Tag Archives: Rudescheim-am-Rhein

Off to Rüdesheim am Rhein

Germany, Travel, , , ,

July 15 – Happy birthday to our dear daughter Jae! We packed our bags once again and walk the one minute walk back to the train station. Today our journey is just one hour south to the pretty little town of Rüdesheim, which is right on the Rhine River.

Our first view, walking in from the train station.
Cuteness!
Rüdesheim is a stop on the Rhine River tours, and the town was full of cruisers eating ice cream and shopping for souvenirs.
Plenty of wall art
The Church of St. James is on the Camino de Santiago route
Inside we saw James with his pilgrim staff and shell
We decided that this was the town to give in to our bratwurst craving – these didn’t disappoint!
No trip to Rüdesheim is complete without a tour of Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet, a museum of antique music makers
This one played Entry of the Gladiators (the Circus Song) so loud we had to cover our ears
Some were from old merry-go-rounds, with beautiful workmanship
Our tour guide explained how the songs were imprinted on a metal plate
An old Victrola and a gramophone
This one had an entire string orchestra and a player piano
Then it was time for – you guessed it – the cable car ride to the top of the hill!
We got to look down on the Rhine River
…and the rows of grape vines. This town is known for its winery tours, but as we don’t drink wine, we didn’t investigate those
It was pretty windy in the cable car!
At the top of the hill was a huge statue called Germania, holding her sword down to indicate a desire for peace. It was built in the 1870s by Kaiser Wilhelm to celebrate the unification of Germany.
…with images of War on one side and Peace on the other
The multitude of soldiers with the Kaiser on his horse at the center
The statue is too huge to take in up close
Then we walked back down the hill through the vineyards
…and back to the river. Rüdesheim, we had a great time!