"It bursts through them and the rocks move aside and look down on it in amazement and awe", wrote Heinrich von Kleist on his 1803 travels in the Rhineland, musing on the way in which the 1320 km-long river cuts through the Schiefergebirge mountains between Bingen and Koblenz.
In 2002 Unesco declared the Middle Rhine Valley a World Heritage site. In the face of such acclaim, we have a clear obligation that extends beyond mere conservation to sustainable development. The gifts bequeathed to us by previous generations are sunny positions for the grapes to thrive and flourish, a powerful river, and a mature landscape with a versatility appreciated by all who are more than mere observers from the window of passing trains or steamers.
The 21 castles and ruins between Koblenz and Bingen are particular attractions, their density unequalled anywhere else in the world. Only two castle buildings are preserved in their original state, namely the Pfalzgrafenstein near Kaub on the Rhine and the Marksburg near Braubach. Nonetheless it is the ruins which lend the Rhine its very romanticism.
The Romans brought the wine to the region. On the terraces so typical for the valley the winegrowers pick grapes such as the Riesling, Silvaner and Grauburgunder, known and loved the world over.
Impressed by the fantastic rock and river landscape, the English men Lord Byron and William Turner, and later the French men Alexandre Dumas and Victor Húgo, inspired generations who travelled to the Middle Rhine. In the 18th and 19th centuries Heinrich Heine, Clemens von Brentano, Heinrich von Kleist and, in particular, Josef von Eichendorff sparked a wave of pure Rhine romanticism. The Lorelei song is known and loved as far as Japan.