The Rhine River

The Rhine River is the longest river to run through Germany. Only 867 km of the 1,320 km river flow through Germany. The Rhine begins in the Swiss Alps and flows down into Lake Constance. Then at Schaffhausen the Rhine tumbles down a 19m waterfall which turns into the Rhine River and Rhine River Valley. The Rhine is mostly used as a trading route transporting all types of goods all through Germany. It also is bordered by many wonderful and beautiful castles.


History of the Rhine River

The history of the Rhine begins in the 1^st century BC when the Romans conquered the Rhineland area. They forced out a few Celtic tribes and then built some settlements that became the cities Bonn, Cologne, Mainz, and Worms. The Romans used the Rhine To transport troops and supplies to the far reaches of their northern Empire. After a few harsh attacks in the 3^rd century the Romans gave up the Rhine. After the Romans left, the German tribes returned until the Franks ,under the rule of Charlamagne, founded his Empire. After Charlamagnes death his Empire was split up. Germany was broken into 1,000 small independant states. The German Princes and Nobles wan't to show off their power so they constructed many beautiful castles. Many castles were built along the Rhine so that the Princes could collect taxes, tariffs, and tributes for using a part of the Rhine for transport. When the Ruhr valley industrial center began to boom, steamships began to frequently travel the river. It was important to have the Rhine then because it let the Ruhr Valley Industrialist transport the goods they had quickly and efficiently. After World War 1 Germany owed money to many enemies for damages caused during the War. Germany was in ruins and couldn't pay back the damages so France marched in and tried to collect the resources that they thought was due. The French couldn't find anything so they left in 1930. Then Hitler came to power and the Rhine was soon filled with ships. At the end of World War II their was an estimated 3,000 ships lining the bottom of the Rhine. English and American troops came in cleaned out and rebuilt Germany. Now the Rhine is an important travel and trade route for Western Europe.


Castles on the Rhine

Ever since governments ruled taxes have been emplaced. The Rhine has always been a major industrial and commericial travel route. The purpose of most castles on the Rhine river was to impress the ruling party and to collect taxes on ships and traveling merchants taking goods up and down the river. For every individual state along the Rhine there is almost indefinatly a castle present. The Rhine is an ideal place to build castles. The high deep gorges and quick currents helped defend some castles from desctruction during the middle ages. Now most of the castles are hotels or tourist stops that can be seen by boat tours.