Of all the German Länder, the Rhineland-Palatinate
(Rheinland-Pfalz) is the one most overlaid by legend. The River
Rhine is seen here at its majestic best, and there's hardly a
town, castle or rock along this stretch which hasn't made a
distinctive contribution to its mythology. This is the land of the
national epic, the Nibelungenlied , an extraordinary tale of
heroism, chicanery, dynastic rivalry, vengeance and obsession,
which bites deep into the German soul. It's also the land of the
deceptively alluring Lorelei, of the robber barons who presided
over tiny fiefs from lofty fortresses and of the merchant traders
who used the natural advantages of the river to bring the country
to the forefront of European prosperity.
Nowadays, the Rhine's once treacherous waters have been tamed,
enabling pleasure cruisers to run its length, past a wonderful
landscape of rocks, vines, white-painted towns and ruined castles.
Everything conforms perfectly to the image of Germany promoted by
the tourist office; visitors swarm in, and people living on the
trade do very nicely. Although the Rhine gorge is the bit most
people want to write home about, the rest of the Land has plenty to
offer. The Mosel valley , running all the way from France to
its confluence with the Rhine at Koblenz , scores highly for
scenic beauty and is not quite as over-subscribed and spoilt.
Further north, the valley of the River Ahr , which flows
into the Rhine near Remagen , rivals both of the larger
rivers for spectacular scenery. Only in the Hunsrück and the
Eifel , the Rhineland-Palatinate's "mountain" ranges, do the
otherwise ever-present vines give way to bare heathland and forest,
creating landscapes that are at times almost desolate.
Industry exists only in isolated pockets, and Mainz , the
state's capital and chief city, only just ranks among the forty
largest in Germany. Its monuments, together with those of the two
other Imperial cathedral cities of Worms (the font of
Germany's once-rich Jewish culture) and Speyer , are of
major importance, though the number one destination from the point
of view of sights is Trier , which preserves the finest
buildings of classical antiquity north of the Alps.
Trier's Roman survivals are a potent reminder of the area's
illustrious history . The Rhine itself marked the effective
limit of Roman power, and from that period onward the settlements
along its western bank dominated national development. Throughout
the duration of the Holy Roman Empire, the importance of this area
within Germany can be gauged by the fact that two of the seven
Electors were the archbishops of Mainz and Trier, while another was
the Pfalzgraf , or Count Palatine of the Rhine. The
last-named has provided the present Land, an artificial postwar
construct, with its name, though the heart of his territory lay in
the north of what is now Baden-Württemberg. Like the Romans, the
French have often regarded the Rhine as the natural limit of their
power, and their designs on the region - ranging from the
destructive War of the Palatinate Succession launched in 1689, via
the Napoleonic grand design, to the ham-fisted attempts to foster
an independent state there after World War I - have had a profound
impact on European history.
Adjoining Rhineland-Palatinate to the southwest is the miniature
province of the Saarland . Long disputed between Germany and
France because of its natural mineral wealth, it's predominantly an
industrial region. From a tourist point of view, it's the least
rewarding of all the German Länder, though it does have a few
beauty spots, and a vibrant capital in Saarbrücken .
As far as getting around is concerned, this is one part
of Germany where having your own transport is a definite benefit.
Otherwise, buses tend to have the edge over trains for seeing the
best of the scenery. Despite their associations with over-organized
tour groups, the pleasure steamers which glide down the great
rivers throughout the summer are certainly worth sampling.
Accommodation , whether in hotels, youth hostels or
campsites, is plentiful, but is best reserved in advance during the
high season in the most popular areas.