Page 379 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Germany

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playing musical store and sell Eberbacher
instruments. Inside, Steinberg, a famous white
the church harbours Rheingau wine.
an incred ible wealth A short way to the west, in
of ancient art Winkel, stands the Baroque
treasures. The high castle of Reichardshausen, which
altar and St Catherine’s in the 19th century was the home
altar in the south aisle of Princess Luise von Nassau.
date from the late-
Renaissance period. R Kloster Eberbach
The magnificent Tel (06723) 91 78 100. Open Apr–Oct:
Gothic stalls were 10am–7pm Mon–Fri, 9am–7pm Sat &
created in 1510, while Sun; Nov–Mar: 11am–6pm daily.
the church organ is Closed Carnival Mon, 24, 25, 31 Dec.
one of the oldest in & ∑ kloster-eberbach.de
Germany, with pipes
made in 1310. Next t Rüdesheim
to the parish church
stands a late-Gothic, Road map B5. * 10,000. £
n Rheinstrasse 29 (06722-906 150).
two-storey funeral _ Fireworks (Jul), Weinfest (Aug).
chapel built in 1445. ∑ ruedesheim.de
Kiedrich has several
interesting old Rüdesheim, enjoying a
mansion houses, such picturesque location on the
as the Schwalbacher banks of the Rhine, has a long
The ornate Gothic portal of Basilika St Valentin, Hof (1732). The history going back to Roman
in Kiedrich Rathaus (town hall) is times. The town is famous for
evocative of the late- the Drosselgasse, a street lined
r Kiedrich Gothic style, although it was with countless wine bars and
built much later (1585–6). shops. There are also the remains
Road map B5. * 3,400. £
n Markstr. 27 (06123-90 50 10). of two castles: the Boosenburg
Environs and the 12th-century
The earliest recorded mention Five km (3 miles) west of Brömserburg, which also
of Kiedrich was in the mid-10th Kiedrich, in Oestrich, is Kloster houses a wine museum.
century, in a document Eberbach, a former Cistercian Rüdesheim also has several
produced by the Archbishop abbey. This vast complex, built historic mansions, including the
Friedrich of Mainz. One of the between the 12th and 14th half-timbered Brömserhof (1559)
town’s main attractions is the centuries, was once home to with a collection of musical
Basilika St Valentin, a gem of nearly 300 monks and is one of instruments, and the early
Gothic architecture. The church the best-preserved medieval 16th-century Klunkhards hof.
was built in stages, beginning monasteries in Germany. The Above the town towers the
with the main hall (1380–90). church interior provided the Niederwalddenkmal, a statue
The west tower was added in setting for some of the scenes of Germania, 10.5 m (34 ft) high,
the early 15th century and the in the film The Name of the Rose, built to commemorate victory
light, lofty choir in 1451–81. based on the novel by Umberto in the Franco-Prussian War of
Some time later the central nave Eco. The Cistercians used to 1870–71, which resulted in
was raised to the level of the have their own vineyards here, German unification. The
choir, creating a row of gal leries and today the abbey buildings monument can be reached by a
above the aisles, and at the are used by the Hessian Wine cable-car and affords views of
same time the magnificent star Co-operative to press, ferment, Rüdesheim and the Rhine valley.
vaults were created. The whole
project was financed from
donations made by countless
pilgrims who came to pray to
the relics of St Valentine, kept
here since 1454. A statue of
the saint adorns the western
portal. The early 15th-century
tympanum depicts the
Annunciation (on the left) and
the Coronation of the Virgin Mary
(on the right); above is an image
of God the Father giving His
Blessing, with two archangels Gabled and half-timbered houses in Drosselgasse, in Rüdesheim

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