From the World Heritage inscription: The strategic location of the dramatic 65km stretch of the Middle Rhine Valley between Bingen, Rüdesheim und Koblenz as a transport artery and the prosperity that this engendered is reflected in its sixty small towns, the extensive terraced vineyards and the ruins of castles that once defended its trade. The …
From the Aachen Cathedral World Heritage inscription: With its columns of Greek and Italian marble, its bronze doors, the largest mosaic of its dome (now destroyed), the Palatine Chapel of Aachen has, from its inception, been perceived as an exceptional artistic creation. It was the first vaulted structure to be constructed north of the Alps …
From the World Heritage inscription: The technological and other structures of the Zollverein XII Coal Mine Industrial Complex are representative of a crucial period in the development of traditional heavy industries in Europe when sympathetic and positive use was made of architectural designs of outstanding quality. Zollverein is an exceptional industrial monument by virtue of …
Trier is amazing. I had no idea of the rich history of the city, which is the oldest in all of Germany. Just to give you an idea of what can be found when visiting Trier: It is the oldest city in Germany. St. Peter’s Cathedral is the oldest church in Germany and one of …
From the World Heritage inscription: Although the Völklingen Ironworks went out of production comparatively recently, they are the only intact example, in the whole of western Europe and North America, of an integrated ironworks that was built and equipped in the 19th and 20th centuries and has remained intact. Historically this plant was a model …
From the World Heritage inscription: At its height the Roman Empire extended into three continents. Its borders reflected the waxing and waning of power over more than a millennium. In what is now Germany there were several military campaigns into the area north of the Alps and east of the River Rhine from 55/53 BC …
From the World Heritage inscription: Speyer Cathedral exerted a considerable influence not only on the development of Romanesque architecture in the 11th and 12th centuries, but also on the evolution of the principles of restoration in Germany, in Europe, and in the world from the 18th century to the present. The cathedral, along with those …
From the World Heritage inscription: The Messel Pit has provided a wealth of fossils that have greatly increased understanding of the Eocene Age. It is a small site approximately 1,000 m long (north to south) and 700 m wide (east to west). The Eocene (‘dawn of new times’) epoch (57-36 million years ago) was a …
From the World Heritage inscription: The remains of the Reichenau foundation bear outstanding witness to the religious and cultural role of a great Benedictine monastery in the early Middle Ages. The Monastery of Reichenau was a highly significant artistic center of great significance to the history of art in Europe in the 10th and 11th …