Koblenz: Spitting Statues and a 6-Foot Thumb

The Deutsches Eck in Koblenz

Jim and I are on a "study tour" trip with his students. We started the 5-day adventure in Koblenz, Germany, a city situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel Rivers (the French spell it Moselle). The narrow point of land in Koblenz that divides the rivers is called the Deutsches Eck (German Corner). A massive statue of Emperor Wilhelm I on horseback lords it over the Eck. On the day we visited, Wilhelm was being serenaded by an accordionist down near water level who was playing french cabaret tunes. Sweet.

Behind Wilhelm's statue there's a small park with beautiful gardens and large plane trees (like our sycamores). Some trees were decorated with colorful splotches of color! Nearby is a contemporary art museum- the Ludwig Museum. I wondered if the Museum had anything to do with the whimsical tree painting. There wasn't time to tour the inside of the museum, but we wandered around in its courtyard and came upon a 6-foot tall bronze sculpture of a thumb! The detail on this giant thumb was impressive, right down to its unique fingerprint. 

A huge fortress dominates the clifftop opposite the Deutsches Eck. This is Ehrenbreitstein, built by the Prussians between 1817 and 1828 to protect the middle Rhine area from French invaders. We rode a cable car that crossed high above the river to get to the fort. The views from our cable car were spectacular! That ride was one of the highlights of our short stay in Koblenz. Jim wasn't interested in walking about in the fortress, so I explored it myself. I forgot to get the fortress map from Jim, so I became lost in the huge walled in space and its confusing interior corridors. Eventually I found my way out and we rode the cable car back to the Deutsches Eck park where we lunched at a pleasant outdoor cafe near the Ludwig Museum. 





Wandering about in Koblenz' altstadt (old town), I found some unusual statues. The funniest is the Schangelbrunnen, a statue of a "spitting boy." At regular intervals a stream of water spurts from the little guy's mouth, pouring onto unsuspecting tourists. Created in 1940, this statue is a tribute to the mischievous youth of Koblenz. In another of the city's squares- Gorresplatz- a towering "history column" tells the story of this Rhineland town. At the bottom of the column is a boat filled with wine barrels, representing the success of Koblenz' wine trade. A huge head projects from the bow of the boat. Like the Schangelbrunnen, this fellow is also spitting water.

 Later in the day we joined the students for a wine tasting at the Hans Mader winery on the banks of the Mosel. It was a beautiful drive along the river to reach the winery. We marveled at the steep banks planted with grapevines. How did they tend the vines and harvest the grapes on those inclines? It was all explained to us by Hans' son, the 3rd generation winemaker in the family. The steep slopes make it impossible to use machinery for the process, so all of the work is done by hand. We tasted a number of wines, both red and white. Our hosts also served us a delicious Winzerplatte while we were tasting: cheese, ham, homemade sausage, and slices of brown Oberlander bread. A great way to end our afternoon in the Mosel valley! 

Star-Studded Maastricht

A huge star in the ancient city center welcomes tourists to Maastricht

Maastricht VVV building once served
as a courthouse (Dinghuis)

There's an image identified as Maastricht's flag in a book called the Wappenbuch von Meister, published in Germany in 1545. It shows a man holding a red flag with a white star in the center. In 1994 a modern version of the old original Maastricht flag was introduced. 

The Gemeente Maastricht (Municipality of Maastricht) is proud of its beautiful flag, and has adopted the star as a symbol of the city. You'll see red and white stars displayed everywhere here. A good place to find a selection of these Maastricht stars is the city's tourist office, or "VVV" (short for Vereniging Voor Vreemdelingenverkeer, which means "Association for the Traffic of Foreigners." Sounds like a rogue kidnapping organization! The VVV is housed in a beautiful old building dating to 1470. Originally it was Maastricht's Dinghuis (courthouse).





The VVV sells maps, books about Maastricht and Limburg province, and products made in Maastricht (including appelstroop, a molasses-like syrup made from apples). And then there are the STARS...star keychains, refrigerator magnets, and red pens imprinted with a white Maastricht star. To my delight, I found bags of chocolate stars!

Maastricht's VVV offers a variety of star themed items for sale.

Maastricht's most famous star is its talented native son, Andre Rieu. Rieu is a violinist, known for creating and conducting the Johann Strauss Orchestra that is well-known for its worldwide touring act. Every summer Rieu returns to Maastricht to host a city-wide party centered around a week of the orchestra's concerts. The main stage is in the Vrijthof, Maastricht's largest square. The VVV sells CDs of Andre Rieu's music, of course. They also sell cute little keychains with Andre's image, backed by the ubiquitous Maastricht star! I bought one to bring to a Dutch friend back in the states who was the first person to tell me about this famous Maastrichtenaar.






Maastricht stars pop up in some unusual places. Last week my Dutch friend Ria took me to the grocery store, and while we were there I bought "official" Gemeente Maastricht trash bags. It's mandatory to put your trash in one of these special bags. The price of the pickup is included in the hefty price of the plastic sack. Trash pickup is on Wednesday in our neighborhood, the Jekerquartier. On Tuesday evening I opened the package of Gemeente Maastricht official trash bags. There were those Maastricht sterren again! This time white stars on a red field with the Maastricht logo and RESTAFVAL (waste) printed large. 

Classy trash bags for a classy city.

Return to Maastricht

The fireplace doesn't work, but it is lovely to look at!

Our beautiful, gezellig living room.

  

We're back in Maastricht! Our view is no longer from Sint Pieterstraat, but it is still a lovely view from the windows of our apartment. We live in a very old building, on what we believe to be the most beautiful square in Maastricht. It's great to be back here and to see that the Maastricht we got to know in 2013 has not changed much! All of our favorite cafes are still in business, as well as most of the shops we grew to love. It's still a LONG walk to the grocery store. Lugging all that good Dutch and Belgian beer home can be difficult:-) Right now it's time for me to head out to Albert Heijn (one of our supermarkets) to find something for dinner. No cafe dinner for us tonight, too many people in town! 

Life is good.