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90-737: The municipality lies in the eastern Hunsrück at the foot of the Soonwald, a heavily wooded section of the Hunsrück, and some 15 km from the Rhine . The Simmerbach flows through the village. Kisselbach is the northernmost municipality in the Verbandsgemeinde of Rheinböllen. In 1240, Kisselbach had its first documentary mention and from times of yore it was split by the Simmerbach into two like-named villages, one of which belonged to

180-596: A few examples of European wildcat or even the Eurasian lynx . Red fox , European badgers and pine martens are more commonly encountered. The best known mammal in the Hunsrück has become the barbastelle . It achieved notoriety when the presence of this rare species of bat delayed construction on the runway extension at Hahn Airport. In the numerous wet areas, amphibians , like the fire salamander , and insects have found ideal habitats. Meanwhile, in areas covered by dry grassland or scree, numerous reptiles like

270-407: A greater variety of plant species. Although the Hunsrück is not classified as a bird reserve, it is home to a wide variety of bird species: woodpeckers , birds of prey and song birds may be seen at all times of the year. Even the rare and shy black stork nests in the forests. The Hunsrück is rich in mammals; red deer , roe deer and wild boar are intensively hunted. Larger predators include

360-589: A large bridge built in 49 AD by the Romans are still visible. The Romans built two forts as protection for the bridge, one in 9 AD and another in the 2nd century, the latter being destroyed by the Franks in 259. North of Koblenz was a temple of Mercury and Rosmerta (a Gallo-Roman deity), which remained in use up to the 5th century. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire , the city was conquered by

450-516: A lion rampant sinister Or armed and langued gules and argent a cross of the third, on a chief of the second an eagle displayed of the first armed of the third. The black eagle in the chief recalls the Imperial immediacy formerly held by “Königs-Kisselbach” (“King’s Kisselbach”). The wavy line of partition symbolizes the Simmerbach, which divided what was once two villages, both named Kisselbach: Diesseits (roughly “On This Side” or “Over Here”), as

540-526: A new one. In 1953, Bundespräsident Theodor Heuss rededicated the monument to German unity , adding the signs of the remaining western federal states as well as the ones of the lost areas in the East. A Flag of Germany has flown there since. The Saarland was added four years later after the population had voted to join Germany. In the 1980s, a film clip of the monument was often shown on late night TV when

630-569: A popular hub of royalist émigrés and escaping feudal lords who had fled France. It was sometime in mid-1791, after June but before October, that supporters of loyalty in Koblenz (as well as Worms and Brussels ) were preparing an invasion of France that was to be supported by foreign armies, with conspirators regularly travel between Koblenz and Tuileries Palace , accepting encouragement and money from King Louis XVI , while secret committees were collecting arms and enrolling men and officers. Among

720-595: A representative of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil, and visited the Hanseatic cities , Frankfurt and many of the German courts. This mission sparked the first major wave of German emigrants to Brazil . Many of them were recruited by Schäffer from the Hunsrück, the northern and western parts of present-day Saarland and the Western Palatinate . The first immigrants from the Hunsrück settled in 1824 in what

810-458: A result of the increasing neglect and deprivation of parts of the population in Germany during the era of industrialization , an Inner Mission association was founded at the initiative of the Simmern pastor, and later superintendent, Julius Reuss , in Simmern, with the aim of building a rescue centre in the Hunsrück for children living in poverty. In 1851, an area between Simmern and Nannhausen,

900-616: A territory ruled by a side line of the counts Palatine. In the following years, Simmern became the most important residence of a noble family in the Hunsrück. Under Duke John II the town achieved supra-regional importance for a short time. After the Thirty Years' War , Louis XIV of France made reunification demands on several principalities in the Palatinate, the Hunsrück and the Eifel. He had his troops invade and thus precipitated

990-547: Is a Baroque edifice by J.C. Sebastiani (1694–1698) serves as the current City Hall. Near Koblenz is the Lahneck Castle near Lahnstein, open to visitors from 1 April to 31 October. The city is close to the Bronze Age earthworks at Goloring , a possible Urnfield calendar constructed some 3,000 years ago. The mild climate allows fig trees , olive trees , palm trees and other Mediterranean plants to grow in

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1080-805: Is also on various federal highways 9 , 42 , 49 , 416 , 258 and 327 . The Glockenberg Tunnel connects the Pfaffendorf Bridge to the B ;42. The following bridges cross: Koblenz Hbf is an Intercity-Express stop on the West Rhine Railway between Bonn and Mainz and is also served by trains on the East Rhine Railway Wiesbaden – Cologne . Koblenz is the beginning of the Moselle line to Trier (and connecting to Luxemburg and Saarbrücken ) and

1170-633: Is around 100 km long (SW to NE) and an average of 25 to 30 km wide (NW to SE). Its perimeter is a heavily incised peneplain with elongated ridges in the south (the Hochwald , Idar Forest , Soonwald and Bingen Forest ). The range, which begins at the Saar in the southwest and, with breaks, reaches as far as the Rhine, climbs to its highest point in the Hochwald at the Erbeskopf (816.32 m),

1260-441: Is at the centre of the upland, equidistant between Mainz , Trier and Koblenz, co-named after the village of Hahn . Slate is still mined in the mountains. Since 2010, the region has become one of Germany's major onshore wind power regions. Large wind farms are near Ellern and Kirchberg. Nature-based tourism is widespread. In 2015, a new national park was inaugurated. The pedestrian Geierlay suspension bridge opened in

1350-541: Is now the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul , near the city of São Leopoldo . Not until 1830 did the number of emigrants to Brazil begin to fall. The 1840s in Europe were marked by inflation, crop failures and a degree of social unrest, so that again (especially in 1846 and 1861) many people in Hunsrück decided to leave in two more waves of emigration, especially to North America and Brazil . In August 1846, it

1440-552: Is the Waldkapelle (“Forest Chapel”) consecrated to Mary , to which a procession of lights is made on the 13th day of every month from May to October by the local Catholic congregation. In Kisselbach there are a sport club with a tennis department, a volunteer fire brigade , a theatrical club and the Catholic Church's singing club. As well, Kisselbach has at its disposal its own open channel . Kisselbach lies near

1530-649: The Archbishopric of Trier while the other was held by Electoral Palatinate . Beginning in 1794, both villages lay under French rule. In 1814, they were assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna . The separate administration continued until 1939, when the two municipalities united. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate . The table lists population figures for Kisselbach from selected years since

1620-701: The Autobahn A ;61 , Laudert/Kisselbach interchange . Hunsr%C3%BCck The Hunsrück ( German pronunciation: [ˈhʊnsʁʏk] ) is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate , Germany . It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past

1710-509: The Duke of Brunswick , who commanded one of the invading armies, composed of 70,000 Prussians and 68,000 Austrians, Hessians and émigrés, began to march upon Koblenz. He published a manifesto in which he threatened to set fire to the towns that dared to defend themselves, and to exterminate their inhabitants as rebels, including Koblenz. The city's fate was at hand. But, just as in World War 1,

1800-585: The Gravettian (ca. 30,000–20,000 B.C.) sites in Heddesheim (in the municipality of Guldental ) and Brey (in the municipality of Rhens ) are the first settlements in the area around the Hunsrück. Other significant sites include the rather more recent Old Stone Age site of Nußbaum near Bad Sobernheim and the encampment of Late Palaeolithic deer hunters in Boppard, which was first discovered in 2001 by

1890-456: The Lahntal railway to Limburg and Gießen . The other stations in Koblenz are Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein , Koblenz-Güls, Koblenz-Lützel , Koblenz-Moselweiß and Koblenz Stadtmitte , which opened on 14 April 2011. The campus of University of Koblenz is located in the city. The Koblenz University of Applied Sciences ( German : Hochschule Koblenz ) is also located in the city. Koblenz

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1980-572: The Lahntal railway , part of the Berlin railway referred to above. The Moselle is spanned by a Gothic freestone bridge of 14 arches, erected in 1344, two modern road bridges and also by two railway bridges. Since 1890, the city has consisted of the Altstadt (old city) and the Neustadt (new city) or Klemenstadt. Of these, the Altstadt is closely built and has only a few fine streets and squares, while

2070-683: The Late Neolithic and belong to the Michelsberg culture . Up to 2007, numerous oval stone axes were discovered, especially in the Fore-Hunsrück ( Morshausen , Beulich and Macken ). Likewise, finds of flint arrowheads point to a Late Neolithic ( inter alia at Bell ) and very Late Neolithic ( Hirzenach ) settlement. Other finds from the Bronze Age prove that there was continual settlement (especially documented by graves and grave goods). A greater process of settlement took place in

2160-619: The Nine Years' War . In 1689 Kirchberg, Kastellaun, Simmern and the town and castle of Stromberg were set on fire. Then came the chaos of war, which led to the War of the Spanish Succession and which ended in 1713. In the following years, trade and commerce grew. In the Hunsrück the first industry was set up by the families of Hauzeur, Pastert and Stumm. They ran mining, processing and ore smelting businesses. These, in turn, spurred

2250-597: The Rhine ( Middle Rhine ) and the Moselle , a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus c.  8 BC . Its name originates from the Latin (ad) cōnfluentēs , meaning "(at the) confluence ". The actual confluence is today known as the " German Corner ", a symbol of the unification of Germany that features an equestrian statue of Emperor William I . The city celebrated its 2,000th anniversary in 1992. It ranks in population behind Mainz and Ludwigshafen am Rhein to be

2340-642: The Schmiedel , was acquired. There, the first building was erected as a "mother house" ( Mutterhaus or domus materna ), which opened on 13 September 1851 with a householder and twelve boys. Even today, the head offices of the Schmiedel organization remain on the site. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871 and the foundation of the German Reich under Prussia 's leadership, the so-called Gründerzeit began. Its success did not impact

2430-795: The Trechirgau , the southern part to the Nahegau . The Trechirgau was managed by the so-called Bertholds , the Nahegau by the Emichones . The capital of the Trechirgau, Trigorium , was in Treis .  The Hundesrucha is mentioned for the first time in a 1074 deed from Ravengiersburg Abbey . In the Middle Ages, the Hunsrück was territorially fragmented between the counts Palatine of

2520-552: The slowworm and smooth snake have found a home. The viper does not occur in the Hunsrück. Finds such as stone axes indicate that the Hunsrück has been settled since the New Stone Age . Older discoveries, which prove that the area was either settled or crossed during the Old Stone Age , are rare. Middle Palaeolithic (ca. 200,000–400,000 B.C.) surface finds from Weiler bei Bingen are an exception. By contrast

2610-494: The (re) foundation of the German Empire and the German refusal of any French claims to the area, as described in the song " Die Wacht am Rhein " together with the "Wacht am Rhein" called " Niederwalddenkmal " some 60 kilometers (37 miles) upstream. During World War II, the statue was destroyed by US artillery. The French occupation administration intended the complete destruction of the monument and wanted to replace it with

2700-894: The 17th century, it has been home to the Königsbacher (now Koblenzer) brewery (the Old Brewery in Koblenz's historic center, and now a plant in Koblenz-Stolzenfels). It is an important regional transit hub. The headquarters of the German Army Forces Command was located in the city until 2012. Its successor, the German Army Command (German: Kommando Heer, Kdo H) is based at the von-Hardenberg-Kaserne in Strausberg, Brandenburg. The Bundeswehr's Joint Medical Service Headquarters

2790-518: The 20th-century life of a small fictional village in the Hunsrück. The electronic music festival Nature One is held at the Pydna missile base in Kastellaun . Koblenz Koblenz ( UK : / k oʊ ˈ b l ɛ n t s / koh- BLENTS , US : / ˈ k oʊ b l ɛ n t s / KOH -blents , German: [ˈkoːblɛnts] ) is a German city on the banks of

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2880-736: The ARRATA Archaeology Society. In 2014, Late Palaeolithic rock carvings similar to those from southern France and Spain were found in the Hunsrück. They were portraits of animals, especially horses, about 25,000 years old carved into a 1.2 m² slab of slate. The oldest witnesses from the New Stone Age are dated to no later than the Middle Neolithic , relics of the so-called Rössen culture (whose sites include Biebernheim and Reckershausen ). The majority of finds, especially of stone axes date, however, to

2970-833: The Congress of Vienna (at 31 December each time): The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. Kisselbach's mayor is Christine Düster. The German blazon reads: Unter goldenem Schildhaupt, darin ein rotbewehrter, schwarzer Adler, schräglinke Wellenteilung. Vorne in Schwarz ein goldener, rotgezungter und bewehrter Löwe nach links, hinten rotes Balkenkreuz in Silber. The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per bend sinister wavy sable

3060-805: The Early Iron Age ( Hallstatt period ) with the Laufeld culture and in the La Tène period (5th– 1st century B.C.) with the Hunsrück-Eifel culture , which has been linked with the Celts . Examples of this culture include the coach grave of Bell, the Waldalgesheim prince's grave , the circular rampart of Otzenhausen , the Pfalzfeld obelisk , the upland settlement of Altburg in

3150-788: The Electoral-Palatinate side was called, is represented by the Palatine Lion on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side, while Jenseits (roughly “On That Side” or “Over There”), as the Electoral-Trier side was called, is represented by the Trier cross on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side. The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate ’s Directory of Cultural Monuments: Another building worth seeing in Kisselbach

3240-609: The Franks and became a royal seat. After the division of Charlemagne 's empire, it was included in the lands of his son Louis the Pious (814). In 837, it was assigned to Charles the Bald , and a few years later it was here that Carolingian heirs discussed what was to become the Treaty of Verdun (843), by which the city became part of Lotharingia under Lothair I . In 860 and 922, Koblenz

3330-437: The Hahnenbach valley and the numerous fields of tumuli . At that time, the Hunsrück was the tribal area of the Treveri . Between about 50 BC and AD 400 the Romans opened up the Hunsrück by building a dense network of roads. The best known relic of this is the Via Ausonia . Numerous finds of Roman farms ( Villa Rustica ), settlements, like the vicus Belginum , and military structures point to an almost total settlement of

3420-459: The Hunsrück Highway, 140 kilometres long, in just 100 days. Supply depots and airfields were built in the woods on both sides of the road. In the Second World War and post-war period, two places in the Hunsrück rose to notoriety: Hinzert concentration camp and Bretzenheim POW camp , the so-called "Field of Misery". In 1946, most of the Hunsrück became part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate , with small elements around Nonnweiler going to

3510-508: The Hunsrück children are taught the boundaries of the Hunsrück using the following rhyme: "Mosel, Nahe, Saar und Rhein schließen unsern Hunsrück ein." ("Moselle, Nahe, Saar and Rhine enclose our Hunsrück") The following table lists the highest mountains and hills of the Hunsrück by sub-range (Osburger and Schwarzwälder Hochwald, Idar Forest, Haardt Forest, Soonwald, Bingen Forest and Lützelsoon) and height in metres above sea level (NN) : Despite, in places, intensive agricultural or timber use,

3600-425: The Hunsrück in the late 18th century. In 1792, as a result of the French Revolution and the seizure of power by Napoleon , French troops once again invaded the territories west of the Rhine and annexed them during the French period . After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, most of the Hunsrück was reallocated at the Congress of Vienna to Prussia 's Rhine Province . Parts of today's Birkenfeld and

3690-402: The Hunsrück is formed by the Hunsrück Plateau and the Simmern Bowl. In the northwest the Hunsrück is bounded by the Moselle river and in the east by the Rhine . Its northeasternmost tip is thus formed by the Deutsches Eck . The Nahe – on the edge of the Bingen Forest , the Soonwald and the Lützelsoon – borders the mountains to the south. The Lower Naheland is not part of

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3780-416: The Hunsrück region. They achieved this through the creation of dairy cooperatives , postal agencies and, in particular, through adult education . The First World War , the Occupation Period and inflation also had a serious impact on the economy of the Hunsrück and its inhabitants, but there were not the political tensions that arose in many places in the German Reich. A pioneer of industrialisation in

3870-413: The Hunsrück remains a landscape with a biodiversity , because many elements of the landscape can only be extensively utilised or even not used at all. The plant world of the Hunsrück is rich and varied. In the Soonwald there are over 850 species of ferns and flowers. The traditional forest monocultures are increasingly giving way, especially as a result of windthrow damage, to mixed woods , supporting

3960-417: The Hunsrück until later, which is why many job seekers and even entire families went looking for work in the Ruhr area and migrated there. The Protestant pastor, later Prussian Landtag MP, Richard Oertel , founder of the Hunsrück Farmers' Union in 1892, and Albert Hackenberg , acting pastor in Hottenbach from 1879 to 1912, successfully worked to improve the economic, social and technological conditions in

4050-400: The Hunsrück was entrepreneur, Michael Felke . In 1919 he founded the Felke Möbelwerke , a company that produced and sold furniture in Central Europe until the late 1990s. It was one of the first major employers in the region. In 1938 and 1939, the German army became interested in the Hunsrück region as a strategic deployment route to the German-French border and the Siegfried Line , building

4140-429: The Hunsrück, a large part of it in Woppenroth , also known as Schabbach . In 2012, Reitz returned to the Hunsrück for the shooting of his film Die andere Heimat - Chronik einer Sehnsucht in the village of Gehlweiler . The film focuses on the Vormärz era in the mid-19th century and the waves of emigration from the Hunsrück to Brazil. The German television drama series Heimat , directed by Edgar Reitz , examined

4230-442: The Hunsrück, but belongs to the Upper Rhine Plain . The Idar Forest , the Hochwald and the Wildenburger Kopf adjoin the Hunsrück to the southwest. Here the Upper Nahe Hills rise in the shadow of the Hunsrück. The Osburger Hochwald , Schwarzwälder Hochwald and the rivers Saar and Ruwer form the western perimeter. Its southern continuation is formed by the Westrich and the North Palatine Uplands . The low mountain range

4320-407: The Neustadt possesses numerous broad streets and a handsome frontage along the Rhine. In the more ancient part of Koblenz stand several buildings which have a historical interest. Prominent among these, near the point of confluence of the rivers, is the Basilica of St. Castor or Kastorkirche , dedicated to Castor of Karden , with four towers. The church was founded in 836 by Louis the Pious , but

4410-426: The Rhine , the archbishops of Trier , the counts of Sponheim and the successors of the Emichones (the Wildgraves , the Raugraves and the counts of Veldenz ). There were also a number of smaller dominions. Due to the multitude of dominions, many castles and customs stations were built, mainly between 11th to mid 14th century, which still shape the landscape today. In 1410 the Principality of Simmern emerged as

4500-430: The Rhine and by the Eifel past the Moselle. To the south of the Nahe is a lower, hilly country forming the near bulk of the Palatinate region and all of the, smaller, Saarland . Below its north-east corner is Koblenz . As the Hunsrück proceeds east it acquires north-south width and three notable gaps in its southern ridges . In this zone are multi-branch headwaters including the Simmerbach ending at Simmertal on

4590-449: The Saarland. During the Cold War until the early 1990s, the Hunsrück was home to numerous military airfields, ammunition dumps, command positions and missile sites. The most famous were Hahn Air Base , Pferdsfeld Air Base, the Börfink Command Bunker and the Pydna Missile Base . In 1986/87, as a result of the NATO Double-Track Decision , 96 cruise missiles , fitted with nuclear warheads , were to be stored at Pydna. On 11 Oct 1986, on

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4680-456: The anti- sans-culottes , pro-England merchants. Due to their experience in the French Revolution, Peter Kropotkin had termed the phrase Koblenzian to describe the type of royalist émigrés that lived in Koblenz. The city was a member of the league of the Rhenish cities which rose in the 13th century. The Teutonic Knights founded the Bailiwick of Koblenz in or around 1231. Koblenz attained great prosperity and it continued to advance until

4770-436: The area. In the modern part of the city lies the palace ( Residenzschloss ), with one front looking towards the Rhine, the other into the Neustadt. It was built in 1778–1786 by Clemens Wenceslaus , the last elector of Trier, following a design by the French architect P.M. d'Ixnard. In 1833, the palace was used as a barracks, and became a terminal post for the optical telecommunications system that originated in Potsdam. Today,

4860-440: The city at the Autobahnkreuz Koblenz has been in operation since 19 September 2012. The international headquarters of Canyon Bicycles GmbH is also in Koblenz which is where it began in 1985. To the west of the town is the autobahn A 61 , connecting Ludwigshafen and Mönchengladbach, to the north is the east–west running A 48 , connecting the A 1 , Saarbrücken-Cologne, with the A 3 , Frankfurt-Cologne. The city

4950-419: The city of Koblenz was saved. In 1793, the uprising of Catholic peasants at the Vendée aimed at the overthrow of the National Assembly , which began only after emissaries from Koblenz traveled there, bringing papal bulls , royal decrees and gold. In escaping the watchful eye of French revolutionary forces, these emissaries were aided and protected by the middle classes, the ex-slave-traders of Nantes , and

5040-455: The city, too, is the Liebfrauenkirche , a fine church (nave 1250, choir 1404–1431) with lofty late Romanesque towers; the castle of the electors of Trier , erected in 1280, which now contains the municipal picture gallery; and the family house of the Metternichs, where Prince Metternich , the Austrian statesman, was born in 1773. Also notable is the church of St. Florian, with a two towers façade from c.  1110 . The former Jesuit College

5130-437: The confluence of the Rhine and Mosel, which became known as German Corner ( Deutsches Eck ). In 1897, a monument to German Emperor William I of Germany , mounted on a 14-meter-tall (46 ft) horse, was inaugurated there by his grandson Wilhelm II . The architect was Bruno Schmitz , who was responsible for a number of nationalistic German monuments and memorials. The German Corner is since associated with this monument,

5220-406: The disaster of the Thirty Years' War brought about a rapid decline. After Philip Christopher, elector of Trier , surrendered Ehrenbreitstein to the French, the city received an imperial garrison in 1632. However, this force was soon expelled by the Swedes, who in their turn handed the city over again to the French. Imperial forces finally succeeded in retaking it by storm in 1636. In 1688, Koblenz

5310-490: The east of the Rhine the crest of the Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus . Geomorphologically the Hunsrück bears great similarities to the Eifel , the Taunus and the Westerwald , which are also part of the Rhenish Massif . The Hunsrück hill road runs from west to east from Saarburg to Koblenz . A Roman military road , the so-called Via Ausonia also once ran through the mountains in an east-west direction and linked Trier with Bingen . In many primary schools in

5400-507: The eastern German Kingdom, later the Holy Roman Empire . In 1018, the city was given by the emperor Henry II to the archbishop-elector of Trier after receiving a charter. It remained in the possession of his successors until the end of the 18th century, having been their main residence since the 17th century. Emperor Conrad II was elected here in 1138. In 1198, the battle between Philip of Swabia and Otto IV took place nearby. In 1216, prince-bishop Theoderich von Wied donated part of

5490-456: The elector's former palace is a museum. Among other exhibits, it contains some Gobelin tapestries. From it some gardens and promenades (Kaiserin Augusta Anlagen) stretch along the bank of the Rhine, and in them is a memorial to the poet Max von Schenkendorf . A statue to the empress Augusta, whose favorite residence was Koblenz, stands in the Luisenplatz. The Teutonic Knights were given an area for their Deutschherrenhaus Bailiwick right at

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5580-446: The extension and improvement of the city, turning the Ehrenbreitstein into a magnificent baroque palace. After the fall of the Bastille in 1789, the city became, through the invitation of the archbishop-elector's chief minister, Ferdinand Freiherr von Duminique, one of the principal rendezvous points for French émigrés . The archbishop-elector approved of this because he was the uncle of the persecuted king of France, Louis XVI . Among

5670-442: The first historic spelling indicates, in German orthography, Latscho Kowelenz. Around 1000 BC, early fortifications were erected on the Festung Ehrenbreitstein hill on the opposite side of the Rhine. In 55 BC, Roman troops commanded by Julius Caesar reached the Rhine and built a bridge between Koblenz and Andernach . About 9 BC, the Castellum apud Confluentes , was one of the military posts established by Drusus . Remains of

5760-420: The flag was replaced by a copy of the statue, donated by a local couple. The day chosen for the reinstatement of the statue, however, caused controversy as it coincided with Sedantag (Sedan Day) (September 2, 1870) a day of celebration remembering Germany's victory over France in the Battle of Sedan. The event was widely celebrated from the 1870s until the 1910s. Formerly separate villages now incorporated into

5850-461: The former walls at the junction of the Cologne-Mainz railway and the strategic Metz-Berlin line . In April 2011 Koblenz-Stadtmitte station was opened in the inner city to coincide with the opening of the Federal Garden Show 2011 . The Rhine is crossed by the Pfaffendorf Bridge , originally the location of a rail bridge, but now a road bridge and, a mile south of city, by the Horchheim Railway Bridge , consisting of two wide and lofty spans carrying

5940-483: The highest peak in the Hunsrück and in the Rhenish Massif west of the Rhine. It continues to the NE as the Idar Forest with its highest peaks, An den zwei Steinen (766.2 m) and the Idarkopf (745.7 m). Its northeasternmost part is formed by the Soonwald (highest mountain: the Ellerspring , 656.8 m), the Lützelsoon ( Womrather Höhe , 599.1 m) and the Bingen Forest ( Kandrich , 638.6 m). All these ranges form an almost unbroken belt of forest. – To

6030-411: The hills encircling the city to the west, and the citadel of Ehrenbreitstein on the opposite bank of the Rhine. The old city was triangular in shape, two sides being bounded by the Rhine and Mosel and the third by a line of fortifications. The latter were razed in 1890, and the city was permitted to expand in this direction. The Koblenz Hauptbahnhof (central station) was built on a spacious site outside

6120-417: The jurisdiction of the city of Koblenz Koblenz is a principal seat of the Mosel and Rhenish wine trade, and also does a large business in the export of mineral waters. Its manufactures include automotive parts (braking systems – TRW Automotive , gas springs and hydraulic vibration dampers – Stabilus ), aluminum coils ( Aleris International, Inc. ), pianos, paper, cardboard, machinery, boats, and barges. Since

6210-417: The lands of the basilica and the hospital to the Teutonic Knights , which later became the Deutsches Eck . In 1249–1254, Koblenz was given new walls by Archbishop Arnold II of Isenburg ; and it was partly to overawe the turbulent citizens that successive archbishops built and strengthened the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein that still dominates the city. When the French Revolution broke out, Koblenz became

6300-452: The manufacture of implements for the house, farming and handicrafts: ovens, pans, boilers, weights, spades, nails, hammers, anvils, looms, spinning wheels and ammunition (cannonballs and shells weighing from 2 to 30 pounds). Leaders in the iron processing industry were the family of Stumm. Their progenitor, Christian Stumm, was a blacksmith in Rhaunensulzbach . Two of his sons were important entrepreneurs. Johann Nikolaus Stumm (1668-1743)

6390-555: The many royalist French refugees who flooded into the city were Louis XVI 's two younger brothers, the Comte de Provence and the Comte d'Artois . In addition, Louis XVI 's cousin, Prince Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé , arrived and formed an army of young aristocrats willing to fight the French Revolution and restore the Ancien Régime . The Army of Condé joined with an allied army of Prussian and Austrian soldiers led by Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand of Brunswick in an unsuccessful invasion of France in 1792. This drew down

6480-529: The market place in Bell, what was probably the largest demonstration in the Hunsrück's history took place. Around 200,000 people, 95% of whom were not from the Hunsrück, peacefully protested against the deployment of the missiles. At the end of the day the "Hunsrück Declaration" was read out which called for a reversal of the security policy. This did not happen, however, the Cold War ended two years later anyway, and

6570-513: The missile based was closed on 31 August 1993, the land being acquired by the Kastellaun garrison authority. Likewise the US airbase at Hahn was transferred in 1993 to the German authorities and became a civilian facility, Frankfurt-Hahn Airport . The airport has expanded steadily since that time. In the early 1980s, the film director Edgar Reitz shot the first part of his trilogy Heimat in

6660-429: The national anthem was played to mark the end of the day, a practice which was discontinued when nonstop broadcasting became common. On October 3, 1990, the very day the former GDR states joined, their signs were added to the monument. As German unity was considered complete and the areas under Polish administration were ceded to Poland, the monument lost its official active purpose, now only reminding of history. In 1993,

6750-533: The northern Saarland belonged to the Oldenburg Principality of Birkenfeld until 1937. The economic situation in the Hunsrück became serious during the years 1815-1845. A poor harvest in 1815 was followed by the year without a summer in 1816; grain prices rose rapidly and 1817 became a year of famine. In September 1822, the Brazilian government sent Georg Anton Schäffer to Germany to recruit mercenaries and colonists . He arrived in 1823, as

6840-616: The notable émigrés living at Koblenz were Charles, Count of Artois , (future Charles X ), ex-minister Charles Alexandre de Calonne , and Louis, Count of Provence (future Louis XVIII ). Officers and men were recruited through the Gazette de Paris (sixty livres for each recruit), and the enrolled men were then sent to Metz and afterwards to Koblenz, and in a visit by Claude Allier to Koblenz in January 1792, he stated that 60,000 men were armed and ready to take action. On July 26, 1792,

6930-579: The present Romanesque building was completed in 1208, the Gothic vaulted roof dating from 1498. In front of the church of Saint Castor stands a fountain, erected by the French in 1812, with an inscription to commemorate Napoleon's invasion of Russia. Not long after, Russian troops occupied Koblenz; and St. Priest, their commander, added in irony these words: "Vu et approuvé par nous, Commandant russe de la Ville de Coblence: Janvier 1er, 1814." In this quarter of

7020-469: The region by the Romans. The final years of the 4th century saw the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire . The Franks conquered the Roman territories and began to divide them up. This was the start of the great western and central European empire of Francia . In the mid-8th century this was divided into gaus under Carolingian rule. The northern part of the present Hunsrück foreland belonged to

7110-454: The same year. The climate sees mists that rise most mornings. More rain than the German average is caused by a combination of an oceanic influence and relief precipitation . Culturally, the region is best known for its Hunsrückisch dialect and through depictions in the Heimat film series. The region saw great emigration in the mid-19th century, particularly to Brazil . The heart of

7200-631: The southern edge. This interior is therefore rarely higher than 450 metres (1,480 ft) above sea level. Peaks and escarpments are principally: the (Black Forest) Hochwald , the Idar Forest , the Soonwald , and the Bingen Forest . The highest mountain is the Erbeskopf (816 m; 2,677 ft), towards the region's south-west. Notable towns are Simmern , Kirchberg , and Idar-Oberstein , Kastellaun , and Morbach . Frankfurt-Hahn Airport

7290-402: The third-largest city in Rhineland-Palatinate . Its usual-residents' population is 112,000 (as of 2015 ). Koblenz lies in a narrow flood plain between high hill ranges, some reaching mountainous height, and is served by an express rail and autobahn network. It is part of the populous Rhineland . Historic spellings include Covelenz , Coblenz , and Cobelenz . In local dialect the name is as

7380-504: The torrential rains and difficult conditions of the Argonne forest halted the invaders, the roads "were liquid mud," and supplies began to run out due to weather impacting supply lines. The radical revolutionary Georges Danton negotiated with the Duke of Brunswick, under unknown conditions, for his retreat, which was carried out through Grand-Pré and Verdun , then across the Rhine , and

7470-630: The wrath of the First French Republic on the archbishop-elector; in 1794, Koblenz was taken by the French Revolutionary army under Marceau (who was killed during the siege), and, after the signing of the Treaty of Lunéville (1801) it was made the capital of the new French department of Rhin-et-Moselle . In 1814, it was occupied by the Russians . The Congress of Vienna assigned the city to Prussia , and in 1822, it

7560-468: Was a smeltery owner and his sons, Johann Ferdinand, Friedrich Philipp and Christian Philipp Stumm , bought the Neunkirchen ironworks on 22 March 1806, part of today's Saarstahl AG. Johann Michael Stumm (1683-1747) was the founder of an organ building workshop . The notorious robbers, Johannes Bückler (known as Schinderhannes ) and Johann Peter Petri ( Black Peter ) brought insecurity to

7650-544: Was announced in Dunkirk , that free passage to Brazil would no longer be possible. At this time there were over 800 people waiting there. Prussia refused to give any assistance to the impoverished and helpless emigrants. They were transported from France in three warships to Algeria and settled in the villages of Stidia and Sainte-Léonie. Most of their descendants returned to France after the Algerian War in 1962. As

7740-549: Was besieged by the French under Marshal de Boufflers , but they only succeeded in bombing the Old City ( Altstadt ) into ruins, destroying among other buildings the Old Merchants' Hall ( Kaufhaus ), which was restored in its present form in 1725. The city was the residence of the archbishop-electors of Trier from 1690 to 1801. In 1786, the last archbishop-elector of Trier, Clemens Wenceslaus of Saxony , greatly assisted

7830-923: Was formed in 2012 as part of a larger reorganization of the Bundeswehr. It is based at the Falckenstein-Barracks (Falckenstein-Kaserne) and the Rhine-Barracks (Rhein-Kaserne) in Koblenz. It is the high command of the German Army Joint Medical Service. The Headquarters is also the Staff of the Inspector of the Joint Medical Service, Generaloberstabsarzt Dr. Ulrich Baumgaertner. An Amazon logistics hub located some 15 kilometers (9 miles) outside

7920-451: Was heavily bombed and rebuilt afterwards. From 16 – 19 March 1945, it was the scene of heavy fighting by the U.S. 87th Infantry Division in support of Operation Lumberjack . Between 1947 and 1950, it served as the seat of government of Rhineland-Palatinate . The Rhine Gorge was declared a World Heritage Site in 2002, with Koblenz marking the northern end. Its defensive works are extensive, and consist of strong forts crowning

8010-560: Was made the seat of government for the Prussian Rhine Province . After World War I , France occupied the area once again. The city was the center of the American occupation force from 1919 - 1923. In defiance of the French, the German populace of the city insisted on using the more German spelling of Koblenz after 1926. During World War II it hosted the command of German Army Group B and, like many counterparts,

8100-560: Was the scene of ecclesiastical synods. At the first synod, held in the Liebfrauenkirche, the reconciliation of Louis the German with his half-brother Charles the Bald took place. In the second, slavery was condemned, specifically it was decreed that any man that 'led away a Christian man and then sold him' should be considered guilty of homicide. The city was sacked and destroyed by the Norsemen in 882. In 925, it became part of

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