Rüdesheim am Rhein

Infobox German Location
Art = Stadt
Name = Rüdesheim
Wappen = Wappen Rüdesheim am Rhein.pnglat_deg = 49 | lat_min = 59 | lat_sec = 0
lon_deg = 07 | lon_min = 55 | lon_sec = 50
Bundesland = Hesse
Regierungsbezirk = Darmstadt
Kreis = Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis
Höhe = 186
Fläche = 51
Einwohner = 9930
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 65385
Vorwahl = 06722
Kfz = RÜD
Gemeindeschlüssel = 06 4 39 013
Gliederung = 5 districts
Website = [http://www.ruedesheim.de/ www.ruedesheim.de]
Bürgermeister = Udo Green

Rüdesheim is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the right (east) bank of the Rhine, at the southern entrance to the Loreley valley. In order to avoid confusion with the smaller town Rüdesheim an der Nahe, its official name is Rüdesheim am Rhein.

History

. It lived mainly from the cultivation of wine and the barge traffic on the Rhine.

Rudolf of Rüdesheim, the Bishop of Breslau (modern day Wrocław, Poland), was born here in around 1402. After studying at the University of Heidelberg, he went on to Rome and became friends with Pope Pius II. He was named the Bishop of Breslau in 1468.

On 1 January 1818 Rüdesheim was officially pronounced a town. In 1877 the foundation-stone for the "Niederwalddenkmal" was laid, which was finished in 1883. This patriotic monument attracted a great many tourists who travelled to the monument at that time on a rack railway which has since been replaced by a gondola lift. Increasing tourism replaced navigation as the town's main source of income.

Notable places

Brömserburg Castle

This is one of the oldest Medieval castles on the Rhine River. It was built in the 10th century on the site of a Roman fortification. From the 10th to the 13th century it was owned by the Archbishop of Mainz. They converted the old fortress into a residence in the 12th century. It then passed into the control of the Knights of Rüdesheim. A branch of these knights was the Brömser. It was re-taken by Archbishop Werner II von Eppenstein in 1281. The castle withstood a number of attacks. In 1640, during the Thirty Years' War, the top of the tower was destroyed by French troops under the command of Henri II d'Orléans, duc de Longueville. The Archbishopic sold it in 1803 and has had several owners since then. The city of Rüdesheim bought the castle in 1941. Today it is a wine museum. It has a collection of wine presses and other wine paraphernalia. It has a more than two-meter thick (six-foot-plus) walls and meter-thick vault tower. Originally, it was right on the bank of the Rhine River, surrounded by water.

Niederwalddenkmal

The Niederwalddenkmal is in the Niederwald Landscape park. High up above town, the Niederwalddenkmal is a statue of Germania, built to commemorate the unification of Germany in 1871 under the leadership of Kaiser Wilhelm I and the first German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, both of whom are depicted on the monument. The monument was constructed in order to remember the foundation of the Second Reich after the end of the Franco-Prussian War. The first stone was laid on September 16, 1877 by Wilhelm I. The sculptors selected for the creation of the monument were Johannes Schilling and Karl Weisbach. The monument was inaugurated on September 28, 1883, six years after the start of the construction.

Underneath the monument makes reference to "Die Wacht am Rhein", a patriotic German song with roots as early as the Franco-Prussian war. The central figure is the 12,5 m tall Germania.

This immense monument can be reached either by an hour's walk from the town or by means of a gondola over the vineyards. [http://www.seilbahn-ruedesheim.de] It is also possible to walk a little way further to reach the chairlift down to Assmannshausen. Whichever route is used, the monument provides a wonderful view of both Ruedesheim and Bingen across the river, as well as the junction of the Rhine and the Nahe.

The Drosselgasse

grapes are the main type grown in this area, producing mainly high-quality white wines. 90% of German wines are white. One can sample the local wines, including the Rüdesheimer Riesling, in the many wine houses in Rüdesheim.

The Drosselgasse is the heart of Rudesheim's old town full of beautifully decorated restaurants. Live band entertainment brass instrument and dance music play all day and all night during the summer in the many wine houses and open-air garden taverns along the 144 meter long narrow cobblestone pedestrian street. Built in the 15th Century, the Drosselgasse was for boat owners to move items from the river to homes in the town. Since it is Rüdesheim's most famous attraction it is almost always crowded with tourists.

Twin towns

* Oingt in France
* Meursault in France
* Juliénas in France
* Mezőkövesd in Hungary
* Swanage (Dorset) in the United Kingdom

External links

* [http://www.ruedesheim.de/en/index.html Rüdesheim am Rhein website] de icon en icon
* [http://www.rheingauer-weinmuseum.de/ Brömserburg Wine Museum] de icon
* [http://www.seilbahn-ruedesheim.de Gondala website]
* [http://www.graf-von-katzenelnbogen.de/ The History of the Oldest Riesling of the World]