Antwerp British and International Women

Our hotel was a rather colourful affair but very comfortable and clean.

We all met at the Deutsches Eck (German Corner) which you can see on the right. It is the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine (bottom). At the top left is the old town of Koblenz with its ancient bridge Balduin bridge built in 1342.

The tour started at the car park, hidden by the trees in the picture on the right, but the first monument we looked at was this one below made up from pieces of the Berlin Wall. It is dedicated to all those who lost their lives because of the wall and division of Germany.

We then moved round the imposing memorial you see on the right. Until 1945 there was an equestrian statue, 14 metres high in memory of Kaiser Wilhelm I in gratitude for the unification of the German Empire.

At the end of the war it was destroyed and the statue disappeared. however, with the erection of the wall in 1953 and the division of Germany, the remaining monument was declared a symbol of Germany unity. In 1993 a replica of the original was finally erected.

On the right we are looking across the Rhine whilst our guide is telling us about the history of the town.

On the far right you can see Ken and Isabel who joined us for the weekend. They now live about an hour's drive away from Koblenz.

Here's Isabel helping us see the height of various flooding in the past. The corner here is part of the ancient building built by the knights Templar as a hospital. You can see their cross on the wall. Only the administrative building survives.

We then moved on to the basilica of St. Kastor which you can see below left. It was first consecrated in 836. Over the door is a statue of the Virgin Mary, the patron saint of Koblenz - just like one other city we know and love! 

Below is a photo of its beautiful ceiling. Worth a visit.

After visiting the basilica, we walked on to the "History Column", an interesting piece of architecture that depicts the history of Koblenz, starting at the bottom with the settlement by the town by the Romans.

Just behind the Jesuit Square is the Schängel Fountain. Well, Brussels may have its Manneken Pis but Koblenz has its naughty boy who spits water at people!

From the shopping street there is a good view of the Liebfauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) which we visited later at the end of our tour. Here we can see our top photographer Ken checking his shots.

But sometimes it pays to look down! And what are we looking at? This pretty little fountain of a girl chasing the ducks. (Enten) 

The street name is "Entenpfuhl" and marks the boundary of the old town walls where there used to be a stream with ducks.

This marks the original entrance to the old town. The four houses with their ornamental turrets were built between 1689 and 1693. The ornamentation represents the trades that were carried on here.

The city's main guard-house stood here. Partially destroyed in the war, it has been rebuilt.

It reminded us of the "Four Seasons" in Antwerp.

The Mint Master's House from 1763 is still there.

Following that visit we walked towards the Middle Rhine Museum.

The figure (1726) beneath the tower clock, the "eye-roller", is said to commemorate a legendary robber knight wrongly convicted and hanged in 1536. On the half-hour he rolls his eyes and puts out his tongue. And we arrived just in time to take a photo. Aren't you glad!

The tour ended on the banks of the Mosel.