#wilhelm 1

Niedewald Monument

The 10.5m Germania gazes over the Rheingau vineyards and the river below to the upper reaches of the Palatinate. She holds the Reichskrone, the recovered crown of the German emperor in the right hand and Reichsschwert, the Imperial Sword in the left. The large relief under her shows emperor Kaiser Wilhelm I on horseback with nobility and soldiers. Below that, the lyrics of “Die Wacht am Rhein” are engraved flanked by a ‘peace statue’ on the left and a ‘war statue’ on the right.

War statue

Peace statue

The 38 m monument commemorates the founding of the German Empire in 1871 after the end of the Franco-Prussian War. It represents the union of all Germans.

The broad Niederwald hill above Rudesheim on which the monument stands, forms the south-western edge of the Taunus range and is covered by a dense forest of oak and beech trees. A road through the forest and a cable car over the vineyards from Rudesheim takes you to the monument.

After lunch in Rudesheim, we took the cable car to the Niederwald monument. The ride over the vineyards where picking was in progress, was spectacular. From the  monument, we walked through the forest about a mile and took the chairlift to Assmannshausen.

Lunch in Rudesheim

  Excellent Hollenberg Spatebugunder vineyards of Assmannshausen

  References

Germania

Imperial Crown

Imperial sword

“Die Wacht am Rhein“

Franco-Prussian War