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notamermaid

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    Rhine, Germany
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  1. It is the time of year for big announcements, with the ITB in Berlin, the CLIA conference and the ASTA River Cruise Expo having just finished. Uniworld seem to have made a comment on scrapping U by Uniworld, oddly, I mean, we talked about this months ago: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/uniworld-scraps-millennial-focused-product In more exciting news we hear from them that a ship will come to the fleet, a new one, not a lease. The Victoria (2024) and the Elisabeth (2025) are former Crystal ships as we know, but 2026 will see the Emilie: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/uniworld-confirms-name-of-new-european-river-ship notamermaid
  2. Völklinger Hütte iron works is on the Saar and these days quite a popular place. Have not been yet. I think I mentioned it briefly in the Moselle thread (where we also deal with the Saar as it is a tributary of the Moselle). For those who like steel and old stuff this is a magical place. You saw Gambsheim lock, that is correct. Earlier in the year the lock was closed for repairs, I did not know that there is still work going on. Apparently, the French authorities are investing a lot of money this year in a major overhaul and updating of Gambsheim lock. I have just checked the French waterways authorities' website. There are two chambers. The lock is actually quite young, only built in 1974. The gates are the original ones, so now after 50 years they need replacing. This is the area, the river is the border, the lock is in France. Construction of the lock and dam was a joined effort: Google maps has marked the view point of the fish passage. notamermaid
  3. Where would we be without the canals? Canals in what is now Germany are quite old, I mean the old ones are disused but can still be traced in the landscape. The modern day canals that were built in the Renaissance era and Baroque times or later (we do not think in Georgian or Victorian terms in Germany) are already quite sophisticated. There have been advancements of course and updating and quite frankly much larger structures of dams and locks since then. There was already a canal connecting the Rhine and the Meuse in Roman times called the "Fossa Corbulonis". Master engineers designed it but it was of course built by ordinary men, in this case foot soldiers. Those early structures were strategic and also perfect for keeping soldiers busy when there was no fighting going on. As you rightly say, lots of man power. It may seem slow to us today to transport goods on water with a horse towing the boat but when you look at the roads in those days... It can still be a challenge today which I found out the other week. I went to the Westerwald hills and took a turn into a narrow valley. At first I thought the road was blocked to through-traffic but a sign just gave a slow speed and said that the ride would be bumpy (my words). It was. Our family car that can go down the motorways comfortably and take us to far away places needed to slow down to 10km in parts to keep the suspension fit for purpose. Imagine doing that with one or two horsepower. Where there were no suitable waterways the railways later opened up the hillier areas to faster trade. There are still narrow gauge railways all over the hills today, either in use, as tourist trains or disused (or in a few cases disappeared almost entirely from the landscape). notamermaid
  4. I find the Cathedral really beautiful. Great lighting, I have so far only seen it in daylight. It is the flying buttresses that add to that effect. The people call the edifice "God's Lantern". Or "Lorraine's Gem". The yellow colour of the stone really shines in sunlight. The expanse of the glass is enormous, more than in many other more famous Gothic Cathedrals. In France no other cathedral has more stained glass. Metz is the most important port in France for grain. The harbour is really large and there is also a marina. You can take river trips around Metz but river cruises that go to Metz are still few. It is mostly the bike & boat tours. The city rarely sees river cruise ships over 70m length anchoring. notamermaid
  5. I see. The regional website says its history is very much connected with wool and water: https://www.paysdevesdre.be/en/discover/pays-de-vesdre/verviers/ Verviers lies on the Vesdre river which flows into the Ourthe (which flows into the Meuse). I looked it up and Wikipedia says that the Vesdre has a high acidity due the bogs in mountains where its source is. It makes the water very suitable for the textile industry. One can see the development: good water that flows, weavers, mills, forests, mountains, iron ore, machines, larger river, steam, foundry, larger ships, steel, railway, bingo! Huge enterprise like Cockerill at Seraing/Liège thrives. Electricity obviously gave another boost. The John Cockerill Group still exists today. [Not to worry, we will get back to the Rhine very quickly, the Meuse and Rhine industries are connected in their history.] notamermaid
  6. That makes sense. Belgium, i.e. the region Walloon is one of the original industrial revolution regions on the continent. It was an Englishman who went to what is now Belgium, the city of Liege that is, and founded one of the biggest and most successful early iron and steel works of the time. He was called William Cockerill (the elder). His two sons John and William continued the business. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cockerill I have done a bit of research about the Cockerills as they did business in Berlin and along the Rhine as well. They started with textiles and the machines but are also connected to early railway construction and shipbuilding; that is how I came across them. In the early days you either got the expertise yourself by going to study the engineering, etc. where they were done, sometimes collecting information "illegally" or you got the workmen who knew their trade to move to your area and work for you. I suppose not too much has changed about that... The years 1790 to 1830 were exciting times in iron and steel - so many pioneers, so much innovation. I have sought out three places; two in Germany, one in Luxembourg; that have textile museums or something similar. It is one of my areas of interest. Unfortunately all are a bit far for day trips so need a bit of organizing. .A bit out of the way of standard river cruises but not too difficult for you to organize folks is a visit to Duisburg to the Museum der Deutschen Binnenschifffahrt. It deals with the German inland waterways and has lots of steel to marvel at. https://www.binnenschifffahrtsmuseum.de/ notamermaid
  7. Emmersdorf an der Donau is a small town and has a docking area for river cruise ships but do passengers actually explore the town? I have no idea. This is the page of the mooring at Emmerich: https://www.donaustationen.at/en/moorings/Emmersdorf-12/ It looks to be a pleasant place that has, from what I read, become popular with cyclists. So which company stops there? Amadeus Flusskreuzfahrten regularly does, at least two dates each month show Emmersdorf. For that I checked an online booking website. One of the ships is the Amadeus Sliver III so I looked for this ship on the Amadeus Flusskreuzfahrten website. The itinerary is Donau Rhapsody and Emmersdorf is marked on the map and appears in the list for day 2. It clearly says (translated) "At the river bank at Emmersdorf..." but goes on to say that you will visit Melk Abbey. https://www.amadeus-flusskreuzfahrten.de/kreuzfahrten/detail/2024/donau-rhapsody-8-tage.html Amadeus River Cruises shows the same map and the description for the day says Emmersdorf in the header, though not in the text. https://www.amadeus-rivercruises.com/river-cruises/detail/2024/danube-rhapsody-8-days.html Clearly, this is just a port alternative for Melk. But there is another company. Uniworld! On the "Delightful Danube" itinerary Budapest to Nuremberg, Emmersdorf is mentioned for day 5. Interestingly, this is not for Melk Abbey but visiting the town of Spitz: https://www.uniworld.com/us/river-cruise/central-europe/danube/delightful-danube/2024-budapest-to-nuremberg The reason Emmerich is convenient for Melk is the fact that a bridge over the Danube is close by. Spitz is on the same river bank as Emmersdorf. Have you been on a river cruise that docked in Emmersdorf and where did you go from there? notamermaid
  8. Unfortunately I have not been in yet. I had read about the Gallo Roman baths: https://musee.eurometropolemetz.eu/fr/gallo-romaines.html I agree, Metz is a walkable city. For those who do not feel like doing lots of walking there is a small sightseeing train that leaves from the Cathedral square (not in winter): https://lepetittraindemetz.com/la-ville-de-metz-2/ notamermaid
  9. Good. I was hoping a translation machine of sorts could help. Had not thought about that before. It need not even be a connection "in the mists of time", one may meet a great-great-cousin (or whatever the term is) and never know. Probably not my family, they are all from the Rhineland, Hesse or Franconia as far as I know. But I am not ruling out that a second son of an ancestor in the 18th century did venture further than the Rhine's border with the Netherlands. notamermaid
  10. I had forgotten you would be there now. Enjoy. I really like Metz. Make sure you see the stained glass in the Cathedral. It is magnificent. And the train station with its Wilhelmian era architecture. Sierck-Les-Bains is not particulary picturesque but I really enjoyed visiting the castle ruins overlooking the town. For a really good castle in the hills visit Chateau Malbrouck: https://www.thionvilletourisme.co.uk/offers/malbrouck-castle-manderen-en-3332487/ Though it may be a bit early in the year. notamermaid
  11. Yes, I think that may be the only book in English unfortunately. He worked at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies. This is his project there on emigrants I think: “John Jacob Astor,” in Thomas Adam and Will Kaufman, eds., Germany and the Americas: Culture, History and Politics (Santa Barbara: ABC Clio, 2005), 105–108. “Perry Friedman,” ibid., 389. “The German Society of the City of New York,” ibid., 430–31. This is a website that has compiled links. It was quite a large project on emigration that has run its course, so some info may be outdated. It is all in German, but a few links go to English language sites: https://www.auswanderung-rlp.de/das-projekt/weblinks.html One unusual aspect are the German-Irish farmers. Those are people who came from the Palatinate and did not get as far as the Americas. Part of those came with the large influx in the early 1700's: https://blogs.bl.uk/european/2015/09/the-poor-palatines.html notamermaid
  12. I just throw in a brief report on water levels. Maxau gauge up and down at pleasant levels over the mean. Kaub gauge stable above 200cm for the next week or so. All good. Temperatures are pleasant, single or double digits during the afternoon, intermittent rain. Trees are blooming more and more, fruit trees have started.White blossoms are slowly filling gardens and parks. And if you like Japanese cherry blossoms then bookmark this website and check in over the next two weeks to see the spectacle in Bonn virtually: http://www.kirschbluete-bonn.de/blog-3/ notamermaid
  13. Interesting. I have looked at some English language youtube videos on German river cruise lines recently. Nicko does a very good job on the German market, but overall I would say that Viva Cruises will be a better fit for most North Americans. I agree. Not sure what the ratio is but Viva Cruises will in all likelihood still have a large proportion of Germans and also some Europeans on board. As far as I know Viva Cruises is bi-lingual rather than dedicating some itinerary dates to the international market. Until a few years ago I had no idea just how many Americans have either direct German ancestors or marry into that ancestry. You know, you may trace your family and everyone is Irish/English/French/Polish or whatever and then you meet the love of your life whose grandparents came from a tiny village in the Palatinate (which is the second half in the state name Rhineland-Palatinate). There are dedicated local amateur historians in the Rhineland and elsewhere, some have gone to great lengths writing brochures or entire books on the topic. Alexander Emmerich is a professional historian renowned for his books on North America and especially the Germans emigrating to the US. He wrote a biography on John Jacob Astor. notamermaid
  14. For those stopping in Koblenz. Most river cruise ships dock on the Moselle in Koblenz, rather than on the Rhine. This is Deutsches Eck: https://www.visit-koblenz.de/en/sights/deutsches-eck You are looking up the Moselle in this photo. For a view of your river cruise ship and the skyline of Koblenz head onto Balduin bridge: https://www.koblenz-touristik.de/geschaeftsfelder/hafen You can see this at the right side of the photo. The Balduin bridge is old, unfortunately it lost nearly one half of its old pillars to make passage for ships onto the Moselle easier. It is also the approach to the first lock (or last one, looking downstream) on the Moselle. Here is an aerial photo: notamermaid
  15. Cochem and Bernkastel-Kues are the right places for you then, and Trier will blow you away. https://www.zentrum-der-antike.de/en/home/ Boppard has Roman history (a fort) as well and there is an exhibition in the local museum (have not seen that one). notamermaid
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