Reichsburg Cochem: The influential Castle, which takes you back in time!
Reichsburg Cochem or Cochem castle is the thrilling castle that towers over the town of Cochem, placed on the steep rock high above the town ruling the landscape. The castle exhibits the landmark of the city and the region. Numerous battlements, pointed towers, and oriels look like it came right out of the fairy-tale. From the castle, the view of the Moselle Valley, the enigmatic forests, fields, meadows and vineyards and also the old area of the town is captivating.
The castle is beautiful and alluring both in and out. The inside tours guide you to the knights’ hall, hunting room, the Chapel, etc. The castle is the mixed architecture of the Romanesque and Gothic style architecture. The inside tour initiates with the chapel, which is then followed by strolling around the building and a knights’ meal in the memorable cellar. The supervisors greet the visitors with Moselle wine and also give small lessons and customs on table manners from medieval times.
The castle is an extravagant wedding place too! Couples who are interested can get married by the registry officer in the Castle’s chapel. According to a popular legend, a lowly servant was on his way home to visit his loved one on the first Sunday, which followed Easter. When he was on his way, he overheard some armed men planning to attack the castle. After hearing this, he immediately rushed back to the castle to warn the others of the attacks. The armed men were moved by the already prepared Knights of Cochem. The Knights ended up celebrating with food and wine. The tradition still continues today with Knipp Monday.
Location
The Reichsburg Cochem is in the town of Cochemin the Rhineland-Palatinate area on the Mosel. The castle is their landmark and is on a conical hill magnificently visible in 154 meters above the sea level. The town itself lies at the height of about 83 meters above the sea level. It towers upon the 100 meter (328 feet) hill letting the River Moselle slide by. People can arrive through Bunderstraße (which is about 2 km away from town) by train or bus accommodation. The distance from train station to the castle is about 1.4 kilometers (0.8 miles) and can be covered by foot in just 15 minutes.
The street address of Recihsburg Cochem is Schloßstraße 36 in 56812 Cochem, Germany.
Weather
The weather nearby the castle as it is situated in the valley area has an almost Mediterranean climate. It has warm sunny days over nine months from March to November. The temperatures can be mild to hot. During these summer months, Cochem Castle is open daily between 9:00 hours to 17:00 hours while the castle restaurant opens and closed and closes between 10:00 hours and 18:00 hours.
The chilly winters occupy the rest of the year, and one can only visit the Castle on Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays with a definite number of tours. The castle restaurant remains closed this time.
History
Cochem Castle was built in the millennium around the year 1000 by the Palatinate count. Ezzo, was a son the heir to Palatinate, the count of Hermann Pusillus. The name of the castle first came up in the document in the year 1051, the period when Richeza, who was Ezzo’s oldest daughter and prior Queen of Poland, willed the castle to her nephew palatine count Henry I. Cochem remained skinned to the Palatinate counts title, even when Ezzo’s family stopped to be palatinate counts. A few years later, in 1151, King Conrad II occupied the castles with troupes, hence putting an end to the dispute which concerned about its succession. Thus, he certainly took the full control of the Castle, which became imperial fiefdom later. So, Cochem became an imperial castle during the reign of Staufer dynasty over Germany at the time.
In the year 1294, the King Adolf of Nassau pledged the castle as well as the city as the encompassing imperial property of approximately 50 villages to Boemund I of Trier so as to pay for his inauguration as the German Emperor. But Adolf or his successor weren’t able to reclaim the possession. Because of this, till 1794 the Tier archbishops kept Cochem as a hereditary fiefdom. During the time 1307 to 1354 (under Archbishop Baduin’s reign), the castle emerged, enlarged and fortified. There was the replacement of the castle lords to magistrates from the year 1419. Later the troupes of King Louis XIV invaded Rhine and Moselle area in the Palatinate war succession; Cochem castle was occupied as well. The French troupes set the castle on fire, undermined and blew it up on 19th of May 1689. The town was completely destroyed as well.
The ruins of the Castle remained as is until a Berlin businessman, Mr. Louis Ravene, purchased the grounds of the castle and the ruins. When he bought it, the reconstruction of Cochem Castle in the Neo-Gothic architectural style began merging the original remains of late Gothic buildings to the main castle. The Neo-Gothic style complemented the romantic ideals in fashion in Germany and set a trend for wealthy families to buy and refurbish the ruins as summer family residences in the 19th century. The castle today is still well furnished with Baroque and Renaissance furniture that was carefully collected by Ravene family.
The castle:
The castle today is greatly determined by the 19th-century new building, but yet you find the Romanesque or Gothic constituents like the curtain wall, the north gate, the Hexenturm, the octagonal tower, today’s Knights Hall home building, etc. The four-storey octagonal tower is in the center of the polygonal arrangement of the castle. The modern part on the north side of the castle shows the mosaic representation of St Christopher. That is the oldest building of the castle which received its current look in three phases. The lower regions and the vaulted basements were probably the original foundation of the castle, were afterwards augmented by quadrangle part.
The castle (now a museum), has on display many of villages of Julius Rasch having the style Of Neo-Renaissance and Neo-baroque designed rooms of the castle along with its priceless historical interiors as tunnels, paneling, carpets, cabinets, tapestries and also some paintings and historical stoves. The late Gothic dining room along with a fireplace, the Knights hall, the chapel, etc. is some of the fascinating rooms to see. This is especially an exciting prospect if you’re an avid history lover.
In the castle, a beautiful wedding can be organized, and parties can also be hosted in one of the rooms. There are also cultural events that keep on changing and take place in the first week of August every year; a three-day castle festival is held along with jousting and Cochem Castle Christmas on a December weekend. People from all across the world visit this grand festival and have a great time. The festive time is probably the best one to visit the place and enjoy the most of this rich heritage of the Castle.
Travelling there:
There are various public accommodations which are frequent, efficient and reliable to Cochem(Mosel). For Bunderestraße B49, you can take the Autobahn A1 or A48 or take the road trip there. From Bunderestraße B49, you can get connected to K20, which will lead right to the Cochem Castle. The Cochem (Mosel) railway station is comfortably located about 1.4 km away from the Castle. So, an active walk of mere 15 minutes will reach you to this wonderful fairy-tale style castle by foot. The bus station is just 150 meters away from the castle. So a shuttle bus 781 which only runs in summers will take you to the castle summit. It is frequent every 20 minutes and runs from different parts of the town, like the bus station to the market square to the Castle.
The street address of the Castle is Schloßstraße 36 in 56812 Cochem, Germany. So, with the private vehicle, you can also track the Castle through GPS and reach conveniently. This makes it easier for the tourists to visit this place and enjoy exploring the city without worrying about the transportation to and from various destinations.
Why visit?
The place has the history since the first millennium, and still one can find history coming back to life. The fairytale castle with the mesmerizing and jaw-dropping view of the Moselle Valley, the enigmatic forests, fields, meadows and vineyards and also the old area of the town shouldn’t be missed. The intriguing tours and activities in and out of the castle like the ghost tours which allows visitors to see the rooms that cannot be seen on the regular tour, the landscape garden tour with stunning natural views, the nightwatchman tour where the guide amuses people with some of the most fascinating and unusual castle tales. The Knipp Monday is still a tradition and also participate in the Knight’s meal which welcomes you with local Moselle wine and the lavish feast. You can also learn the dining etiquettes from the medieval times from the supervisors.
What else to see?
- The Winnwburg Castle ruins which were built on a mountain ridge in the “Enderttal”.
- The popular Formula One Speedway “Nüburgring”.
- Koblenz-It is the place where Rhine River meets River Moselle.
- Germany’s oldest city-Trier.
- The Eifel.
- The excursions to Castle Eltz.
- Hunsruck.
- The Beilstein.
So, go ahead and plan a trip to this amazing place with your family and friends. You will never know what you’re missing out on, until you visit the Reichsburg Cohem!