Reichsburg Cochem castle, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

The Reichsburg Cochem is the great landmark of the Moselle valley, a fairy-tale silhouette of turrets and stepped gables perched on a wooded hill about 100 metres above the little wine town of Cochem. A castle has stood here since around the year 1000, and in 1151 it was seized by King Conrad III and declared an imperial castle — the “Reichsburg” of its name. That medieval fortress was destroyed in 1689, when the troops of Louis XIV overran the Moselle during the War of the Palatine Succession and blew the castle up, leaving it a ruin for nearly two centuries. Its present romantic form dates from 1868 to 1877, when the wealthy Berlin businessman Louis Ravené bought the ruins and rebuilt the castle in an idealised neo-Gothic style as a summer residence, giving the Moselle one of its most photographed sights.

What to See

The castle can be explored on a guided tour that leads through richly furnished rooms recreating a romanticised vision of the Middle Ages: the Knights’ Hall (Rittersaal), the hunting room, wood-panelled chambers and a dining hall hung with armour, tapestries and the Renaissance and Baroque furniture collected by the Ravené family. Just as memorable is the approach itself — the walk or shuttle up from the town, and the views from the ramparts and terraces out over the red roofs of Cochem, the sweeping bend of the Moselle and the steep vineyards that climb the opposite slopes. In the warmer months the castle hosts popular events, including medieval-style knights’ banquets in its halls, and its courtyard and towers make an atmospheric setting in any season.

How to Get There and Practical Information

Cochem lies on the Moselle roughly midway between Koblenz and Trier and has its own railway station on the busy Koblenz–Trier line, making it easy to reach by train; from the station it is a short walk into the old town. The castle stands above the town on its hill: it is a fairly steep uphill walk of around fifteen to twenty minutes from the centre, or a ride on the seasonal shuttle bus from the market square. Drivers will find parking below the castle. The interior can be visited only on a guided tour, offered in German with printed translations and with English tours at set times in season, and the castle is open daily from around mid-March to early November, with limited winter opening. It is worth pairing a visit with time in Cochem’s pretty old town and, if time allows, a Moselle river cruise beneath the castle walls.