Further up the Rhine

 Koblenz - trip 3, week 2

We are now relocating from Cologne to Frankfurt, so we took the scenic route up the Rhine - Highway 42 (and 9 on the other side) exactly follows the Rhine for about an hour after you pass Koblenz.

This is also where the Mosel and the smaller Lahn Rivers flow into the Rhine, so it was a very strategic position in medieval times. There is an extraordinary number of castles, fortresses, ruins, manors, etc. Since we had a deadline time for arriving in Frankfurt (see next post), we could only take in one site. We chose Marksburg, located just south of Koblenz in Braubach - which has been anglicized to "Brubeck", e.g. Dave Brubeck of the famous "Take Five" song. It is one of the few castles in the zone that was not destroyed or "Prussiaized" (bought by a wealthy Prussian in the 19th century and rebuilt in what they thought a Rhineland castle should look like). Guided tours only, but there seem to be plenty of meeting times, both in German and English. The guide was very knowledgeable and pointed out where construction and/or items were originals, medieval but not from Marksburg, and modern reconstructions.

We got there just in time - when we left, there were 3 tour buses in the parking lot that had arrived since we'd got there.