was quite exciting, also because we were the only ones. During the night, a bit of fresh snow had fallen and stayed for a while on the hills of the opposite side of the Rhine River. After breakfast I went looking out for the right place on the first photo here. It was quite a climb up through the rain on a steep and muddy path, but I was almost certain I was heading in the right direction. Thanks to the chapel on Kurt Hielscher's photo, I found out there was a Calvary on this hill, so I only had to find out which one of the Kalvarienbergkapellen was the right one and, as you know, there could be up to fourteen. I lost count about this one. Burg Schönburg also helped me navigating on the hill and every now and then I had a nice view on Oberwesel, but ofcourse it is a pity this view is not free anymore. In advance I longed to get into Kurt Hielscher's footsteps here, because his photo is magnificent and this is quite disappointing. I feel that too.

Up the hill looking for the right place in the rain and the mud.

In the center of Oberwesel: Marktplatz.

Bacharach

From Oberwesel, we moved on further south along the Rhine River to Bacharach. The weather was still a bit wet, cold and windy, especially on the hills with the vineyards surrounding Bacharach. The view, here on the Postenturm, Bacharach and the Rhine was stunning.  

The tower dates back to the 13th century and used to be a defense tower with walls that disappeared over time. From 1899 it was used as a water reservoir but completely restored at the beginning of the 21st century and made accessible to the public in 2005, but I guess it was closed for us because it was kind of off season and we were the only ones here. Afterwards I think I should have stepped a bit to the left and more up, but then I would have left the path straight into the vineyard and that might no have been such a good idea, but to be honest I just didn't see it when I was there. Kurt Hielscher made another photo from really close by, but more about that some other time. 

Up to the Postenturm. Hooooray I have a man with a hobby!

A bit of a different perspective on the Postenturm, Kirche St. Peter and the Wernerkapelle.

Strolling around the center of Bacharach.

And then we went further upstream to Mainz, the capital of Bundesland Rheinland-Pfalz and the final destination of our trip. It was a beautiful sunny day. We parked the van a bit outside the city center near the Spielplatz am Volkspark from where we cycled to the center. It was a pleasant ride through the park and along the Rhine till we saw the Dom at the Fischertorplatz and turned left to the Liebfrauenplatz and eventually the Marktplatz to get into Kurt Hielscher's footsteps.

The Dom in Mainz is one of the three so-called Kaiserdomes as the ones in Speyer and Worms (see previous post) though the Dom in Mainz was not founded by Hendrik IV but rebuilt in the 11th century. The cathedral is constructed of red sandstone is dedicated to Saint Martin and has six towers. 

Kim and I enjoyed the sun on the terrace with a great view on the Dom and I had plenty of time to take this photo properly, but I did not and I only noticed it afterwards. First, I assumed Kurt Hielscher again brought his stairs and took his photo from a greater distance. But this week I found out that the Marktbrunnen, founded in 1526 by Elector Albrecht of Brandenburg was replaced a few times. In 1889, it was relocated to the northeast side of the market square to make way for a new traffic link between Ludwigsstraße and Rheinstraße. At that time, the fountain was also topped with the current statue of the Virgin Mary. 

During the Second World War, the fountain was encased in brickwork for protection and consequently remained virtually undamaged. In 1975, during the redesign of the Dom Square and the creation of the pedestrian zone, the fountain was moved back to its original location near the Domhäuser, so while focussing on the distance of the top of the fountain and the nearest tower, I did not exactly step into the footsteps of Kurt Hielscher after all. It will not be a punishment to come back to Mainz one day and try again.  

Inside the Dom.

Inside the Dom and Kreuzgang.

Beautiful facades at the market square and a bit of market. On the left we see the Heunensäule, a 6,40 meters high, 16 ton sandstone pillar dating back to 1.000 AD. It was placed here in 1975, almost or maybe exactly where the Marktrbunnen used to stand before 1975.

Kirschgarten.

Fastnachtsbrunnen at the Schillerplatz.

Also very impressive: the baroque St. Augustine's Church.

Wiesbaden

Coming from Mainz where we still had some nice sunny weather, here in Wiesbaden it just started to rain which forced us to go take a look inside the Kurhaus. As from the entrance we were stunned and even more in the main room, the Friedrich-von-Thiersch-Saal, named after the architect of the Kurhaus, who became famous for the construction of the Munich Palace of Justice and his design for the Berlin Reichstag. The Kurhaus dates back to 1907 and was inaugurated in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Now, there was a children's festival going on, but that did not bother us. Stronger, we enjoyed such a beautiful place being used like this for wider audiences. And that's what it is today, a venue for all kind of events. 

Unfortunately, I could have taken the photo a bit better by keeping more distance and then zooming in or cropping a lot. Let's keep that in mind for a next time!  

At the end of WWII, most of this interior was damaged due to an air raid, but soon after the war restoration work was carried out, but only after 1983, the Kurhaus was restored and modernized based on Friedrich von Thiersch's plans, old engravings and photographs to its original 1907 style, with all the charm of Wilhelmine architecture. Because of the weather we did not move on to explore more from Wiesbaden.

Soon more of our trip along the Rhine River back to the north.

Below: View on the Marksburg frmo the opposite side of the Rhine River in between Brey and Spay in front of the campsite..