Monthly Archives: April 2019

Eibingen Abbey, Hildegard of Bingen

The Rambler’s visit with Hildegard of Bingen at rudesheim

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None of the stops on the Rhine are too far apart, even on the river, and much closer by land, so the River Queen arrived at our next port, Rudesheim, after lunch. The offered tour was of Siegfried’s Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments, which is one of the major tourist attractions of Rudesheim. However, the Rambler had other plans. Going to a museum on a beautiful, hot, sunny day had no appeal. Besides, i had learned that Rudesheim had a strong connection to the amazing Abbess Hildegard, a 12th century physician, mystic, philosopher and musician. I hadn’t connected Rudesheim and Hildegard the last time we visited but now, armed with this new information, I was determined to visit her abbey on my own.

A youthful Abbess Hildegard surveys her Abbey with the Rhine at her back.

But first a little about Rudesheim. There are actually two of them, but Rudesheim on the Rhine is the larger and often visited by tourists on river cruises. Around 10,000 live in Rudesheim, another UNESCO site, like Boppard, because of its proximity to the Rhine gorge. Like Boppard, it is surrounded by vineyards and has a wine museum housed in the ruins of an historic castle. The last time the Ramblers visited Rudesheim, we took the cable car to the top of a steep hill overlooking the Rhine. It is a fun ride as it skims over the vineyards and deposits its passengers near the Niederwald monument which I wrote about in an earlier post. The Ramblers encourage you to take the cable car ride, as it is fun. From there you can walk down a paved path, return by cable car or even hike through the vineyards to the historic area of town.

Rudesheim also boasts the Drosselgasse, a narrow and steep medieval street paved with cobblestones and lined with quaint houses, shops and taverns. There you might enjoy a Rudesheimer coffee, the town’s most famous potent potable, made up of coffee, Asbach brandy and whipped cream. The headquarters and tasting room of the Asbach company is in Rudesheim. I have read mixed reviews of the tour and tasting, but Asbach Uralt is worth a taste if you enjoy brandy.

Talk about an uncomfortable chair… from the Torture Museum

Another tourist spot that the Ramblers didn’t visit was the medieval torture museum. According to reviewers, it is a creepy place and here is a link if you are interested…
http://www.foltermuseum.com/index_us.html Somehow, looking at the ways people inflicted pain on others during the middle ages had no appeal, in today’s world that has enough bad things going on.

Instead I wanted to visit the Abbey of Eibingen which was founded by Hildegard even tho the current buildings are relatively new. I set off by myself as the Senior Rambler preferred to relax on board the River Queen. The Abbey is still home to cloistered Benedictine nuns who follow the thousand year old rule of St. Benedict. That means when you visit the Abbey, you probably won’t seen many nuns as most live a secluded life by choice. You may hear them singing in the choir loft, or perhaps playing the organ in the church. The Abbey has it’s own website which I wish I had found before my visit. It has everything you need to know about the history and current world of the Benedictine Abbey and even a series of meditations if you are so inclined. https://www.abtei-st-hildegard.de/english/

The ruins of the original Abbey destroyed after the area was secularized early in the the 19th century

When I checked with our concierge about how to get there, he strongly suggested I take a taxi, as the path to the Abbey was all uphill and it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside. I was glad that I took his advice as the Rambler would have been a sweaty mess by the time she got to the top. I quickly learned that Eibingen Abbey is a popular stop for pilgrim groups. A hardy group of hikers equipped with staffs and sturdy shoes, were heading towards the abbey on a hilly vineyard path as I arrived in my taxi.

Heading towards the welcoming entrance of the Abbey Church…

One word of advice for anyone who wants to visit the Abbey. If you take a taxi there, please ask the driver to return to pick you up, in perhaps an hour. Most of the people at the Abbey do not speak English and can’t help you. Uber may work, but i didn’t have the app at the time. Check Uber out before you leave or you may have a long walk back to your ship. On the positive side, you won’t get lost, just head downhill towards the river!

So why did I want to visit Hildegard’s Abbey? Hildegard was born in 1198, and died at 81, although she suffered from ill health all her life. her wealthy parents dedicated her to God as they probably thought she wouldn’t do much or live long. They were so wrong. Hildegard lived to inspire countless generations with her visions, her writing, her medical expertise, her espousal of correct eating, her music and her leadership. She dealt with saints and sinners during her long life. Although not canonized until recently, many have asked her intercession and she was recently declared a Doctor of the (Catholic) Church. When Benedict XV visited Eibingen and talked to the Benedictines about St. Hildegard, they responded that she had never been formally recognized as a saint despite her obvious sanctity. Benedict was quick to remedy this oversight and how she is formally St. Hildegard of Bingen.

The simple beauty of the interior, very different than most churches we visited in Germany, but also much newer. The organ is in the upper right hand corner.

The current Abbey was built towards the end of the 19th century when the nuns returned to Bingen. Most Americans are unaware that Germany was secularized at the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. Religious were forced to leave and the land was sold. The nobleman who bought the land let the historic Abbey become a ruin. Thus the church and complex was rebuilt when the Benedictine sisters returned. There is a detailed description of this period on their website. as well as photographs.

My first stop at the Abbey was its imposing church. Its design must have pleased Hildegard as it is beautiful in its simplicity. A steady stream of pilgrims entered to kneel and pray during my visit. While I was there, I heard the sound of an organ, and thought, how nice to have music, thinking it was a recording. Then I noticed a few of the pilgrims moving to the front of the church and looking up to to the right There one of the Benedictines was playing the organ. It was a special moment.

My next stop was the shop where the nuns sold their wines, crafts and whole grain foods for the diet that was first developed by Hildegard. She was an early proponent of a largely vegetarian diet which featured whole grains. Her thousand year old concept of eating to live is similar to those championed by vegetarians, vegans and diets which suggest eating a modest amount of animal protein and lots of vegetables. The most unlikely aspect of the shop was that often Benedictine nuns staff the wine tasting table in the store. That day, the tasting host was a lay person but a charming nun manned the cash register.

The Abbey is surrounded by its vineyards. You can see the Rhine in the distance where the River Queen was docked. It would have been quite a hike on a 90 degree day.

I then went outside to enjoy the beautiful view high above the Rhine but realized it was getting late and it was time to get a taxi back t o the ship. The Abbey has a little cafe which sells modest meals and drinks. I though surely someone there would be able to call a taxi. However, i got no response from the handsome young man behind the counter. A smiling older woman came to his aid. She gently explained that Patrick spoke little and understood no English. In fact the cafe was staffed by people with a variety of handicaps. She then told me that Patrick would love to have his picture taken, and so the photo you see below is a poignant remembrance of my visit and the kindness of the people who work and live at the Abbey. She then called a taxi for me and I got back to the River Queen with time to spare.

Patrick smiling proudly for his photo with his kind and caring boss.

I was so glad I visited the Abbey that beautiful day and recommend it heartily. Even if you are not religious, you will find it a place of peace, love and understanding.

On to Speyer!

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A brief stop in Boppard

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After our morning in Bernkastel, we boarded the River Queen on a beautiful afternoon. It was a perfect day to enjoy the scenery as our ship cruised through the Rhine gorge. Our program sheet called it scenic sailing and it certainly was. This stretch of the Rhine is fairly narrow and castles dot both sides of the river. To make viewing easier, the cooks grilled hamburgers and German sausage on the Sun Deck. This was washed down with German beer, naturally, and sides included sauerkraut and German potato salad. If you haven’t cruised through this stretch of the Rhine, I heartily recommend it. Even if you are not on a river cruise, you can board a local ship that follows the same route. A cruise through the Rhine gorge was one of the week-end trips the Ramblers took on my Study Abroad experience in Alsace-Lorraine many years ago.

The River Queen docked in Boppard, the cliffs alongside the Rhine
and the bend in the river are clearly visible.

Because the River Queen traversed the gorge at an even slower speed than usual, we did not arrive at our next stop until the following day. I woke up early that morning and got up to look out our cabin window. I was just in time to take a photo of a beautiful sunrise. No doubt we missed many others, but when one is on a vacation, sleeping just a little later is not a bad thing. On the River Queen, as on most river cruise ships, they offer a morning exercise class at 7 AM, on the sundeck . I am not ashamed to admit that of all the cruises we have taken, I have never attended one of these classes and haven’t missed it. Of course the Senior Rambler has never met an exercise class he liked as long as I have known him. LOL

I enjoyed this beautiful sunrise as the River Queen moved slowly down the Rhine towards Boppard.

Boppard is a small town still inside the Rhine gorge, in fact it is directly north of Boppard that the Rhine makes its greatest bend. Because it is small and has relatively few attractions, few cruise ships stop there. This is a good thing, as there were absolutely no crowds as no other ships were docked while we were there.. Yet Boppard has been part of an UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002. The Rhine gorge area that encompasses the big bend in the river was then designated a Heritage site. The designation included towns along the its banks and Boppard is probably the closest. In addition, Boppard has been designated an official tourist village by the German government.

Like many cities and towns along the Rhine, Boppard has a long history dating back to Roman times. It was the Romans who would bring grapevines to the area and their vinous descendants still flourish today. Boppard began as a border outpost staffed by Roman troops whose duty was to keep out the marauding Germanic tribes and protect the farmers in their vineyards. However due to the gradually decline of the Western Roman Empire, the Germans had driven out the Romans by the end of the 5th century.
in the 5th century. In the middle ages, Boppard prospered and became a free city, often visited by German kings. However, during the next 500 years, it would change hands many times and often suffer the ravages of war. Boppard would be ruled first by the Bishop of Trier, then by the the Holy Roman Empire, next by Napoleon Bonaparte and finally by the Prussians. Today Boppard has town rights under the German state and is situated in the province of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The remains of the large Roman fort in the center of Boppard, close to the Rhine, is an open air museum , free of charge and worth a look.

Because it is quaint, pretty and well preserved, Boppard is popular with tourists. However its main attraction, especially for people who live in the surrounding area is the many vineyards and wineries found in the area. Thus Boppard has a large complement of hotels for a town of its size as well as many restaurants. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to try any of them, even for a coffee and cake, as our guided walk was scheduled only for an hour, from 9 to 10 AM, and then it would be all aboard for our next stop at Rudesheim. The Ramblers love these stops in the smaller towns along the rivers of Europe, be they in Germany, France , Austria or Hungary. They have a slow pace that is appealing to us, used to the faster pace of suburban life in America.

The Romanesque Carmelite’ church dates back to the 13th century,. It is a short walk from the Rhine.



This particular small town has two medieval churches worth visiting. The oldest is St. Severus, very impressive inside and out. The second is the Carmelite Church, very plain on the outside without even a tall bell tower as was common at the time. The interior, however, is very elaborate and a total surprise. Although the Carmelite Church was once attached to a Carmelite monastery established in the 14th century ,but long since dissolved. One of the monastery buildings is now the town hall of Boppard. Although St. Severus was the parish church of Boppard, it seems that the wealthy people of the town preferred to attend the Carmelite Church and used their money to pay for elaborate altar pieces and other adornments of the interior.

With two high towers and imposing appearance, St Severus
dominates the skyline of Boppard.

St. Severus has its own charm however. Its construction started in the 12th century and finished in the 13th. Like many other medieval churches, it was built on the site of an earlier one that dated to the 6th century. St. Severus has a tall plain interior with a high overarching ceiling and relatively few statues. It does have some early medieval frescoes that were lovingly restored a few years ago. I was struck by the beauty of a small medieval statue of mother and child ant stopped to light a candle and say a prayer or two.

The ancient statue seemed to glow from within as I knelt to light a candle.

Back in the sunlight again, we continued our leisurely walk along the river walk, admiring the variety of well kept medieval and more recently built homes that looked out on the Rhine. Not all the houses were kept to a high standard. We spotted a few that would easily fall into the category of fixer upper in the US.

The people who live in Boppard obviously love flowers as most houses sported both boxes and pots of brightly colored blooms. It was early enough that the town gardener was still at work watering the plants in boxes that lined the promenade.

The village gardener was hard at work watering the flowers that lined
the Rhine with his portable water supply and hose.

Unfortunately soon the hour of our village stroll was almost up and we headed back to the River Queen, as the sailors were ready to cast off for our next stop. We would be in Rudesheim that afternoon for a very different kind of adventure.