Cochem (formerly also Kochem) is the district town and the largest town in the Rhineland-Palatinate district of Cochem-Zell. With just over 5000 inhabitants, Cochem is the smallest district town in Germany before Kusel. Since June 7th, 2009 she has been a member of the Cochem community. According to state planning, Cochem is designated as a medium-sized center.
By plane
From the airport Frankfurt-Hahn internet (IATA: HHN)
there is a shuttle bus to Cochem.
Other international airports
are Cologne-Bonn Airport (IATA: CGN) - 110 km, Luxembourg Airport (IATA:
LUX) - 130 km, Frankfurt Airport (IATA: FRA) - 14 km and Düsseldorf
Airport (IATA: DUS) - 159 km.
By train
Train station Moselle
route Trier - Treis-Karden - Koblenz with 7 train stations in the
holiday region of Cochem / Treis-Karden / Cochem and Treis-Karden
(Regional-Express and regional train), Ediger-Eller, Klotten, Pommern,
Müden and Moselkern (all regional trains).
RE 1 Koblenz −
Treis-Karden − Cochem − Bullay − Trier − Saarbrücken − Kaiserslautern −
Ludwigshafen − Mannheim
RE 11 Koblenz − Treis-Karden − Cochem −
Bullay − Trier − Wasserbillig − Luxembourg City
RB 81 Koblenz -
Treis-Karden - Cochem - Ediger-Eller - Bullay - Trier
By car
The fastest way to reach Cochem is via the A48 Koblenz-Trier. From the
east, take the Kaisersesch exit (No. 4), from here it is 12km to Cochem.
Just follow the signs. From the west, leave the A48 at the Ulmen exit
(No. 2), from here the route to Cochem (23 km) is also well signposted.
Via the A61 Ludwigshafen − Koblenz, symbol: AS Boppard in the
direction of Brodenbach or Alken → Treis-Karden − Cochem
Via the B49
Koblenz - Treis-Karden - Cochem - Trier
Via the B416 Koblenz −
Treis-Karden → Cochem
By bus
500 Regio line (RegioRadler
Vulkaneifel): Gerolstein - Daun - Ulmen - Cochem
711 Bullay - Alf -
Bremm - Ediger-Eller - Ellenz-Poltersdorf - Cochem (Calmont Express)
By boat
Excursion boats (Rhine-Moselle river cruises)
Passenger shipping Gebr. Kolb, shipping lines Treis - Cochem - Beilstein
- Zell, Cochem - Traben-Trabach and Cochem - Treis - Koblenz
Cologne-Düsseldorfer, shipping line Koblenz - Alken - Treis - Cochem
pleasure boats
By bicycle
Moselle cycle path
Bundesbank bunker Cochem, Am Wald 35, Cochem (in the district of
Cond). Phone: +49(0)2671 9153540, email: info@bundesbank-bunker.de . One
of the best kept secrets of the old Federal Republic! Well hidden in a
building camouflaged as a conference center, over 15 billion marks of an
emergency currency were stored in this atomic bomb-proof bunker during
the Cold War. A tour shows the building and conveys the story behind the
object. No parking at the bunker. Shuttle bus 10:40 am, 12:40 pm and
2:40 pm from Endertplatz (Tourist Info) Open: guided tours Apr - Oct
daily 11 am - 12 pm - 1 pm - 2 pm - 3 pm, Nov - Mar 11 am - 1 pm - 3 pm,
see website. Price: Admission adults €10.
Historic mustard mill,
Endertstr. 18, 56812 Cochem. Tel.: +49 (0)2671 607 665. Open: Mon-Sun 10
a.m.-6 p.m., including public holidays, Christmas. and New Year closed
Price: free mustard tasting, half-hour guided tour to order. Hours:
adults €2.50.
Gem Museum & Gem Grinding Shop, Unterbachstraße 5.
Tel.: +49 (0)2671 4267. Open: Apr - Oct Mon-Sat 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sun 11
a.m. - 5 p.m. Jan, Feb closed. Guided tours at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4
p.m. Price: Adults €5 incl. guided tour.
St. Martin (Catholic parish church in the city center),
Moselpromenade 8, 56812 Cochem.
St Remaclus (Catholic Church),
Valwiger Str. 3, 56812 Cochem-Cond. St. Remaclus in the Cond district
occupies a special position among the new church buildings of the
post-war period. With its massive but at the same time simple and clear
shape, built from local quarry stone, it should be perceived according
to the concept of the church architect Emil Steffann (1899-1968) as a
bridgehead and counterpoint to the castle on the opposite bank.
The simple and high-quality design continues inside. St. Remaclus stands
for a concept that is exemplary in modern church building. Above all, it
embodies openness: for the liturgical performances according to the
Second Vatican Council, for the gathering of the congregation around the
altar. The cross-shaped room is surrounded by whitewashed brickwork,
punctuated by large round windows. Mighty round arches open the three
arms of the cross with the rows of pews to the central room with the
altar island in front of the deep apse. A large chandelier surrounds the
congregation and the altar with its light. The furnishings are reduced
to a few, very valuable, restored altarpieces and figures (18th and 19th
centuries) from the demolished old parish church and to modestly
designed modern works of art by contemporary artists:
Jochem Pechau:
Foundation stone in the church interior and keystones in the cross vault
of the crypt
Klaus Balke: Tabernacle in the crypt
Paul Nagel:
Forged trellis around the tabernacle
Jakob Schwarzkopf: Lead glass
window in the apse
Christoph Anders: Ambo, eternal light and altar
candlesticks.
The crypt is reached via a stair tower and serves
the community as a baptistery and weekday church. It also houses the
tabernacle. The church is open during worship times.
Schedule:
1950: The old nave in Zehnthausstraße from 1701 is dilapidated and has
become too small for the growing congregation.
1955: Auxiliary Bishop
Bernhard Stein entrusts Pastor Adalbert Heil with the search for a new
location for the church. This in turn commissioned the master church
builder Emil Steffann from Bonn-Mehlem with a first draft.
1964:
Acquisition of the building site and start of construction planning by
architect Heinz Bienefeld. Start of construction under architect Carl
Müller from Offenbach on November 17th.
1968: The church was
consecrated by Bishop Bernhard Stein on May 12, the anniversary of Jakob
Anton Ziegler's death. In the same year the construction of the new
parsonage begins.
2001: Under Pastor Werner Müller, a comprehensive
interior renovation is carried out, the reopening took place on June
2nd.
St. Antonius, Ellerer Str. 44, 56812 Cochem-Sehl.
St. Klaus von
Flüe (Catholic Church), An der Hauptwache 10, 56812 Cochem-Brauheck.
Ebernach Monastery (Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross),
Bruder-Maximilian-Strasse 1, 56812 Cochem. Phone: +49 (0)2671 6008100.
Pestkapelle St. Rochus, called Peterskapelle. In 1422 Archbishop Otto v.
Ziegenhain Cochem on the occasion of the plague for ten years from
property taxes and appraisals. The first building, which is indicated as
S. Pettersberg on the engraving by Braun and Hogenberg, seems to date
from this period. Next to a small rectangular chapel stood an inn. The
keystone above the west portal, made of red sandstone, probably dates
from this period. Despite the severe weathering, a high relief of a
Mother of God seated on clouds with the child, framed by a double pass,
can be seen. In 1666 the plague returned to Cochem once more. This was
probably the reason for Philipp Emmerich von Winneburg and Dietrich
Adolf von Metternich to donate a new building to the parish in Beilstein
and Winneburg in 1680. With this new building, the plague saint St.
Rochus also came to the fore as the namesake. The wooden altar from 1682
shows the client's coat of arms. A note on the back names Michael Luter
for a revision in 1820. The central altarpiece is a glorification of
Mary hovering over the representatives of the spiritual (pope, abbots,
religious, priests) and secular (emperors, kings, bishops) estates.
Above her is the Holy Trinity with Father, Son and Holy Spirit, next to
her is Death with the hourglass and angels holding banners of praise and
quotations from Psalms. A cartouche above the central altar shows Saint
Anthony with the child. At the top of the altar stands Saint Peter with
the key and book in the open gable. Originally, the chapel was decorated
with images of St. Mary Magdalene, St. Roch, St. Sebastian, Bishop St.
Nicholas and another statue of St. Peter. The dog of St. Roch was also
found in a half-relief in the center of the ceiling with a loaf of bread
in its mouth. The chapel's furnishings also included a wooden candelabra
that has since been stolen, i. H. a sconce in the form of an arm covered
with a short sleeve.
Town Hall on the old market square and Martinsbrunnen. The town hall
is a former electoral office building that was destroyed by fire at the
end of the 17th century and rebuilt and expanded at the beginning of the
18th century. In 1739 it received the portal and probably also the
mansard roof. It is a plastered two-storey quarry stone building in the
Baroque style with a rectangular floor plan, measured from the outside
17.50 meters wide and 12.40 meters deep. The walls are 0.90 meters to
1.30 meters thick. The portal, which is 2 meters wide in the light, is
hewn from basalt. The skylight in the round arch above the door contains
a colored wrought iron work. In the tympanum above, to the left and
right of a scrollwork cartouche, is the year. The coat of arms of the
city painted on tin is placed in the originally empty coat of arms oval.
A stone balcony rests on five consoles above the portal. In front of the
town hall on the market square is the market fountain, first mentioned
in 1459, which probably bore a statue of Saint Martin even then. All
parts of today's Martinsbrunnen were built after 1900. The figure of the
saint instead of the original stone sculpture is made of bronze, created
in 1935 by the Trier sculptor Anton Nagel.
Market square with
Martin's fountain
Chapel of the Three Crosses. Located on a rocky
site in an exposed spot between Cochem and Sehl in the Im Haag area, the
chapel to the three crosses offers an impressive view of the Moselle
valley. Like the crucifixion group in front of it today, the
construction of the first chapel at this point was probably based on a
foundation from 1652 at the time of the Elector of Trier, Karl Casper
von der Leyen. This is indicated by the year on the middle basalt cross
with a figure of Christ made of soft sandstone. Two St. Anthony's
crosses, today without the formerly associated portraits of the thieves,
flank the central cross. On the left one finds the master letters P.A.
In the middle of the 19th century, the first chapel had become so
dilapidated that the master builder at the time, Joseph Dalmar sen.
consulted. However, the condition did not allow for a renovation. Dalmar
therefore provided a plan and cost estimate for a new building. It was
financed by donations from the people of Cochem. In addition to many
small ones, there was also a large donation of ten thalers. A raffle was
held to raise additional funds to finance the new building. A pair of
slippers was offered as a prize, which the collector, Captain Sabel,
won. This raffle yielded another ten thalers and so the new building
could be completed in 1850. Dalmar planned this three meters further
back into the slope. The Bauer family donated the necessary premises.
There were also other donations in kind, e.g. B. of roof boards and
Leyen (slates). The mercy seat from the 16th century that was originally
erected here is now in the old choir in St. Martin.
Chairlift with
Pinnerkreuz
City gates: Enderttor wikipedia, Balduinstor, Martinstor,
Fuchsloch
Reichsburg Cochem, Schloßstr. 36. Tel.: +49 (0)2671 255. No parking
at the castle. Shuttle bus transfer (€3.50). Price: Admission adults €7.
The Reichsburg Cochem was first mentioned in a document in 1130. In 1151
it was conquered by King Konrad III. occupied and declared a Reichsburg.
In 1688, troops of the French King Louis XIV occupied the castle in the
course of the Palatinate War of Succession and destroyed it in 1689. The
castle complex remained in ruins for a long time before it was bought in
1868 by the Berlin merchant Louis Fréderic Jacques Ravené for 300
thalers and restored in the neo-Gothic style was built. It has been
owned by the city of Cochem since 1978 and is now managed by Reichsburg
GmbH.
Winneburg. The Winneburg was built in the second half of the
13th century. It was first mentioned in a document in 1304 as the
property of Wirich von Wunnenberg. In the centuries that followed, the
castle complex was constantly expanded, but remained in the possession
of the Lords of Wunnenberg (later Winneburg). After this family had died
out in 1637, the castle came into the possession of the von Metternich
family in the mid-17th century. In 1689, during the Palatinate War of
Succession, the castle was besieged, taken and blown up by French
troops. From then on, the Winneburg was not rebuilt and remained a ruin.
In 1832 Prince von Metternich bought the castle ruins. However, there
was no reconstruction. It has belonged to the city of Cochem since 1932.
The Cochemer Krampen, also called the Moselkrampen, is the tightly
folded stretch of the Moselle that ends at Cochem. It begins about 24 km
upstream at Bremm and, seen from above, looks like an old iron clamp or
bracket, which is what the word Krampen once meant. Between Bremm and
Cochem the river does not simply meander. It traces a double loop,
almost a large W, through the slate of the Rhenish Massif.
Wine
villages sit on both banks of this bend: Bremm at the foot of the
Calmont, Europe’s steepest vineyard slope, then Ellenz-Poltersdorf,
Ernst, Bruttig-Fankel, Beilstein and Valwig. The railway refuses the
long river route. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Tunnel, opened when the rebuilt
Reichsburg was finished in the 1870s, cuts the journey from Ediger-Eller
to Cochem from roughly 21 km along the water to about 4.2 km under the
hill. For walkers the opposite choice is the Erlebnisweg Moselkrampen, a
circular trail laid out in 2005 through vineyards, woods and viewpoints,
with a ferry at Beilstein and a bridge at Bruttig-Fankel.
Cochem
itself is commanded by the Reichsburg. The fortress is first securely
named in 1130. In 1151 King Conrad III took it and made it an imperial
castle. For centuries the Electorate of Trier used it as a toll station
and administrative seat above the river. French troops of Louis XIV
stormed it in 1688 and blew it up in May 1689. The ruin stood for nearly
180 years until Berlin merchant Louis Frédéric Jacques Ravené bought it
in 1868 for 300 gold marks and rebuilt it between 1869 and 1877 as a
neo-Gothic residence. Since 1978 the castle has belonged to the town.
Above the Reichsburg, on the ridge southwest of Cochem in the woodland
called Im Haag, stands the Lescherlinde. The tree is a large-leaved lime
(Tilia platyphyllos), more than 550 years old and close to 30 m high. It
takes its name from the nearby Lescherhof, already recorded in the 13th
century. Together with seven younger limes it is protected as natural
monument ND-7135-381. On a clear day its crown can still be picked out
on the skyline from Cochem station. From its shade the view drops across
the Moselle valley and the castle roofs below.
Opposite Kloster
Ebernach, above the Cochem district of Cond, the Brauselay nature
reserve occupies a south-facing rock wall that rises about 65 m from the
river. Locals call the crag the Loreley of the Moselle. The reserve was
designated on 31 March 1941 and covers a little over 13 hectares. Dry
summers in the rain shadow of the Eifel and Hunsrück, slopes of 30-40
degrees, and dark slate that stores heat by day and releases it at night
create a near-Mediterranean microclimate. Boxwood, barberry, hawthorn
and wild pear grow with steppe heath and dry grassland. Green lizards,
smooth snakes and the rare Apollo butterfly live here. Goats are used to
keep the slopes open. A white grape Madonna stands on a ledge above the
water. From Cond a Stations of the Cross path climbs to a lookout; from
Valwig the Apolloweg approaches the same rocks.
A short way
downstream, near the village of Klotten, the Dortebachtal nature reserve
occupies a narrow side valley that feels almost alpine. It was placed
under protection in 1930 and is the oldest nature reserve on the
Moselle. After the last ice age a sheltered climate allowed plants and
animals from the Mediterranean, the Black Sea region and the Alps to
survive here, among them the Apollo butterfly and the rare dittany. A
marked Kulturweg, signed with a lizard, starts at the hiking car park on
the B 49 about 1 km east of Klotten (Klotten station is on the
Koblenz-Trier line). After 700 m the path reaches a waterfall that is a
cool spray in summer and an ice wall in winter. Switchbacks then climb
to the plateau and the Kasteschkopp viewpoint, with a wide view over the
unusually straight Moselle reach between Klotten, Pommern and
Treis-Karden, the vineyards, and the ruins of Burg Coraidelstein.
Cochem sits on a tight bend of the Moselle known as the Cochemer
Krampen, with the Reichsburg on the rock above and vineyards dropping
almost to the water. The town is compact, so most activities start from
the same few points: Endertplatz, the old Moselle bridge
(Carl-Fritz-Nicolay-Platz), and the river promenade.
Moselle Wine
Express (Mosel-Wein-Express)
A small road train, about 24 m long,
leaves from under the old Moselle bridge. The circuit lasts around 25
minutes and loops through parts of the historic town, across the river
toward Cond, and along the valley with views of the Reichsburg,
vineyards, Enderttor, and the town mosaic on the bridge. Commentary is
available in several languages. In the main season (roughly April to
early November) it runs daily, typically every 30-45 minutes from
mid-morning. Adult tickets were listed around €8 for 2026 (€4 for
children 4-12; small discount with a guest ticket). It does not climb to
the castle. Buy tickets at the kiosk near the start. Tel. +49 2671 7444,
mosel-wein-express.de.
Evening boat trip on the Moselle
Daytime 1-hour panorama cruises (Kolb and KD) run often in season to
Ernst and back, with the castle, old town, and terraced slopes in view.
Evening trips are the better match for a slower close to the day. KD’s
lounge cruise on MS Moselprinz (Saturdays in summer, roughly
June-September) boards about 19:30, sails 20:00-22:00, and uses a DJ on
the open deck in good weather. Snacks and Moselle wine are sold on
board. Expect about €26 for adults. Other operators (including Kolb /
Moselrundfahrten) run Friday-Saturday evening cruises with live music or
DJ from late spring into October, typically departing around 19:30 and
returning near 22:00. Board at the Cochem landing stages on the
promenade. Daylight 1-hour tickets are cheaper (about €13-14). Always
check the current timetable; Mondays are often a rest day except on
holidays.
Nordic walking and marked routes
The Ferienland
Cochem area is laid out as a web of theme paths, Moselsteig side routes,
and vineyard tracks rather than a single urban park. Sixteen marked
Nordic walking and walking options are commonly advertised around town
and the neighboring wine villages. Surfaces range from riverside
promenade to steep vineyard lanes and forest heights. Popular nearby
circuits include the Cochemer Ritterrunde (premium side trail of the
Moselsteig, about 8 or 17 km), paths to Pinnerkreuz and the chairlift
mountain station, the Apolloweg at Valwig, and family loops that can be
combined with Klotti Park. Maps and current route sheets are at the
Tourist Information. Wear proper shoes: many vineyard sections are steep
and cobbled or gravel.
City tours
Guided old-town walks are
booked through Tourist Information Ferienland Cochem, Endertplatz 1,
tel. +49 2671 60040. Duration is about 1 hour. In season they typically
start on Mondays and Saturdays (often 11:00; some listings still mention
morning starts). Guides mix history of the gates, half-timbered streets,
and market square with local “Cochemer Stückelchen” anecdotes. The €4
figure in older leaflets is no longer reliable; current public prices
are higher and should be confirmed when you register. There is also a
free self-guided “Lauschtour” app walk of about 1 hour and a
night-watchman tour on Saturday evenings (longer and more expensive).
Group tours can be arranged in advance.
Moselle adventure pool
(Moselbad Cochem)
Address: Moritzburger Str. 1, 56812 Cochem
(district Cond). Phone: +49 2671 97990, moselbad.de.
The leisure
center combines an indoor wave and adventure pool, a large Kinderland
under a glass dome, slides (including a 55 m speed tube), waterfall,
whirlpool, quiet zone, sauna, restaurant, and a summer outdoor complex
with a 50 m sport pool, non-swimmer pool, paddling pool, giant slide,
and beach volleyball. The site sits between meadows and vineyards on the
right bank. Day tickets for the indoor complex are in the range of about
€12 for adults / €8.70 for children; shorter 2-3 hour tickets cost less.
Outdoor pool day tickets are cheaper (around €6.50 / €4.50). Children
under 3 are free; birthday entry is free. Opening hours vary by season
and school holidays. Confirm before you go.
Wildlife and Leisure
Park Klotten (Klotti Park)
Address: Wildparkstraße 1, 56818 Klotten /
Cochem. Phone: +49 2671 605440, klotti.de.
Opened in 1970 as a
wildlife park on the plateau above the Moselle and later expanded into a
family leisure park of about 30 hectares. A 2.5 km circular trail passes
more than 50 species in large enclosures (bears, deer, ibex, alpacas,
birds of prey, and others), plus a falconry with daily flight displays.
Ride side includes the roller coaster “Die heiße Fahrt,” the wild-water
ride “Zum Rittersturz” (among Germany’s highest and steepest of its
type), dark ride, playground farm, and smaller family rides. Season is
roughly April-October. Combine with the Cochem chairlift and Pinnerkreuz
for views, or with a family hike on the Moselsteig section between
Cochem and Klotten. Check current ticket prices on the park site;
children under 1 m in height are usually free.
Cycling: Moselle
Cycle Path (Moselradweg)
The Moselradweg is the main long-distance
bike route of the valley (roughly 240-250 km from the French Moselle to
Koblenz). Through Cochem it is mostly flat and well signed, with the
castle appearing suddenly after the river bend. From town you can ride a
few kilometers to Klotten, upstream toward Ernst, Bruttig-Fankel,
Ellenz-Poltersdorf and Beilstein, or downstream toward Treis-Karden. The
official line often follows the left bank; a quieter alternative uses
the right bank and an old railway embankment toward Treis. Bike rental
is available in Cochem. The path is suitable for leisure riders; the
steep vineyard tracks above town are a different, much harder option.
Regular events (typical annual pattern)
Confirm exact dates each
year at the Tourist Information or cochem.de / ferienland-cochem.de.
Easter and spring market: two weekends before Easter (stands on
Endertplatz and nearby squares; often a Sunday shopping day).
Blossom
festival of the red Moselle vineyard peach: second Sunday in April.
Cochem is a center for this local peach; market and tastings.
Arts
and crafts / handicrafts market: first weekend of May.
Moselle Wine
Week: around Corpus Christi (often Wednesday before Corpus Christi
through Sunday). Early-season tasting of local Rieslings.
Cochem Wine
Festival / vineyard-sites festival: last weekend in June (wine stands,
often with a Cond / riverside component).
Castle festival (Burgfest)
at the Reichsburg: first weekend of August (medieval program on the
castle grounds).
Homeland and wine festival (Heimat- und Weinfest):
last weekend in August. One of the larger Moselle wine festivals;
promenade and market square, music stages, Sunday parade, evening
fireworks.
Day / harvest market of the red Moselle vineyard peach:
second weekend in September (fruit, jams, liqueurs, cakes).
Federweißenfest (new wine / Federweißer): first and second weekends in
November, usually in a festival tent on Endertplatz, with onion tart and
live music.
Advent magic and Christmas market: from late November
into December in the old town, plus separate castle Advent and
Burgweihnacht events at the Reichsburg.
Position in Germany and the Moselle system
Cochem lies at about
50°08′49″ N, 7°10′00″ E, roughly halfway between Trier to the southwest
and Koblenz to the northeast. Road distances are about 50 km to Koblenz
and around 90 km to Trier along the valley. The A48 motorway runs only
about 16 km north of town; the scenic B49 follows the river.
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport is about 41-44 km away.
The Moselle rises in
the Vosges in France, forms part of the Luxembourg-Germany border, then
flows through Rhineland-Palatinate before joining the Rhine at Koblenz.
The German reach is divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower Moselle.
Cochem belongs to the Lower Moselle, also called the Terrassenmosel
because the valley here is narrow and the slopes are so steep that vines
grow on stone-walled terraces. This section runs from around Pünderich
to the Rhine confluence.
Cochem stands at the downstream end of the
Cochemer Krampen, a 20-24 km sequence of tight meanders that begins near
Bremm. From the air the loops look like a clamp or hook. The town grew
where the Endertbach enters the Moselle, a natural break in the gorge
that linked the river road with routes up onto the Eifel.
Relief,
districts, and how the town is laid out
The river front sits at about
83-85 m above sea level. Surrounding ridges rise to nearly 300 m. The
highest point in the municipal area is the Pinner Kreuzberg at about 299
m, roughly 200-215 m above the water. That short vertical drop is what
gives Cochem its enclosed, theatrical setting.
The municipality
covers about 21.2 km² and has around 5,000 inhabitants (recent figures
range from just under 5,000 to about 5,350). It is one of Germany’s
smallest district seats.
Built-up areas follow the river and one
plateau:
Old town and Sehl on the left (north-west) bank. The
walled medieval core occupies a narrow strip between the Moselle and the
castle hill. Sehl continues upstream along the same bank.
Cond on the
right bank, linked by bridges including the Skagerrak Bridge.
Brauheck on the Eifel heights along the B259, several kilometres from
the river. It holds commercial land, newer housing, and is close to
Büchel air base.
Side streams that dissect the slate hills
include the Endertbach, Kraklebach, Ebernacher Bach, Sehlerbach,
Falzbach, and Märtscheltbach. Their small valleys create extra pockets
of woodland, dry grassland, and rock.
From the Pinnerkreuz or the
chairlift, the pattern is clear: old town as a thin ribbon on the left
bank, Cond opposite, vineyards on both flanks, forest on the skyline.
Eifel, Hunsrück, and the Rhenish Slate Mountains
Cochem-Zell is a
three-part landscape. The Moselle trench splits two uplands of the
Rhenish Slate Mountains (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge):
Eifel
north and west of the river: higher plateaus, cooler climate, more
forest and pasture. The district’s high point is the Höchstberg at 616
m.
Hunsrück south and east: another slate upland, also forested on
the heights.
Moselle valley between them: a deep incision, in places
150-200 m below the plateaus, with meanders, undercut slopes, and
slip-off slopes.
About 45-48% of the district is forest. In
Cochem itself one older land-use note lists about 1,174 ha of woodland
and 64 ha of vines within the municipal area. Settlement and transport
occupy the scarce flat land on the valley floor.
The valley itself is
a protected landscape along much of the Moselle from Schweich to
Koblenz.
Geology: why the slopes look the way they do
The
bedrock is Lower Devonian slate (Tonschiefer) with greywacke and
quartzite. These rocks formed in a shallow sea more than 350-390 million
years ago, then were folded and later uplifted as part of the Rhenish
Massif. In the Quaternary, as the massif rose, the Moselle cut downward
and sideways, locking in the meanders of the Cochemer Krampen.
Dark
slate dominates the vineyard soils. It heats quickly, stores warmth, and
releases it at night. Fractured slate drains well and forces vine roots
deep. Quartzite and quartzitic sandstone in the Lower Moselle warm even
faster. Loose slate shards underfoot on hillside paths are the same rock
that shapes the wine.
Steepness is extreme. Nearby Calmont, between
Bremm and Ediger-Eller, is often called Europe’s steepest vineyard, with
pitches around 65°. Around Cochem the same terrace-and-wall system
appears on a slightly less extreme scale. That is why this reach is the
Terrassenmosel and, in wine law, the Bereich Burg Cochem.
Climate
and microclimate
Regionally Cochem has a temperate oceanic climate
(Köppen Cfb): mild summers, cool winters, rain in every month. The
valley is a climatic “favored site” compared with the Eifel and Hunsrück
plateaus. South- and southwest-facing slopes, dark slate, dry-stone
walls, and the river as a heat reservoir all raise local temperatures.
Typical valley figures:
July daytime highs around 23-24 °C
January daytime highs around 3-5 °C, nights near or just below freezing
Annual precipitation often cited between about 600 and 800 mm depending
on station and period
Sunshine on the order of 1,400-1,600 hours a
year
Wettest months in late autumn and winter; April often among the
drier months
Snow occurs in winter but the valley floor is milder
than the 400-500 m plateaus. Fog can pool in the gorge; heat islands
form on open, south-facing rock and vineyard walls. Those conditions
favor Riesling more than almost any other grape.
River, transport
geography, and neighboring places
The Moselle here is a working
waterway as well as a scenic one. Cruise ships dock below the castle;
the Moselle Cycle Path and Moselsteig long-distance trail follow the
valley. A railway tunnel and the Moselstrecke (Trier-Koblenz line) use
the same narrow corridor. The Endert Valley is the historic exit toward
the Eifel heights.
Immediate neighbors along the river include
Klotten, Valwig, Bruttig-Fankel, Beilstein, Ediger-Eller, Bremm,
Treis-Karden, and Moselkern. Zell and the Zeller Hamm lie farther
upstream. Burg Eltz stands in a side valley near Moselkern and
Treis-Karden. On the heights, Kaisersesch, Büchel, and Faid belong to
the Eifel side of the same district.
Cochem is therefore both a pinch
point and a hub: the place where a tightly coiled slate gorge, a wine
terrace landscape, and the old river-and-ridge road system meet. The
castle on its crag is not an accident of architecture. It occupies the
one hill that commands the bend, the bridges, and the mouth of the
Endertbach.
Setting and earliest traces
The Moselle valley was settled long
before written records. Celts and then Romans used the river corridor.
Romans introduced large-scale viticulture on the terraced slopes,
exploiting the mild climate and slate soils that still define Moselle
wine. Cochem itself has no securely identified Roman town plan, and the
official town chronicle states that its Celtic, Roman, and early
medieval history is otherwise unknown. Settlement at this particular
bend is first documented only in the 9th century.
The name appears in
many early forms: Cuchuma or villa Cuchema (866), Cuhckeme and Chuckeme
(893), Cochemo (1051), Chuchumo (1056), Kuchema (1130), and later
Cochheim or Cocheim into the 18th century.
First documentary
mention (866)
On 20 December 866 a noblewoman named Hieldilda donated
properties to Prüm Abbey, including a manor house “in villa cuchema.”
That is the first sure written mention of the place. A settlement
already existed at river level; the castle on the conical hill above
came later.
Palatine counts and the rise of the castle
By the
11th century the hill belonged to the Rhenish counts palatine of the
Ezzonen family. Tradition long credited Count Palatine Ezzo (or
Ehrenfried, brother-in-law of Emperor Otto) with founding the fortress
around 1000 or 1020. His daughter Richeza, once queen of Poland, is
linked to an early transfer of the castle in 1051. Modern research is
more cautious: the first secure mention of the castle itself is a 1130
charter of Count Palatine Wilhelm of Ballenstedt referring to a ship
toll collected “before the castle of our inheritance called Cochem.” The
lower part of the keep still contains 11th-century masonry.
The
fortress controlled the river bend and a chain that could be raised to
stop ships and collect customs. That combination of height and water
made Cochem valuable.
A darker episode belongs to Count Palatine
Hermann of Salm, anti-king against Emperor Henry IV. Defeated in 1085,
he wandered the Moselle and was killed in 1088 in front of his own
castle. Locals remembered him as the “Garlic King.”
In 1151 King
Conrad III ended a succession fight between the houses of Stahleck and
Rheineck by seizing the castle from Boppard and making it an imperial
fief. From then on it was a Reichsburg - an imperial castle held for the
king. Royal burggraves administered it. Some behaved like robber barons;
in 1282 Rudolf of Habsburg had to besiege the place and discipline Count
Cuno.
Below the castle, in the Burgfrieden and Herrenstraße, castle
men-at-arms lived with privileges that ordinary townsmen did not share.
The wider “Cochem Empire” of attached villages formed a territorial
barrier between the two halves of the Archbishopric of Trier.
Pledge to Trier and town rights (1294-1332)
In 1294 King Adolf of
Nassau, short of money for his coronation, pledged castle, town, and a
district of some fifty places to Archbishop Boemund I of Trier. The
pledge was never redeemed. Cochem remained Electoral-Trier territory
until French troops arrived in 1794. Locals later summed up the period
with the proverb that life under the crosier could be quite pleasant.
Archbishop Balduin of Luxembourg (1307-1354), brother of Emperor Henry
VII, enlarged the castle, raised the keep, extended the walls, and
improved the Moselle road. He also used a heavy chain across the river
as a toll barrier. In 1332 Cochem received town rights (often cited as
Frankfurt-style privileges under Emperor Louis the Bavarian) and was
soon enclosed with walls, towers, and gates that still define the old
town. Noble families - von Dietz, von Ulmen, Bürresheim, Arras, Monreal,
and the lords of Winneburg - were proud to be associated with the
castle. The Metternichs later held court on the market square. In 1512
Archbishop Richard of Greiffenklau and Emperor Maximilian I processed to
St. Martin’s Church.
Plague, Jews, and late medieval shocks
Prosperity was uneven. A plague epidemic struck in 1423-1425; St.
Peter’s Chapel below the castle still commemorates those years.
Jews
are first mentioned in 1242. In 1287, after the Oberwesel blood libel,
17 Jews including 10 children were massacred in Cochem. The community
suffered again in the Armleder violence of 1337 and the Black Death
massacres of 1349. Jews reappear in 1359, were expelled in 1418,
returned in the mid-16th century, and were expelled again in 1589. A new
community formed in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
Thirty
Years’ War and the Capuchins
In 1623 Elector Lothar von Metternich
founded a Capuchin convent; the monastery and church were built in the
1620s and later enlarged. During the Thirty Years’ War the town was
besieged but not taken. Robber bands, including the Moselle band
mentioned in Grimmelshausen’s Simplicissimus, still preyed on the
valley.
The catastrophe of 1688-1689
The decisive break came
in the Nine Years’ War (War of the Palatine Succession). Louis XIV’s
engineer Vauban had built the fortress of Montroyal near Traben-Trarbach
in 1687. From there French forces terrorized the Moselle. On 8 November
1688 Marshal de Boufflers took Cochem after heavy fighting. In May 1689
Winneburg Castle was burned. Two days later Lieutenant de Saxis had
Reichsburg Cochem set on fire, undermined, and blown up “sacrificed to
the volcano in broad daylight.” When imperial and Trier troops briefly
retook the town, the French counter-attacked. On 25 August 1689 they
stormed Cochem, killed much of the garrison and a large part of the
population, and burned the town and the Capuchin monastery, the last
refuge of the defenders. Cochem was left poor and half-empty. Rebuilding
was slow; stone from demolished Montroyal was reused. The parish church
tower was finished only in 1733. The castle itself stayed a ruin for
nearly 180 years.
Eighteenth-century recovery
By the 18th
century Cochem was again a trading town. A weekly market boat went to
Koblenz. For the Frankfurt fair the town outfitted a ship carrying
spices, ironware, grain, wood, leather, and fine Cochem cloth. Inns
lined the waterfront - the Bear, the Ox, the Swan, the Lion, the Holy
Spirit, the Sun, the Double Eagle, the German Emperor. An early
19th-century traveler claimed Cochem had as many wine and beer taverns
as Breslau, then Prussia’s second city. A postal station of the Imperial
Thurn und Taxis post had existed since the early 17th century.
French Revolution and Prussia
French Revolutionary troops occupied
Cochem in 1794 (sometimes dated 1796 in local texts). Troop movements,
taxes, and billets brought poverty and robber bands in the Eifel and
Hunsrück. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the town passed to the
Kingdom of Prussia and in 1816 became seat of a new district. The
revolutionary year 1848 produced what locals still recall as Cochem’s
“merry democracy,” with speeches in the Sonne and the Zollhaus (today
Hotel Union). A carnival song still remembers “the year when it was
Carnival all year round.”
Ravené and the neo-Gothic castle
In
1866-1868 Berlin steel merchant Louis Fréderic Jacques Ravené, of
Huguenot descent, bought the ruin for 300 gold marks. Between 1869 and
1877 (main work 1874-1877) architects Hermann Ende and Julius Carl
Raschdorff rebuilt it as a neo-Gothic summer residence, using older
plans from 1576 and keeping the medieval keep. The result is historicist
fantasy more than an exact replica of the 11th-14th century fortress,
but it is the castle the world now photographs. After Ravené’s death his
son continued interiors into the 1890s. The Prussian state acquired the
castle in 1942; since 1 April 1978 it has belonged to the town of
Cochem.
The reconstruction coincided with the Kaiser Wilhelm Tunnel
(opened 1879), which cut the notorious “Cochem hairpin” of the Moselle
railway from 21 km to 4.2 km and was Germany’s longest rail tunnel until
1987.
Bridge, suburbs, and tourism
The first Moselle road
bridge, the Skagerrak Bridge, opened on 23 January 1927. In 1932 the
fishing villages of Cond (right bank) and Sehl were incorporated.
English artists and Romantic travelers had already “discovered” the
valley in the early 19th century; by the 1930s Cochem was the Moselle’s
leading tourist town. An air-force presence after 1956 created the
Brauheck district on the Eifel heights.
Jewish community in the
modern era
A synagogue in Rundbogenstil was dedicated in 1860-1861 on
Oberbachstraße; a schoolhouse followed in 1897. The community numbered
49 in 1834, peaked around 104-114 in the 1890s, and stood at 49 in 1932.
On 9 November 1938 the synagogue and school were wrecked. The last
Jewish residents were deported in 1942. At least several dozen people
from Cochem or long resident there were murdered in the Holocaust. Only
one family returned after the war. The synagogue ruin was later
demolished after bomb damage in 1945. The Jewish cemetery on Kelberger
Straße survives with stones from 1877 to the 1940s. Memorial plaques
mark the synagogue site and the murdered families (Mayer, Goetzoff,
Hirsch, Dahl, Haimann, Hein, Simon).
World War II
Allied bombs
hit Cochem repeatedly. A heavy raid on 16-18 September 1942 destroyed
inns and shops and killed 18 people. The worst attack came at midday on
5 January 1945: more than 200 bombs without prior warning, 67 dead, 14
major fires, about 50 buildings total losses, including much of the
market area, Bernstraße, Herrenstraße, and the rebuilt nave of St.
Martin’s (the late-Gothic “old choir” survived). The Moselle bridge was
also destroyed and rebuilt by 1949. Nearby, an underground subcamp of
Natzweiler (Zeisig) at Bruttig-Treis used forced labor for Bosch war
production. In 1943 the castle briefly served as a National Socialist
training site for jurists. Cochem became part of the new state of
Rhineland-Palatinate in 1946.
After 1945
The old town was
reconstructed with care for remaining timber-frame houses and walls. A
second Moselle bridge (the North Bridge) opened in 1993. The Reichsburg
is now the town’s main attraction, run by a municipal company. Cochem
remains the largest town and administrative seat of the Cochem-Zell
district, with a population of a little over 5,300, wine on the slopes,
river cruise traffic, and a historic core that still shows the layers of
imperial castle, Trier town, French ruin, Prussian district seat, and
Romantic reconstruction.