Moselle River

“ The peasant women, in great straw hats or little close caps, work hard amidst the fields storing the hay crop; the oxen yoked together munch their fill of sweet fresh grass, that has grown in the well-watered meadows; round them the children play, piling the hay upon each other until, overcome by the heat, they hasten off to bathe in our cool stream.
Here, at a short distance above Remiremont, is the confluence of two branches of our river; and river the Moselle now becomes. ”

“ Through the great table-land thus formed flow the Rhine and Moselle; thus the banks of both rivers are very similar in formation, and average about the same height: but the Moselle, being a much smaller river, of course her banks appear more mountainous; the ranges also approach nearer to the stream, and the lateral valleys are far more frequent.
It is astonishing at first, after climbing unceasingly for an hour, to find one’s self standing on a gently undulating plain waving with grain, and forest-trees growing in masses. ”

“ Broad snow-meadows glistening white along the banks of the river Moselle; steep hill-sides blooming with mystic forget-me-not where the glow of the setting sun cast long shadows down their eastern slope; an arch of clearest, deepest gentian bending overhead; in the centre of the aerial garden the walls of the cloister of Pfalzel, steel-blue to the east, violet to the west; silence over all,--a gentle, eager, conscious stillness, diffused through the air, as if earth and sky were hushing themselves to hear the voice of the river faintly murmuring down the valley. ”

“ Lying, as she does, within a district absolutely overrun with summer-tourists, it is altogether inexplicable that a river presenting scenery unsurpassed in Europe should be so neglected by those who in thousands pass the mouth of her stream. When the Roman Poet Ausonius visited Germany, it was not the Rhine, but the Moselle which most pleased him; and although glorious Italy was his home, yet he could spare time to explore the Moselle, and extol the loveliness of her waters in a most eloquent poem. ”

“ Such is the history of the birth and life of the Moselle. We have now to wander from her birthplace here, in the Vosges mountains, to where she joins her glorious husband Rhine beneath the walls of Ehrenbreitstein. From time to time we shall linger by the roadside, to pluck a flower from legendary lore; from time to time we shall stop to secure a chip from the great rock of history: storing thus our herbal and our sack as well as our portfolio, we shall follow the many bendings of our graceful river, which, womanlike, moves gently and caressingly along, soothing and gladdening all things. ”

“ The river is in parts so shallow that breakwaters are built out from the banks, in order to deepen the centre of the stream; this, of course, makes the water run swifter, and it requires great toil of many horses to tug the barges up the stream. Floating down these rapids is agreeable enough, and the descent is made with very little labour, towns and villages succeeding each other on the banks, the approaches to them being lined with fruit-trees, of which the walnut and cherry are the most conspicuous. ”

“ The vale of the Moselle is deep and green, formed by vine-clad steeps, among which the eye, from the heights where we stood, espies many a pleasant village. That of the Rhine is more varied and splendid—with towns that, from their size, the irregularity of their buildings, and the numerous towers and spires, give dignity to the proud river itself, and to the prodigally scattered hills. ”

“ There is a round tower above, and lines of poplars reach out of the town; the mountain overhead is full of ravines, and bushes of stunted growth here and there appear on the surface. A little higher up stream, where the river turns round, resuming her course to the north, the hills are most beautiful; for, covered with trees, the shadows as the day lengthens creep on, and break into masses the huge cliffs and sons of the forest.
Zell is renowned for the bravery of its inhabitants, which at one time had passed into a proverb. ”

“ From the ramparts we enjoyed a magnificent view of the whole river and the country between Andernach and Stolzenfels. Below us was triangular-shaped Coblentz, and its row of handsome buildings facing the River Rhine, the bridge of boats and never-ending moving diorama sort of scene, while at the right of the town glided the blue Moselle, its azure waters moving unmixed as they flowed along with the Rhine, and the railroad bridge spanning the stream with its graceful arches ”

“ At a short distance from Bussang, a little town in the Department des Vosges in France, is the source of the Moselle; trickling through the moss and stones that, [2] together with fallen leaves, strew the ground, come the first few drops of this beautiful river.
A few yards lower down the hill-side, these drops are received into a little pool of fairy dimensions; this tiny pool of fresh sweet water is surrounded by mossy stones, wild garlic, ferns, little creepers of many forms, and stems of trees.
The trees, principally pine, grow thickly over the whole ballon (as the hills are here called) ”

“ For a moment, as we glided by the Moselle, on our right, we looked up the course of that lovely river, which here delivers up its waters to the Rhine; in a few minutes the bell on board rang, and continued to ring, until we found ourselves firmly moored to the pier of Coblentz. Most of the passengers went into the town. I, however, crossing the bridge of boats, took up my quarters at the Cheval Blanc, a large hotel, standing immediately beneath that towering rock so magnificently crowned by the celebrated fortress of Ehrenbreitstein. ”

“ There is a dip in the long neck of land that leads towards Zell, which enables us to see a distant reach of our river; thus, standing quite still, three different windings are seen, and by taking a very few paces, a fourth (beyond Alf) comes in view. [178]
Comparisons are more or less odious, as every one knows, and has written when young; but, considering the raptures in which people annually indulge on the Rhine, it is, to say the least of it, wonderful that scarcely any visit our lovely river, which certainly will not suffer by being compared with the grander and manlier stream. ”

“ It was the duty of the small American Ford ambulances to bring the wounded from these mountain stations down to the hospital at Moosch.
Moosch, a typical Alsatian town, consisting of a few large buildings, the "Mairie," the church, a hotel or two, and perhaps a weaving mill, about which are clustered the homes and stores and cafés or combination of these latter, is situated in the valley of the river Thur. This valley runs up, and west or slightly north of west, to the divide, between the Moselle River and the Thur, this divide making the old boundary between French and German territory ”

“ That portion of our river which lies between Trèves and Coblence is the most beautiful, and the part usually visited by the few who allow themselves the enjoyment of seeing scenery yet unspoiled by Art. The Moselle at this present time is much what the Rhine was half a century ago. No great roads line the banks, cutting off the quaint houses of the old towns and villages from the river-side; and the towns and villages themselves are, with some few exceptions, far more picturesque than those on the Rhine. Their old water-towers and walls still lave their bases in the stream, as those of St. ”

“ The little incidents seen on the banks of the river as we move along are eminently picturesque, and give life and reality to what we should otherwise almost [102] imagine to be a dream of beauty, rather than real actual scenes, where toil and labour are at work. Such foregrounds, too, for artists! Here is a woman mowing: further down, one impels a heavy boat along by means of a pole: there red cows stand, half in the water, half on a grassy slope, with the reflected green of which their red contrasts. Again, as we approach a village, some of the maidens are seen drawing water ”

“ At Cochem our landlady used to send us up souffléd puddings that would have done credit to the Palais Royal. On the Moselle the old-fashioned spinning-wheel is to be seen in every village, and knitting is always taken in hand when walking or superintending household affairs.
Singing is constantly heard in the evening, and many of the little coteries in the townlets by our river’s side subscribe to hire a piano from Coblence or Trèves, and by the aid of its music they make lively the long hours of darkness in winter. ”

“ The people living at this part of our river, especially a little lower down, near Lay, have been subject to terrible disasters, caused by the ice which collects here in winter, and then, suddenly breaking up, floods the whole country. In 1670 the Lahn, being unfrozen, and swollen with the rain that had fallen in the Taunus range, rushed down, and sweeping past Coblence, forced its way up the Moselle; thus causing great icebergs to form in our river, which killed the vines and swept away orchards, houses, men, beasts, and boats, all in one chaos of general destruction. ”

“ This is the case likewise with the Rhine and the Moselle; the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa. The Upper Mississippi is a transparent stream, but assumes the color of the Missouri upon joining that river, the mud of which is as copious as the water can hold in suspension, and of a white soapy hue. The Ohio brings into it a flood of a greenish color. ”

“ Piesport.
From Trèves to Trittenheim the scenery of our river, although very pleasing, has not yet attained to its full beauty; the Moselle, woman as she has become, [111] is still scarcely matured in beauty; many charms are hers already, but until approaching Neumagen her life does not reach the fulness of its summer glory. Then, indeed, the full enchantment of her beauty breaks upon us, as, often in life, we have been in the habit of seeing a lovely girl pass from childhood into the graces of early womanhood, we admire and love ”

“ Before reaching Neumagen we pass a little chapel, erected at the spot where, according to tradition, the waters of the Moselle ceased to be tinged with the blood shed at Trèves in the massacre of Christian martyrs.
Neumagen enjoys a most agreeable site. Sheltered by the hills which rise at its back, it faces the bold cliffs that now have arisen on the left bank of our river. On ascending the hills at the back of the town we find ourselves on a level platform, with the Moselle on one side of us and the Drohn on the other ”

“ The priests seem respected, and on amicable terms with all classes, but generally they do not hold the same social position that they do in this country.
If the traveller on the Moselle is himself not over-exacting, and ready to meet civility half-way, he will find all those he encounters polite and pleasant, and he cannot fail of spending an agreeable time on the banks of our charming river. ”

“ The living is good, and the boats not at all crowded, which is better for the passengers than the Company; and the officers are very polite.
A straight reach of the river brings us to Neef, which is completely embosomed in trees, and the hills at its back are covered with vines. ”

“ The Moselle above fipinal takes a bend outwards, and it seemed to me that a much shorter way to the next village (which is called Archettes, or 'the very little arches', because there are no arches there) would be right over the hill round which the river curved. This error came from following private judgement and not heeding tradition, here represented by the highroad which closely follows the river. For though a straight tunnel to Archettes would have saved distance, yet a climb over that high hill and through the pathless wood on its summit was folly. ”

“ Nestled under the side of the hill on which the great castle of Thuron stands, this little chapel, with its sharp-pointed spire, is in fine contrast to the huge cliff and massive walls; but there is a look of age about it and the old houses near which renders the whole scene in perfect keeping.
On leaving the river to explore our way up to Thuron, we enter one of those beautiful valleys into which the hills so constantly break; a clear trout-stream runs through it, and the mountains close it in on all sides. ”

“ From Cochem, an easy walk brings the tourist within reach of no less than seven castles,—viz. Beilstein, Cochem, Winneburg, Clotten, Treis, Elz, and Pyrmont. The first four we have already noticed: in this chapter we will make a walking tour to the other three named.
Leaving Clotten behind us, we walked on, under a broiling sun, to Pommern. At the back of Pommern is a long, winding, narrow valley, through which the Pommerbach runs. Where it enters the Moselle, the banks of our river are covered with turf and shade-spreading trees. ”

“ Penetrating into the gorge we find busy little mills at work, and are led into scenery which at every turn seems to increase in beauty. We shall hereafter have to describe some of these lateral valleys, so need not now dwell on their delights.
On the opposite shore, which is watered by another stream, is Grünhaus, and above it Grüneberg. From these vineyards come the most highly-prized wines of the Moselle, though many think the wines of Zeltingen more delicate in flavour. ”

“ It is impossible to wander from the source of our Moselle, to muse over the rise and fall of the nations and cities on her banks, to look upon her rocks and flowers, to glide adown her stream, to stand amidst the ruined walls of her old towers, to watch the seed-time and harvest on her banks, the clustering bunches and the brilliant glow of the wine and corn, with all the lesser incidents adorning her;—it is impossible to view all these, to ruminate and gaze, to live with her and be of her in all her windings, all her sunshine and refreshing shade, and not imbibe a portion of her spirit ”