Bacharach

Many famous people have visited Bacharach, including Victor Hugo the prominent French novelist. He was widely travelled and knew Paris well, yet he
was especially enamoured of Bacharach, calling it “one of the most beautiful
towns in the world”. This wine-growing town is often described as the “secret
centre of Rhine Romanticism”, and it does indeed have all the attributes of one of the loveliest towns on the whole of the Middle Rhine. On first entering the picturesque little place one is immediately impressed by the well preserved town wall with its battlement walks and towers. Situated around the old parish church of St. Peter’s are some magnificent halftimbered buildings, such as the “Altes Haus”, which are among the best known medieval half-timbered houses on the Rhine. A host of artists and men of letters have immortalized Bacharach
in their work. A stroll through the narrow lanes of the old town to the Malerwinkel (‘Artists’ Corner’) or up to Stahleck Castle or the Gothic Werner Chapel are among the highlights of any trip to the Rhine.

The Werner Chapel has lain in ruins for many years, but for precisely this reason it perfectly exemplifies the zeitgeist of the Romantic era and its filigree

structure makes it one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture on the Middle Rhine. The town’s architectural highlights are complemented by a variety of musical treats, ensuring that visitors take away special memories. Bacharach was the home of the famous “Hunter of Kurpfalz”, immortalized in the traditional folk song, and the composer Robert Stolz made his regular haunt, the “Altes Haus” the setting for one of his operettas. For centuries, Bacharach’s wine has accompanied and shaped the town’s history and fortunes and even now, it is still an irresistibly

delicious temptation.