30 January 2005

The Mosel River and Trier

By Annie Warmke

The town of Trier is probably Germany’s best kept secret.  This amazing ancient Roman city rests a mere three hours from Cologne, and the journey there is along the magical and charming Mosel River.

The first thing we noticed after heading south from Cologne is that this is wine country.  As we drove, the view to our left was of a gorgeous gentle river, but on the right we passed hillside (more like mini mountains) after hillside layered with grape vines.  These hillsides were so steep, so that in order to pick and tend the grapes on each “terrace”, the workers (and I suppose the grapes) traveled on a little railroad cart that went straight up the hill.  I didn’t quite see how they pulled themselves up the track.  The whole thing looked death defying and made me dizzy.

The tops of the hillsides are peppered with ancient castle turrets and bell towers.  Skinny church spires poked out from the treetops.  These amazing structures were a constant reminder that people tended grapes along these hillsides long before America was a glint in anybody’s eye.  As if to drive that point home, we stopped in Winningen to visit Germany’s oldest half-timbered house (built in 1320).  Standing in a tiny doorway, I tried to imagine the lives of those incredibly short people that lived here nearly 700 years.

There are so many amazing places along the Mosel, we could hardly decide where to stop.  We finally settled on Oberburg Castle as our next destination.  But it might just as well have been the Burg Eltz or the Schloss Zell, or any one of a dozen castles or ruins along our trail.  This journey reminded me a bit of walking through an incredible art gallery – masterpieces as far as the eye can see.  After a while you start to get picky, can’t be bothered to stop at just any incredible 14^th century fortress. 

On this day we were anxious to move on so that we would have plenty of time to discover Trier, the oldest town in Germany, and the first civilized settlement in Europe.  The town actually dates back to 2,000 BC when Prince Trebeta, son of an Assyrian queen arrived and modestly named the place after himself

The town is breathtaking.  On the drive from the Mosel into this populated area, we passed Roman ruin after Roman ruin.  We saw the baths, and the coliseum and so many Roman buildings that we could hardly believe that this place isn’t better known.  Here, in the heart of Germany, it was possible to gain a small understanding of the power of the ancient Roman empire – miles and centuries from its center. 

We stayed in a nice little hotel, located just in front of the Porta Nigra (the Black Gate - built in the 2^nd Century).  Porta Nigra was once the gate to the city and is still quite well preserved.  In fact some guidebooks call it “one of the grandest Roman buildings in northern Europe.” 

There was so much to see here that we felt let down to have so little time to visit the sites.  We did, however, manage to take a tour of the city on one of those British-style double-decker buses.  It was a very “European” experience, watching ancient ruins built by an ancient civilization drift past as we drove through the streets of a prosperous German town while the driver told us stories in French and English.

That night, when we returned to our room, I was thinking of Zanesville and how many lovely old buildings (well, not “old” compared to Trier) have been torn down.  I sometimes wonder what people (and our children) are thinking when they rip apart these buildings and haul their memory off to the landfill.  Will we wake up one day and wonder where our history… our heritage has gone?

Throughout Europe we have found magical places that have managed to grow and evolve, while holding on to their past.  How sad it would have been if those city planners of days gone by in Trier had decided to clear away all that old rubble to make way for “progress.”  We are a young place, America.  But Trier was young once too.  Our choices today have a lasting effect, mostly at erasing our past.  What amazing things will be left for our grandchildren’s grandchildren to stare at in wonder?