Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein and Rhine River, Germany

April 6, 2026

Today, we visited the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.

It was a fun tour as our guide was a local actor who took on the role of an Englishman who "spied" on the construction of the Prussian Fortress built to ward off the advancing French. He wrote a book that caused great consternation with the Prussian military because it revealed too many details about the fortress. He involved the tour group with his "spying" and it was a fun way to learn about the fortress.

You can see the bullet holes here where the American soldiers shot off the Nazi Swastika after taking over the fortress in World War II.

We enjoyed the view from the fortress as well.

The statue of the man on the horse is Kaiser Wilhelm I, the German Emperor and King of Prussia who unified and modernized Germany in the 19th century.

We rode a cable car down from the fort to our boat.

Once we got back and had lunch, we began scenic cruising on the Middle Rhine. We saw many charming small towns and a variety of castles. We have been very lucky on this cruise and blessed with beautiful weather.

Stolzenfels Castle

Marksburg Castle

Liebeneck Castle

The town of Boppard

Sterrenberg Castle (the covered one undergoing renovation) and Liebenstein Castle. The guide told us a sad story of two feuding brothers in love with the same woman. The younger was betrothed to her while the elder kept his love secret. Then the younger returned from the Crusades with a new wife and the older brother did not forgive him for breaking his betrothed's heart.

Greylag geese were common on the Rhine.

It is common in Germany along the Rhine to have vineyards built into the hills.

Maus (Mouse) Castle - This small castle was named in jest by the counts of the larger Katz Castle.

Katz Castle

Rheinsfel Castle

The legend of Loreley (Lorelei) who lured her suitors to death with her beautiful singing is memorialized by this statue. The legends claim she did so because her heart was broken by an unfaithful suitor. She eventually jumped from Loreley Rock and was turned into a siren whose song lured sailors to their doom in this tricky turn of the Rhine river.

Even the train tunnels reflected the medieval castle theme.

We encountered another legend of the Rhine. There is a story of 7 maidens whose father died. They resolved to stay together and refused the courtship of many young men drawn to their beauty. When forced to make a choice, they got in a boat determined to flee to Cologne. However, after taunting their suitors, a storm rose up and wrecked the sister's boat. They were tuned to stone, some say to reflect their hearts of stone for refusing love.