Cochem Things to Do

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The 1000AD Cochem castle, overlook's the Mosel River and the Township of Cochem. It looks impressive sitting up there on the highest piece of land around, 330 feet above the River Mosel!
The castle, like other Knight's Castle's, was built for defense, but it also housed the Count's of the Palatinate along the Rhine who were related to the German Emperors.
The Castle has quite a history of murder, battle's involving power, manslaughter and marriages of convenience.

Guided Tour's in Winter 2012....9th Jan - 17th Feb
every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 11.00, 12.00 & 1pm.
18th Feb - 9th March guided tours: as above

Guided castle tours...Approx 40 minute's
Adults.....5 euro.... Children 6 - 17 years 3 euros

There is a Shuttle Bus to the Castle....2.50 euros.

http://www.burg-cochem.de/english/shuttle_bus.htm

Sorry about photo quality, was looking directly into the sun!

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The Promenade at Cochem is a really beautiful area of this Town. A nice lawned area and flower garden's line the river's edge, and along the edge of the pathway, are plenty of garden seat's for sitting and enjoying the River views. There were plenty of Tree's for shade, and a really good view of the Cochem Castle.
The street which run's parellel with the Promenade, has plenty of Hotel's and parking, this is where we parked.
I hope you have time to enjoy this pleasant area of Cochem!

No, we didn't go to the Train Station to catch a Train, we went there to see the historical building!

If you do want to catch the train, it travels mostly along the left bank of the river Mosel.

The train-station of Cochem is in the east-end of the town, less than 500 meters from the center.

The Enderttor is one of three surviving city gates in Cochem . The gate was built in 1332 as the northern entry point of the city wall, and it was here passenger's waited for their Stage Coach to take them to Cologne & Frankfurt. It was once used as a prison.
I really liked this Gate, with the attached Gate keeper's house.

As with lot's of German historical place's, they often have a Legend, and so has this "Gate.".......

Cochem was under attack by Knight Von Sickingen! The City Gate's were closed, and so far, the Town's folk had succeeded in keeping the enemy at bay, but how much longer could they hold on, and what could they do?
Cochem is well known for Wine, so they brought all the available empty wine barrels into the courtyard of the Enderttor Gate, and when the attacker set off the gate, they rolled the empty Barrel's towards the enemy, injuring many soldiers along the way!
When the enemy realized that all the barrels were empty, they withdrew, well, what was the point of taking a Town with no Wine & no Food!

It was good to see one of the little Tourist Train's operated in Cochem, we find most of the time, these are a good, cheap informative tour around the Town.
They are not the best for taking photo's from, but for my husband, it is often the only way he can see the Town's.

The Train was the first thing we noticed, it was waiting for customer's at the old Moselle bridge at the Carl Fritz Nicolay place where the artist relief's are located.
The tour takes you through the old town, past the Enderttor, to the train station, a viewpoint looking over Cochem and Castle, along the promenade, vineyards and back.
Just look for the Train in my photo!

Best to check the website for all you will see, and the full route.

PRICES.....Adults 5 euros Children 2.80 euros Buy direct from Driver.
DEPARTURES....10 - 5.30PM

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Reichsburg castle towers on a mighty rock, 100 metres above the town of Cochem. The castle has been built around the year 1000 by Count Palatine Ezzo and has 1st been mentioned in a document in 1051. 100 years later the castle was occupied by the troops of King Konrad III and thus became an imperial castle of the Staufer dynasty. In 1294, King Adolf of Nassau pawned the castle and the city of Cochem as well as the surrounding imperial property of about 50 villages to Archbishop Boemund I of Trier in order to pay for his coronation as German Emperor. But neither Adolf nor his successor, King Albrecht I of Austria could redeem the pledge. For this reason the archbishops of Trier kept Cochem as a hereditary fiefdom until 1794.
In 1689, during the War of Succession of the Palatinat the castle (and the town) got almost completely destroyed by the troops of the French "Sun King" Louis XIV. Reichsburg afterwards remained ruined for almost 200 years until, in 1868, the influential businessman Louis Ravené bought the ruin (for 300 German Gold Marks) to convert it into a Summer residence for his family. At this time the castle got restored and partly rebuilt in the Neo-Gothic style.

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There are many impressive things to see inside Cochem Castle such as the Knights' Hall, the Weapon Room, the Hunting Room, medieval lady's rooms, etc. The castle is well-equipped with Renaissance and Baroque furniture, weapons, armours, crockery and all kinds of beautiful decoration, including mural paintings.
Guided tours are held between March - November, daily between 09:00 am and 05:00 pm (taking around 40 minutes). The guided tours are usually carried out in German. Free translation sheets are available in 12 languages. For groups, guided tours can be carried out in English, French and Dutch. Tours can also be arranged between November and February. For children (aged between 4 and 10) there are special tours which need to be booked in advance.

Admission charges:
Adults: EUR 4,50
Children (6-17 years) EUR 2,50
Family Ticket (Parents with 2 children min. aged below 18 years) EUR 12,50

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The castle can be seen from afar, being set on a high hill that overlooks the area and making it near impossible for any enemy to come near unseen. The history of this castle goes back 1000 year. You can read more about that on the castle website.

I'll put all the tips for my visit to the castle in the Local Customs section.
Enjoy!

Admission fee: 4,50 euro adults, 2,50 euro children (2007)
There's a special ghost tour for 4-10 year olds, to be booked in advance.