Yes, for replenished with the meat and wine of the word, to the faithful man of God, this pulpit, I see, is a self-containing stronghold --a lofty
Ehrenbreitstein, with a perennial well of water within the walls.
There were
Ehrenbreitstein and Rolandseck and Coblentz, which I knew only in history.
This gave us the most extraordinary view of the two rivers - the Moselle identifiable by its green hue - before exploring the
Ehrenbreitstein Fortress and its 3,000 years of history.
We also joined another included walking tour of the city and a ride on the cable car across the Rhine to the huge
Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, built by Prussia in the 1820s on the site of forts dating back to the 4th century BC.
After a brief look at the well-preserved
Ehrenbreitstein Fortress at the top, the return journey deposited us near to a beer festival in full swing.
A highlight of the tour is the excursion to medieval Koblenz, which includes a ride on a cable car to visit
Ehrenbreitstein Castle and a visit to Lahnstein Castle.
Koblenz is one of Germany''s oldest cities, strategically set at the confluence of the Rhine and meandering Moselle, and overlooked from the opposite bank by the imposing
Ehrenbreitstein fortress.
This plan's title shows both an older French spelling of today's 'chateau' and a French version of the German name Hermanstein, a castle, now called Helffenstein, which is within the fortified town
Ehrenbreitstein (un-named) on the eastern side of the Rhine to the north of Philipstat (now a suburb of Asterstein).
Proximity to Hawthorne may have been a factor in Melville's decision but, in the larger context Parker evokes, certainly not the only motive: there were the family and youthful connections with the Pittsfield neighborhood; there was the allure of rural life, romantically evoked in "Hawthorne and His Mosses", away from the oppressive, "babylonish brick-kiln of New York"; there was his "fantasy" (1: 780) of erecting a tower, his own literary
Ehrenbreitstein, on the property.
The mighty Prussian fortress of
Ehrenbreitstein towers over Koblenz.
As I stood on the ramparts of
Ehrenbreitstein Citadel, overlooking the modern city and two rolling rivers below the massive stone walls of the fortress, I was already plotting my next trip back to the Mosel valley.