Grape Expectations

The Mosel is one of Germany's largest wine regions, with vineyards clustered along the Mosel valley. We had now entered the Rhineland-Palatinate region, our last in Germany, and road signs every mile or so told us we were in wine country as did the acres of grapes growing in fields either side of the road.

We headed for a small town right on the Mosel river, called Bernkastel-Kues. In fact it is two towns that are joined. Kues sits on the east bank of the river, whilst Bernkastel sits on the west, linked by a long bridge. To reach the town we drove down a succession of hairpin bends, winding down and down until, crossing the bridge we arrived in Kues.

The Mosel River - with Berncastle across the bridge

Kues appeared to be a prosperous little town with some fine 19th century villas and a riverside park and promenade. Bernkastel is much older and on the west side of the river acres of vines tumble down steep slopes right to the edge of a small medieval town full of half timbered buildings, crammed together at angles that suggest the original builders might have been sampling the local produce.

Bernkastel

Above the town a small ruined castle perches precariously above the vineyards which run right to the edge of the old town gates.

We walked through cobbled streets to the centre of town and then through the jumble of alleyways  - which didn't take very long as Bernkastel is really no more than a village. As one might expect many shops sold local wines and succumbed to temptation and bought a bottle of local estate bottled riesling. 

Bernkastel-Kues was an enjoyable interlude before we reached our main and final destination in Germany: Trier, a city with history.

Trier also sits on the Mosel river and was an important Roman city called Augusta Treverorum, and the provincial capital. It has some of the best preserved Roman remains in Northern Europe. Most prominent of these is the Porta Nigra or Black Gate, which dates back to the 2nd century AD and is the largest Roman gate north of the Alps.

Our hotel stood facing Porta Nigra so it was only a matter of crossing the road to enter the heart of the old city centre. It was an impressive entrance to the city, blackened by centuries of grime but still projecting an aura of power and control that I guessed the Romans wanted to convey.
 

Porta Nigra

Gladiator!

During the Holy Roman Empire Trier became an important religious centre and seat of power. We visited two very impressive churches that conveyed just how wealthy and important Trier was even after the Roman Empire had collapsed. 

The Cathedral is the oldest in Germany and is a huge complex building with varying styles reflecting its evolution.  It has roman brickwork and cloisters built between 1245 and 1270. There was so much to take in in terms of detail and styles I think one could spend an academic lifetime studying the history of this building.

Trier Cathedral

The Cloisters at Trier Cathedral

Linked to the Cathedral is the Liebfrauenkirche an early Gothic church, much smaller, but full of wonderful stained glass. The sunlight was casting rays of coloured light into every part of the church.

To complete the hat trick of churches (as it were) our final visit was to the Basilica of Constantine. This is now a protestant church but its original use was as a Roman Palace, commissioned by the Emperor Constantine and it was built around 310 AD. Both externally and internally it was quite austere but huge. Its 67 meters long and physically linked to the Electoral Palace, home to Bishop/Princes through to the 18th century and rebuilt in rococo style in the 1750's. Its bright pink facade in front of formal gardens contrasts with the simple brickwork of the basilica.

Trier has so many historical sites that we had to choose what to visit next - deciding not to look for the amphitheatre, as it would have needed a bit of a walk and the sun was blazing down. Instead we paid a small admission fee to look at the KaiserThermen or Imperial Baths that were built around the 4th century AD.

Part of the Imperial Roman Baths, Trier

Even though much of the site has disappeared over the centuries its still possible to get a real sense of the scale of this bath complex that was one of the largest Roman sites of its type. It was somewhat akin to a modern day leisure/spa complex and a place where people went to bath, exercise, relax and socialise. Information boards (helpfully in English) showed the construction and engineering solutions that had been devised - and ironically all this had resulted in a complex that was only used as baths for a few decades.


Our final whistle stop historical tour of Trier moved us through the centuries to a more contemporary figure. As well as being an important Roman city, and a seat of power in the Holy Roman Empire it was also the birthplace of Karl Marx. A prominent statue near the city museum proclaimed this heritage.

Trier resident Marx - (Karl, not Groucho).

We found his birthplace, (a rather bourgeoise house), in a street near the centre but as it was late in the afternoon there wasn't really time to see inside. It didn't look like it was a hotbed of revolutionary activity - more like a National Trust property!

Marx's birthplace.

Finally we found a place to eat and drink in one of the city's squares, enjoying the evening sunshine, warm temperatures and cold beer, whilst trying to fully absorb all the information we'd taken on board about the historical sites we'd seen in Trier. It had been a fast paced visit as we crammed in as much as possible before starting the final stage of our travels and Trier had turned out be be a city that had more to offer than we'd expected. Strolling back to our hotel by the river and then back under Porta Nigra we prepared to leave Germany and once again, cross borders.