8 Best Sights in Koblenz, The Rhineland

Europe's largest fortress, towering 400 feet above the left bank of the Rhine, offers a magnificent view over Koblenz and where the Mosel and the Rhine rivers meet. The earliest buildings date from about 1100, but the bulk of the fortress was constructed in the 16th century. In 1801 it was partially destroyed by Napoléon, and the French occupied Koblenz for the next 18 years. The museum has exhibits on the history of local industries, from wine growing to technology. Pride of place is given to the fortress's 16th-century Vogel Greif cannon, which has done a lot of traveling over the years. The French absconded with it in 1794, the Germans took it back in 1940, and the French commandeered it again in 1945. The 15-ton cannon was peaceably returned by French president François Mitterrand in 1984. For an introduction to the fortress and its history, head for the Besucherdienst (visitor center). English-language tours are for groups only, but you can often join a group that is registered for a tour. A Seilbahn (cable car) carries you a half mile from Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer over the river to Ehrenbreitstein, offering spectacular views of the Deutsches Eck below. Lifts can accommodate 7,000 passengers in an hour, and operate continually throughout the day from a half hour before the site opens until a half hour after it closes.

This pointed bit of land, jutting into the river like the prow of an early ironclad warship, is at the sharp intersection of the Rhine and Mosel rivers. In 1897, an equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I, first emperor of the newly united Germany, was erected here as one of the more effusive manifestations of German nationalism. It was destroyed at the end of World War II, and replaced for 40 years by a ponderous monument to Germany's unity, but a new statue of Wilhelm was placed here in 1993—and still stands today. It's accompanied by three pieces of the Berlin Wall on the Mosel side, a memorial to those who died as a result of the partitioning of the country.

Butterflies from South America, Asia, and Africa flit back and forth over your head between the branches of banana trees and palms at this glass-enclosed garden north of Koblenz. The palace houses a small museum of decorative cast-iron objects, a restaurant, and a café, and its park can be explored. To reach the castle by public transport, take Bus No. 8 from Koblenz Hauptbahnhof to the last stop, "Schloss Sayn" (40 minutes).

This church stands on Roman foundations at the Old Town's highest point, where, on surrounding streets, war damage is evidenced by the blend of old buildings and modern store blocks. The bulk of the church is of Romanesque design, but its choir is one of the Rhineland's finest examples of 15th-century Gothic architecture, and the west front is graced with two 17th-century baroque towers.

Sitting just behind the Deutsches Eck, this modern art museum is housed in the restored 13th-century Deutschherrenhaus. Industrialist Peter Ludwig, one of Germany's leading contemporary-art collectors, bequeathed his collection of French, American, and German art to the museum in 1992. There have been many additions since, but the core collection, featuring works by the likes of Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, and Man Ray, remains.

Relocated in 2013 to the new Forum Confluentes (right by the Tourist Information office), this museum, founded in 1835, houses the city's excellent art collection, including extensive holdings of landscapes focusing on the Rhine. It also has a notable collection of secular medieval art and contemporary works by regional artists.

On the outskirts of Koblenz, on the road to Boppard, the neo-Gothic towers of Schloss Stolzenfels come into view. The castle's origins date to the mid-13th century, when the archbishop of Trier sought to counter the influence (and toll rights) of the archbishop of Mainz, who had just built Burg Lahneck, a castle at the confluence of the Lahn and Rhine rivers. Its superbly furnished period rooms and beautiful gardens are well worth a visit. From B9 (curbside parking) it's about a 15-minute (uphill) walk to the castle entrance. By public transit, Bus 670 from the train station stops at the castle, as do boats from the Koblenz waterfront from mid-April through October.

It was in this sturdy Romanesque basilica, consecrated in 836, that plans were drawn for the Treaty of Verdun, which formalized the division of Charlemagne's great empire and led to the creation of Germany and France as separate states. Inside Koblenz's oldest church, compare the squat Romanesque columns in the nave with the intricate fan vaulting of the Gothic sections. The St. Kastor Fountain outside the church is an intriguing piece of historical one-upmanship. It was built by the occupying French to mark the beginning of Napoléon's ultimately disastrous Russian campaign of 1812.