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St. Goar with Loreley
The little town of St. Goar lies on the left bank of the Rhine with
it's neighboring town of St. Goarshausen across the river connected to
it by a ferry. The best view of the rock of Loreley can be had from
here. This rock was immortalized in the ballad by Heinrich Heine about
the beautiful Loreley who sat upon the rock combing her golden hair
with a golden comb. She brought death and destruction to the sailors
who watched her and did not pay attention to the rocky reefs. This
story, set to music by Friedrich Silcher, has made Loreley the symbol
for the romantic Rhine.
Near St. Goar is the Rheinfels fortress, a part of a perfect blockade
of the Rhine flow for the purpose of tax collecting. Another part of
the blockade was Neu-Katzenelnbogen on the same side of the river as
St. Goarshausen and locally known as 'Burg Katz' (Cat Castle). It was
built in the 14th century by Count Johann III von Katzenelnbogen as a
counterpart to the nearby archbishop of Trier's Peterseck castle, which
immediately was nicknamed "Mouse Castle". The illustration shows 'Cat
castle'.
Photo: View from the vantage point near Patersberg ("Dreiseenblick") to Katz Castle
(Cat Castle) and the deeply cut narrow part of the Rhine with the Loreley
rocks in the background.
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