Cochem, Germany

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.

 

Getting here

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

 

Sights

Museums

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.

 

Churches

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.

 

Various

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

 

Castles

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.

 

Natural monuments

The Cochemer Krampen ends in Cochem, a winding section of the Moselle that begins about 24 kilometers upstream in Bremm and resembles a Krampen (a bracket) on the map.

Above the Reichsburg stands the Lescherlinde, which has the status of a natural monument due to its age of more than 550 years and its distinctive character - it can still be clearly seen on the mountain from the Cochem train station.

Above the district of Cond is the Brauselay nature reserve with Mediterranean vegetation. Not far from Cochem, down the Moselle near the village of Klotten, is the Dortebachtal nature reserve, which is also particularly worth seeing for hikers.

 

What to do

Moselle Wine Express (small train)
Evening boat trip on the Moselle
Nordic walking course with 16 routes
City tours Registration via Tourist Information, price €4, duration 1 hour.
Moselle adventure pool leisure center, Moritzburger Str. 1, 56812 Cochem. Phone: +49 (0)2671 97990.
Wildlife and Leisure Park Klotten / Cochem, Wildparkstraße 1, 56818 Cochem. Phone: +49 (0)2671 605440.

To go biking
Moselle cycle path

 

Regular events

Easter market (2 weekends before Easter)
Blossom festival of the red Moselle vineyard peach (2nd Sunday in April)
Arts and Crafts Market (first weekend of May)
Moselle Wine Week over Corpus Christi
Cochem Wine Festival (last weekend in June)
Castle festival on the 1st weekend of August
Homeland and wine festival on the last weekend in August
Day of the Red Moselle Vineyard Peach (2nd weekend in September)
Federweißenfest on the first and second weekend in November
Advent magic & Christmas market

 

Geographical location

The city center and the Sehl district upstream are on the left bank of the Moselle, and the Cond district on the right bank of the Moselle. The district of Brauheck with the commercial area, the barracks of the Büchel air base and a new development area is located on the Eifelhöhe on the federal highway 259, about six kilometers from the city center. Cochem also includes the residential areas Forsterhof, Ströherhof, Kremerhof, Lescherhof, Schafstallerhof, Scharburgerhof and Schuwerackerhof.

Neighboring communities
Neighboring are (clockwise, starting in the north): Greimersburg, Klotten, Valwig, Ernst, Ellenz-Poltersdorf, Ediger-Eller, Dohr, Faid and Büchel.

Bodies of water
In Cochem the Kraklebach, the Ebernacher Bach, the Sehlerbach, the Falzbach, the Märtscheltbach and the Endertbach flow into the Moselle.

Flood
In winter and spring, the Moselle is flooded on some days. In the past, the promenade and the streets behind it with their ground-level shops and restaurants were flooded regularly, sometimes several times during the winter months. The last major floods occurred in December 1993, January 1995 and January 2003.

The majority of those affected try to prepare for these events and to limit the damage by choosing appropriate materials for interior fittings (e.g. water-resistant wall and floor coverings, appropriate doors). In some cases, shelves, kitchen equipment or other parts of the inventory are designed in such a way that they can be moved to higher floors as easily as possible. The aim is to return to normal business life as quickly as possible after the flooding has subsided.

If necessary, footbridges made of prefabricated parts are erected for pedestrian traffic in the town and to ensure the accessibility of the houses enclosed by the water.

 

History

Cochem was already inhabited in Celtic and Roman times. It was first mentioned in a document as Cuchuma or villa Cuchuma in 866. Other names: Cuhckeme, Chuckeme 893, Cochemo 1051, Chuchumo 1056, Kuchema 1130, Cuchemo 1136, Cocheme 1144, then Cuchme, until the 18th century Cochheim / Cocheim. Cochem was an imperial estate, was pledged to the Archdiocese of Trier under King Adolf von Nassau in 1294 and remained electoral Trier territory until the French occupation in 1794. Cochem received city rights in 1332, and soon afterwards the city fortifications that still exist today were built. Between 1423 and 1425 a plague epidemic ravaged the city. In 1623 Elector Lothar von Metternich initiated the founding of a Capuchin convent and the building of a monastery. During the Thirty Years' War the city was besieged but not conquered. In 1689, troops of Louis XIV first burned down Winneburg and then conquered the town and castle of Cochem. Reconstruction was slow. In 1794 French revolutionary troops occupied Cochem, in 1815 the city was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna and came with the region to the Prussian Rhine Province. Jacob Frederic Louis Ravené bought the ruins of the former imperial castle in 1866 and began rebuilding it. Only after the construction of the Moselle bridge in Cochem in 1927 were the two fishing villages of Cond and Sehl incorporated as part of an administrative reform in 1932. On January 23, 1927, the first Moselle bridge, the Skagerrak Bridge, was inaugurated. During the Second World War, bombs destroyed large parts of Cochem's old town and the Moselle Bridge. After the war, the bridge was rebuilt and inaugurated on September 29, 1949. Since 1946, the city has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The second Moselle Bridge in Cochem (also known as the North Bridge) was built between 1990 and 1993 and inaugurated on September 3, 1993.

In 2011, a 500 kg aircraft bomb from the Second World War was found and defused during renovations by Deutsche Bahn. Another, smaller bomb nearby had been discovered years ago, but was concreted in at the time and remains in place because it is considered harmless and the cost of a possible salvage would be high.