(Coblenz), a city in the Federal Republic of Germany, in the Land of Rhineland-Palatinate; located on the left bank of the Rhine River, where the Mosel flows into it. Population, 106,200 (1970). Koblenz is a transportation junction and a river port; it has an airport. The city’s industries include machine building (including an aircraft factory), metalworking (including the productiion of rolled aluminum), electrical engineering, Pharmaceuticals, and wine-making. Koblenz has a teacher-training college and an administration academy.
Under the Romans, Koblenz was a fortified camp, set up in A. D. 9. The city was established in the Middle Ages. In 1018, Koblenz became part of the archbishopric of Trier. It came under French rule in 1797 and under Prussian authority in 1815. It was the chief city of the Rhine Province and was a fortress until 1890. During World War II the city was heavily damaged. From 1945 to 1949, Koblenz was in the French occupation zone.
Among the buildings that have been preserved are the Church of St. Castor, in Romanesque-Gothic style (836; rebuilt around 1200), the Church of St. Florin (12th century), the Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche, 12th-13th centuries), the electors’ castle (1280), the Kaufhaus (begun in 1419), the Schöifenhaus (a courthouse; 1530), the Jesuit Church (1617), the town hall (16th-17th centuries), the bishop’s palace (1777–86, architect M. d’lxnard), and the theater (1787).