Tourist Attractions in Koblenz

Downstream from the Schloss in Koblenz is St Castor's Church, founded in 836 on a site which was then outside the town. In its present form it dates mostly from the 12th C. The treaty of Verdun, which divided up the Carolingian empire, was signed here in 843.

On the banks of the Mosel in Koblenz stands the Alte Burg (1276-80), the old castle of the Electors of Trier, now housing the Municipal Archives and Library. Here the Balduinbrücke (1343-1420) crosses the Mosel to the district of Lützel. Upstream is the New Mosel Bridge (Neue Moselbrücke; 1954), near which are the Langemarck Barracks, with the Military Study Collection (weapons, cannon, vehicles, uniforms).

The Beethoven memorial is located at the house where Beethoven's mother was born.

Beyond St Castor's Church in Koblenz is Deutsches Eck, the tongue of land between the Rhine and the Mosel. Here stood until the Second World War the Emperor William Monument, the base of which now bears the Monument to German Unity (fine views, particularly downstream).

Nearby can be found the Deutschherrenhaus, the remains of a castle of the Teutonic Order (evening serenade concerts in the Blumenhof in summer).

Below Koblenz's Pfaffendorf Bridge, close to the banks of the Rhine, is the neo-classical Schloss, built in 1777-86 by the last Elector of Trier, Clemens Wenzeslaus (now occupied by government offices; art exhibitions).

This scenic rail route features beautiful river scenery.

The Ludwig Museum houses a collection of contemporary French art.

The beautiful Rhine Gardens extend upstream from the Schloss in Koblenz for some 4km/2.5mi to the island of Oberwerth (swimming pool, with water-chute; stadium). Above the Pfaffendorf Bridge is the Weindorf, built in 1925 and rebuilt in 1951. Nearby is the Rhein-Mosel-Halle.

4.5km/3mi south of Koblenz is the Rittersturz (166 m/545ft), a viewpoint on an outlying point of the Hunsrück, which rises from the Rhine.

South of Rittersturz, near Koblenz and above the Rhine, stands Schloss Stolzenfels (154 m/505ft; 15 minutes' climb). The neo-Gothic castle, now a museum, was built by K. F. Schinkel (1836-42).