Gary J Kirkpatrick, Art and Travel

Tag: Germany boating

  • Scooting across northern Germany

    Scooting across northern Germany

    From Berlin to the Dutch border via the waterways is about 500 kilometers/300 miles. When we traveled 8 hours per day we went a whopping 100 kilometers, bicycle riders everywhere passing us with ease. It’s a relaxing journey, passing through picturesque forests, farmland, villages and small towns. There are industrial zones too, quite a few, which may not be pretty but interesting as you observe the dock workers loading and unloading the barges you share the canal with.

    There are many fuel tankers, recycling loads and some container barges on this route. They usually take the center of the canal when they are loaded in order to have enough depth. We have to thread the needle between the shore and a safe distance from the barge. Canals are cut steep at the sides so you can get quite close without grounding but still you have to monitor the depth gauge. The barge captains are pros and know these canals, so you have confidence that they are not going to take too much room or run you over.

    Along the way we passed through four four or five huge locks on the Mittleland Kaanal and another 11 or so on the Dortmund-Eems Kaanal. Except for the last two on the Dortmund-Eems Kaanal we checked in at the designated “sportboots” docks, those two lacking that facility. In a few cases they replied to a phone call or to VHF radio so we did not have to moor. About half of the lock keepers spoke English, with the others we got a reply but did not understand so we just waited for the light to turn green. Our waits for the lock gates to open were generally short, about 15 minutes or so.

    There are many recycling operations along the Mittleland Kaanal

    Having already visited the cities and towns along the way, with a side trip to Oldenburg prevented by a lock closure, we spent two nights at only one location, https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/magdeburg-germany-home-of-the-reformation-and-a-schnitzel/, until we came Heren neat the Dutch border.

    Hanover is a city worth visiting. We stopped here on our first trip on Viking to Berlin. For more about Hanover see https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/hannover/

    Moonlight Over Hanover, watercolors

    Minden is smaller than Hanover. There an aqueduct takes you over the Weser River. There’s a neat schnitzel restaurant on the river, Schiffmühlen (meaning mill) Gastronomie. The downtown’s medieval architecture is well preserved as Minden was not bombed in WW2. https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/minden/ Bad Essen is smaller still and also has well preserved half-timber buildings and some good eats. https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/day-1-on-the-mittelland-kanal/

    Crossing the Bridge in Bad Essen

    Passing through the last lock on the Dortmund-Eems canal we came to the small lock in Heren only to find it had been closed in April for works. It would open on May 3, May 1 being a holiday. We were stuck for three days. Fortunately it is a lovely spot. Heren has grocery stores and other shopping, an attractive modern Dutch look with newish brick buildings and a main street pedestrian zone. There’s a ship museum with several restored Dutch barges. The Dutch border is just a few kilometers away along a small tree lined canal.

    In Wolfsburg you can visit the Volkswagon factory. Advance ticket purchase is recommended.

    The lock in Heren
    Passing through Meppen, Germany
    There’s a ship museum in Heren.
  • Roaring down the Rhine I

    Roaring down the Rhine I

    You last left us in Limburg, what has the neat old center full of medieval era half timber buildings. From there we go no further, although there are a few kilometers left of navigable waters. Instead we glided downstream, aided by the small current (1km), which made more difference than I thought it would- something you can feel as you move along.

    We entered the Rhine, with five times the current of the Lahn, and we are going downstream so it accelerates us effortlessly. There is a constant flow of 110 meter barges stretching into the distance and hotel ships with passengers numbering in the thousands. With each you have to determine if they have a blue board out, meaning they are on the wrong side of the fareway. Most had blue boards posted but you have to check each ship. It’s a wide river so there is plenty of room on either side, but generally you want to be on the opposite side to the ships going upstream as they have chosen the side with the least current, meaning its opposite has the most current. Typically river current is strongest on the outside of the curve.

    There’s the torrent of history on this river. Geographically it starts in the Swiss Alps and empties into the North Sea after dividing up and flowing through the Netherlands as the Wall and the Ijsell. For the Romans is was the barrier separating the Empire from the “barbarians,” so called because they wore beards (barb). My father and my wife’s crossed the in WW2 on the way to Berlin, so this history is personal too. And the Nazis made it as difficult as they could to ford, as once crossed the country’s underbelly was fully exposed.

    It’s six fast kilometers to Koblentz from the Lahn’s mouth, a mere blink in its 1230 kilometer length. It took just about 20 minutes with the 5 kph current. We exited into a small sound on the left bank. There are two or three clubs there- we could not tell for sure how many. At the far end where we saw the most number and largest boats. We headed there and were waved in. Some friendly and helpful club members helped us back in. That was about the last we saw of them. We always hope to have some conversations with the locals. We learn about their club and gain local knowledge of the waterway and the city or town where we are.

    Koblenz

    Koblenz (from Latin for “confluence”) began as a Roman military post in the 8th BCE. It is at one of the most important junctions, that of the Rhine and Moselle rivers. This junction, Deutsches Eck in German, features a huge statue of Kaiser Wilhelm, symbolizing the 1871 German unification spearheaded by Bismark. Also see my blog https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/the-lahn-to-limburg-as-in-the-famous-stinky-cheese/ Koblenz is the northern end of the Rhine Gorge, a World Heritage section lined with vineyards on steep hillsides, ancient castles and picturesque medieval villages.

    View of the junction from the cable car. The windows are smoked thus the darkness

    Basil Faulty in that old British comedy “Faulty Towers” advised to not mention the war (he said it “var’) in front of Germans. He said it jokingly but I have taken it seriously ever since, but the war’s presence kis inescapable. Koblenz’s city center was bombed to a pulp in WWII. On just one night, July 14, 1944 – 800 bombs were dropped. Today what remains is not even a poor imitation of its lengthy past. Little remains of its medieval past aside from the basilica of St Castor and a few buildings.

    Basilika St. Kastor dating to 846

    Included in the postwar construction are the excellent contemporary art museums. On the must visit list is a classic car showroom with Formula One cars, Bentleys and Rolls Royce, Porches and more, Some are for sale. And you can’t miss the a fabulous cable car over the Rhine to the ancient citadel of Ehrenbreitstein. The citadel museum is so so.

    The Basilica of St Castor or Kastorkirche. Castor was a 4th century hermit. Dating to 836, the present Romanesque structure has four towers. The church was completed in 1208 with a Gothic vaulted roof from 1498.

    Along the Rhine you find bike and walking paths galore, well utilized in the area bordering the old center area. The bars, cafes and restaurants lining the river with its expansive views are busy with beer, wine, ice cream, along with schnitzels, rouladen ,thinly sliced flank steak filled with bacon, onions and pickles topped by a red wine sauce. And there’s probably sauerbraten. Beef is most often used but pork and chicken are as well. In all cases the meat is marinated for 5 to 15 days. But you will find upscale modernities like ravioli stuffed with goat cheese, hamburgers galore. and especially sausages by the ton. Ice cream, gelato, pastries. You won’t go hungry unless you are among the street dwellers, comparatively few in number it seems, but you notice them.

    Eltz Castle

    From the Hautbanhof (train station) we took a train and then a bus to the fairyland castle Eltz. It was built starting in the 12th century by the Eltz family, who still occupy the non-public section. The other sections were built by other different sections of the family over the centuries.

    In 1268, Elias, Wilhelm and Theoderich, all Eltz brothers, became embroiled in disputes with one another. As a result they split the castle and the estate. Eltz became a Ganerbenburg, an arrangement whereby several family lines then owned the castle, and live together there. I presume they did not own the castle buildings in common, but each owned their section of the building. This would not speak directly to the ownership of land and of the governance of Burg Eltz.

    Sketch of Castle Eltz

    As a result of the division of the castle and its construction over time the look of each section is distinct as seen from the castle’s interior.

    It is just one of three castles in Germany that has never been destroyed, despite being under siege several times. It sits high on a rock foundation. On three sides you see the Elzback River, which empties into the Moselle. Once there was a village on the slopes below, occupied by servants, farmers, craftsmen and the like. All visits are guided.