notamermaid

The last WWII battle site in this little series is the third bridge - Urmitz bridge, its proper old name being Kronprinz-Wilhelm-Brücke. Like its sister bridges it was a railway bridge with pedestrian walkway. I think you can guess what is coming: it was destroyed. But contrary to the other two it was rebuilt after the war, albeit without the massive arch. Let us have a look at the map of the advancing troops, which in that area was the Third Army as part of Operation Lumberjack: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Operation_Lumberjack_map.jpg The bridge crosses the Rhine at Urmitz to the village (former town) of Engers. The story of Urmitz bridge is overshadowed by the events at Remagen which had unfolded a couple of days prior. We will have a closer look at that in a later post. notamermaid

Hope your cruise will be great. It is 1 May so we will have a look at April and its river levels. I think I can say that this is not a spoiler when I tell you all already that the past month has been good. Graph coming later. notamermaid

To the place I hinted at yesterday. That is Nierstein. The town has a river cruise docking area but is hardly frequented by international ships. I mention Nierstein here in post #44: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2516698-rhine-beyond-the-standard-ports/page/2/ The link in that to the Rhine crossing in 1945 no longer works. So here is some info. First, a German history project has created this 360 degrees photo with embedded links (in German): https://vr-easy.com/tour/kuladigrlp/220922-nierstein/#pano=9 You can read an article on the erection of the monument here: https://www.army.mil/article/184917/rhine_crossing_memorial_builds_metaphoric_bridge I find this video good, but am a bit confused as to why they say Oppenheim. That is next to Nierstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOACe6O10H8 notamermaid

I would go for May. Nature is well into spring, snow melt is gone. Low water starts in summer. There can be flooding in May (in 1999 it was severe) but historically/statistically June is surprisingly worse for flooding than May. That all applies to Germany only. Note that as soon as you leave out the Regensburg to Vilshofen stretch summer to autumn becomes more attractive, by that I mean reliable for good levels, as you avoid the shallow areas. Then Vilshofen to Budapest is usually good. I have no info on the river further downstream. notamermaid

That is so sweet and understandable. Mamma is the word for mum, i.e. the endearing word for mother. notamermaid

Fingers crossed it is not needed. All the best. I also think it would be good to contact Scenic. I do wonder about the handrail you mentioned being short, that is, not covering the last step of the flight of stairs. That can confuse the brain and something that could be addressed, if not with a material solution than by a warning sign or the crew pointing it out. notamermaid

I have put a marker at the site in Andernach: The location is: 50°26'09.8"N 7°24'04.1"E Let us continue with the topic of WWII sites and memorials. There are a couple of places I would like to share the history of. There is the site of Remagen bridge, the site of Urmitz bridge and the site of Bingen bridge. They were "sisters" all built at the same time. I have talked about the Bingen to Rüdesheim bridge in post #195. That leaves Urmitz bridge. But first there is another place that is interesting for folks perhaps. More on that tomorrow. notamermaid

What a story @Host Jazzbeau thanks for sharing. Here is the photo of the sign in Andernach. Soldiers painted the direction how to get home, i.e. how far it is, at the side of the subway under the railway bridge. When the railway bridge above needed renovating and widening the authorities wondered how to preserve the site. They found a solution and a plaque explains what the painted kilometre sign post is about: notamermaid

A friend of mine had an unpleasant incident in Paris many years ago. The old gentleman was really annoyed with her - we assumed he had a flashback of bad memories with Germans. It was weird for us youngsters. To be honest, there are a couple of people of the Allied Forces that is better that I have never met them, you know, some things hurt. But passing time helps. The capture of the bridge at Remagen is seen as a shortening of the war and reduced misery as a consequence. Generally speaking the American Forces are held in good esteem and I see no reasons to try and hide why you are visiting Remagen and look at the plaques or other places you may visit. Do check out the plaques at the bridge head in this short video of travellers on the MS Grace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euq_5qa5jeU notamermaid

Oh that is an interesting topic. I mean, how to talk to people with a different background in history. Basically, when I speak I naturally am the one on the "loser's side" while you (on this forum) are on the "winner's side". So, yes, a bit of carefully breaching the subject I would say is good. In conversations that are standard on river cruises like "where are you from", "are you interested in anything special", your main reason for travelling can soon become clear. Overall, with so much time passed, almost anyone is laid back about it. Sometimes to Germans, Americans can appear very friendly but a bit direct. But no sweat, not a big deal. Americans and Canadians are seen as friends (and liberators if you look at history) mostly. All good. Remagen has the history museum, meaning the peace museum, so that will be an outing or a topic certainly if you dock in Remagen. No need to be that discreet really, just do not rush into a conversation. On land, I cannot see a problem really. People in Remagen will remember things but if you photograph discreetly I see no problem. Perhaps not mention your relatives' names to random people where the battle sites were just in case. But the odds are very low that you will meet anyone with "resentment". Just saying, you know, my father was a soldier and ran into a problem decades later in a foreign country. Overall, feel free to honour your fathers' time in my country. If you would like to contact the peace museum, here is the link: https://bruecke-remagen.de/friedensmuseum/?setlang=en At the museum they may well be interested in your stories in a professional way. Which reminds me, I have a photograph of a sign that American soldiers painted on the wall in Andernach. It is still there to see, preserved by the authorities. I will post that again, did it about two years ago. notamermaid

To a happier topic. The Upper Middle Rhine valley is known for its spectacular landscape including all the castles. So there is a Lower Middle Rhine valley, right? Right. It is also full of hills and has several castles but it is not as dramatic as the Upper part. I have already mentioned the Drachenfels rock of Lord Byron fame. There are several interesting places between Koblenz and Cologne, technically/geographically not fully correct as the Lower part, but I refer to the two cities for the general idea of where to find it on the map. One port in that section is Remagen. The town is most famous for its (destroyed) bridge. Almost all international ships just sail past, but tonight the MS Inspire is docked there: In my screenshot of marinetraffic.com I caught the Arosa Silva which happened to be signalling nearby earlier. What is interesting to note is that the Inspire is 135m long. That means she is not allowed to dock at the KD pier which is only designed for ships up to 110m long. That one is to the right of the Inspire in this photo. More on the Inspire and Remagen in another post. notamermaid

About the "protest boat" for the Ahr valley victims sailing to Mainz yesterday. I have found a video. And I feel the need to post it. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z72cKBrfe-o A silent, sad boat of a different kind. Hopefully, it had the desired impact in Mainz. notamermaid

The pairing of ships appears to be standard now on the Rhine, I mean several companies do that if they can. It really helps to keep the itineraries going and is good planning economically. I will give Viking credit for starting that procedure - until some one proves to me that another company has done it for longer than them. The swapping works best in situations of low water as that is when the shallow part in the middle of the Basel to Amsterdam itinerary is bridged with the help of a coach ride. Flooding is more an issue further upstream or in both or all three major sections of the Rhine (potentially also creating problem on the Lower Rhine in consequence). A note on CroisiEurope: I do not know how much they plan for low water but if they do not prepare for a ship swap it may be because they hardly ever have to. All their ships are 110m long or shorter. While this cannot be put into figures, we know that gives them a small advantage over the longer ships with the usually deeper draft. This has proven more than once to be just that little bit less of a problem and made that their ships sailed while others could not. Likewise, this advantage applies to other companies that sail partially or complete with "small" ships. Talking of which: Kaub gauge is at 253cm and "perfect". notamermaid

Not sure that there is a best month. As pontac said, it depends on what weather you prefer. May and June will be a bit warmer. Also consider daylight hours. You have more of those in May and June. September is a very pleasant month, October can be lovely for the colours. One thing to remember is that autumn tends to be the time of year for low water so that may impact your cruise. notamermaid

@Canal archive it is hard, the relatives believe those family members could still be alive. They think something is not right... I read a headline saying "... the mayor put his car out of harms way in good time..." Read into it what you will, I admit that it baffles me to this day why happened what happened. I live on the Rhine where we know of the danger and the towns, also all other relevant authorities, have detailed emergency plans. They know what to do at what height of water, as a citizen you can download all the relevant stuff down to your particular street. The ship was due to arrive at Mainz at 1800 hours local time. I think I got it wrong, they are not going to the offices directly. It is Saturday evening after all. Will try and find some news coverage. notamermaid