1 May 2009 - Koblenz Catch-up

This is a very long-overdue catchup entry. Quite a few weeks ago, Bonnie (that gives you an idea of the timing....) and I took a daytrip to Koblenz. It was one of the trips listed in the guidebook I had, I had one of many banking holidays, and Bonnie and I were up for a small adventure.

Koblenz is only about 75 miles from Frankfurt, so not a long drive. The historic strategic importance of the city is that it is the point of confluence of the Mosel and Rhine rivers. It was established in the 9th century by the Romans as a stronghold for controlling that intersection (the corner of earth jutting out into the rivers at this point is known as the Deutsches Eck or German Corner). At some point in time, Koblenz was actually part of French, but then Germany got it back again. Like many other sizable cities, it was nearly destroyed during WWII, but has been significantly rebuilt.

I wandered around and found some interesting sights, including the fountain shown above of the mischievous schoolboy who randomly spits at passersby. Another interesting part I enjoyed was the Kaiser Wilhelm statue area that overlooks the Deutsches Ek itself. There is this gigantaur sculpture of the Kaiser on his trusty steed on a platform that is equally gigantaur. The sculpture was apparently destroyed during the war, but has somewhat recently been replicated and replaced. The whole area is still under some construction. But the platform area has engraved in its stone walls each of the Bundeslanden (states) of Germany. What I loved was that if one looks past the Hessen coat of arms (Hessen is the Bundesland in which Frankfurt is located) through an opening in the wall, you can see a US flag waving in the breeze. I am not sure of why it is there, but anytime I see those stars and stripes waving, I get all choked up. And to see it combined with my new home was particularly moving.

Less moving was the carnival that was also taking place on the shore of the Mosel River. I somehow expected carnivals here to be more upscale. Um, not so much. The carnies were still really creepy. And the Ferris Wheel was called the Liberty Wheel and had background images of the Statue of Liberty, including a replica which I swear had a "flame" burning in German colors. Most fascinating, though, is that unlike the regular carnival type of music I am used to in the U.S. (which is the stuff of which horror film soundtracks are made), carnie music in Germany is apparently really loud techno music. Yeah, like house music. Even at the kiddie rides. Bizarre. Dieter Sprockets lives on.....