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Fortress Ehrenbreitstein and the Deutsche Eck in Koblenz
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Koblenz is one of
German's oldest cities. Founded sometime by the Roman conquerers of
the Rhineland, and now over 2000 years old, and derives its name
from its location at the "confluence" of the Rhine and Mosel rivers.
In my observation a somewhat sleepy, provincial municipality,
Koblenz has an undeniably rich history and is an important
administrative and educational hub in the northern region of the
small German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, hosting three
universities and the archives of Rhineland-Palatinate. The photo on the right shows a view of the Paffendorfer bridge over the Rhine and was taken in 1930. This photo and other historical photos of Koblenz, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, can be found here. Check out the official website of the city of Koblenz here and the 360-degree panoramas from various places in Koblenz. I visited Koblenz on a number of occasions and, because I like visiting fortresses and being photographed in front of monumental statues or edifices, have usually landed up there at either Fortress Ehrenbreitsein or the Deutsches Eck. You can see these photos below. On a more personal note, Koblenz has played an important role for my mother's family. Months after the second world war ended, my mother, her two sisters and my grandmother practically fled the eastern part of Germany and, after spending some time in the Frankfurt area, came to the Rhineland. They settled down in Höhr-Grenzhausen, a small town renowned for its ceramic industry and located hardly 15 kilometers outside Koblenz. My one Aunt still lives there today. My grandmother passed away in a Koblenz hospital in April 1975. The photos below were taken in 1999. I travelled to Koblenz in the company of my very dear friend Klaus Grütjen, who at the time was my future doctoral supervisor's right hand man and the official at the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer responsible for tutoring all foreign students, and my colleague and friend Christian Sissao from Burkina Faso in West Africa, who came to Speyer to study public administration. Among all foreign students enrolled in the masters programme, he qualified on first place. |
Koblenz also
hosts the imposing
