Cochem and Reichsburg

The Reichsburg stands about a hundred metres above Cochem on a cone in a bend of the Moselle. French troops destroyed it in 1689 during the Nine Years' War and it lay ruined for nearly two centuries until Louis Ravené, a Berlin businessman, bought it in 1868 and rebuilt it in the neo-Gothic manner as a summer residence, finished in 1877; the town bought it in 1978. Vineyards climb the slopes around, and the Calmont nearby is among the steepest vineyards in Europe with gradients over sixty degrees. A chairlift climbs from the town to the Pinnerkreuz viewpoint.

Highlights

• The rebuilt castle - a neo-Gothic reconstruction of 1868 to 1877.
• The Moselle bend - the river looping below the castle cone.
• The Calmont slopes - some of Europe's steepest vineyards nearby.
• The chairlift - a lift to the Pinnerkreuz above the town.

When to go

April to October; the castle closes in winter apart from limited dates. Interiors are guided-only. Wine festivals fill the town in late summer.

Things to know

Almost everything is nineteenth-century rebuilding, not medieval fabric. Entry is guided-only. The town is crowded with river cruise groups.

Nearby

Bernkastel-Kues lies upriver; Koblenz is downstream.

Key facts