Rhine water levels 2024 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

River cruise ships sail the famous Rhine Gorge from its start just after Rüdesheim and then arrive a few hours later at Koblenz, right? That is the standard procedure but you can actually have a stop along the way. And if you so wish choose an itinerary that has a longer stop - overnight. This is done at Boppard. Does it make sense, is it better? I would say it is just different. Boppard is not big and spectacular but it has a beautiful setting with the greatest bend in the river that creates the "four lakes view". Obviously you can only see that from the hill. Some nice shops, a Medieval church, a former castle and a Roman fort ruin are all there to explore. I like the "Café am Markt" for its chocolate and cake, by the way.

 

I hope you do not mind me playing another short puzzle with you - it needs to be quick as by tomorrow evening @Izengolf will know the answer, having walked through Boppard.

Here is the cropped photo:

 

What is this and how does it connect to Leicester?

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Another puzzle!  Please release me...

 

The statue is Englebert Humperdinck (the composer) with Hansel and Gretel (the characters in his most famous composition).  As far as I know he never went to Leicester, but Englebert Humperdinck (the singer) grew up there.

[notamermaid]

Well done, @Host Jazzbeau. All correct. Thank you for the chuckle. 😊

 

Perhaps the statue is pointed out to river cruisers when they explore Boppard on a guided tour. The German composer had lived in the town in a villa for a while. According to German Wikipedia the singer chose the stage name as it is so unusual. And it certainly is not a common name in German. In Germany he is billed only as Engelbert as the heirs of the composer forbid him to use the full name, especially as there is no relation, i.e. a family connection, between the two.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

I had just typed my previous post when Cruisecritic fed me this article on the right side of my screen: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3017843-cruise-critic-feature-most-beautiful-castles-on-the-rhine/

 

notamermaid

 

[Phutch9136]

Big thank you to Viking for our 3rd successful cruise! Basel to Trier July 1-8. Zurich to Paris. When docked water was rushing so fast it looked like we were moving! No significant changes to itinerary. Some docking days were abbreviated such as sailing at 3:30 vs 6pm. But that allowed us to move onto more storybook villages. Score! Docked in Winnegen overnight, turned out to be a bonus,  what a lovely little village with beautiful river walk after dinner. Docked outside Trier, short bus ride, those that stayed onboard got a treat of second scenic 3 hours afternoon sailing! Docked overnight at 6pm allowing dinner in town and /or evening strolls. Again lovely river walk after dinner 10 minutes to town along original Roman walls. Absolutely no complaints which is why we love Viking. The Captain adjusted properly to the restrictions he was given. 
Beautiful touring weather high 60s low 70s, overcast with times of sun. One afternoon shower and that’s it. Marriott in Zurich is in a VERY cool area especially during Euro games, fun fun atmosphere. Close to restaurants, we walked to town 45mins along river or 30 minutes through eclectic neighborhoods. Hotel Storck balcony good food on river, in shade, not overpriced. 
Sorry I couldn’t access this  to post without turning on cell. A big big thank you to Notamermaid!!

[notamermaid]

21 minutes ago, Phutch9136 said:

Sorry I couldn’t access this  to post without turning on cell. A big big thank you to Notamermaid!!

Best way to be on holiday is without the phone on all the time! Thank you for reporting. Good to read that you had such a lovely time. It is also an encouragement for others to read that the adjustments that are made can work out really well, even offering a bonus perhaps. I agree about Winningen, it is small and delightful to walk around.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The temperatures are rising and the weather is working towards thunderstorms again. Lake Constance will rise again and we can see the river at Maxau, although having gone in and out of flood vigilance in the last 36 hours, to firmly stay above that official figure of 650cm again. It is a little to early to say but the computer modelling indicates a real change soon, but slowly at first. What is now 652cm could go to 660cm by this evening and will continue on the slow upward trend. We will need to wait for what happens along the High Rhine tomorrow to say how the river will react past Basel on Saturday. For now let us just leave it at indicating that the rise may well be a fast one.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

There are severe weather warnings along the Rhine valley, this afternoon mostly around Basel and in the Black Forest, as well as in the border areas with the Netherlands. Maxau gauge is at 662cm and is likely to rise to 680cm tomorrow. All in all, this is not as steep a rise as was indicated yesterday but the 680cm is unlikely to be the peak figure. That we will likely see on Sunday.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[rachiem]

Thanks for the updates.

We are due to sail from Basel to Amsterdam on the 21st.

When booking a year ago, we were naively worried about drought season!

Can't believe how wet it's been in Germany and surrounding areas. The UK summer is a bit of a wash out too 😳

 

[notamermaid]

Brief update. Thunderstorms and rain not as heavy as forecast. We will see Maxau gauge peak tomorrow but that will most likely be below 690cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Maxau peaked at 678cm this morning. The level will likely drop briefly below 650cm tomorrow.

 

Lake Constance is of course staying high, but manages to stay under 500cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Apart from low water, high water, lock strikes and other incidences, what else can interrupt your river cruise? A bomb. During a planned search with sonar, another bomb was found at Rüdesheim. If you have read up a bit on the area you will probably know that there used to be a bridge spanning the river there. You can see the remnants on the embankment if you walk upstream from Rüdesheim town centre a bit. Or see one stump left in the river. The WWII bomb was found yesterday and was detonated a few hours ago. River traffic was halted, as well as the railway and road having been closed. Life has returned to normal again now.

 

You can read this article in German, or just watch the embedded video: https://www.hessenschau.de/panorama/weltkriegsbombe-bei-ruedesheim-gesprengt--sperrungen-aufgehoben-v10,kurz-bombe-ruedesheim-100.html

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

River levels: we have had thunderstorms but the impact appears to have been a little less than anticipated. Maxau gauge is at 646cm and rising but will most likely stay below 690cm. Lake Constance quite stable, at 487cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

On 7/12/2024 at 7:38 PM, rachiem said:

Can't believe how wet it's been in Germany and surrounding areas.

It has been quite the unusual spring and early summer. But things have improved and judging from the latest changes in the graph at Maxau gauge the river is now going fast to levels that are closer to the mean and more typical for this time of year.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermiad

 

[notamermaid]

On Tuesday I posted about the bomb at Rüdesheim and you can see the Niederwald Denkmal in the photo. But what is the massive monument, what is it about and why is it there?

If you speak German or feel like sending this through a machine, here is the German website: https://www.niederwalddenkmal.de/

 

The basic, short story is this: in 1870 France declares war on Prussia, in 1871 Prussia wins. Unification of German states happens leading to the "big" Germany, i.e. German Empire. That needs commemorating - a statue of the Germanic peoples personified which is the "Germania". France had decades earlier occupied lands on the left bank on the Rhine. No more - the Rhine is German and not the border, hence putting the statue onto a hill (the "Niederwald") overlooking the river. The smaller allegorical figure of War faces towards France, the smaller allegorical figure of Peace faces towards Germany.

 

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niederwald_monument

 

The monument is huge and I recommend visiting the hill for the great view over the valley.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

For the first time in many weeks Maxau gauge has fallen below the navigational flood mark I, which is set at 620cm. It is now at 617cm and falling. Finally, things are looking like summer for the Upper Rhine valley on the river as well as on land. It is quite warm in the valley and it is perfect for sunset watching with a glass in hand on the sun deck: sunset tonight at Mainz is at 21:26 for example.

 

We may get a higher level at Maxau again due to rain after thunderstorms, but the impact should not be great and be a short one.

 

In other news: apparently, "negotiations" following the accident at Iffezheim lock last year have been sorted (in court). The barge had been grounded as an insurance and is now allowed to sail again after a court ruling.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

No huge news - thankfully - in my part of the valley from what I have read. Water levels are good as you can tell from the fact that I posted last five days ago.

 

Maxau gauge has managed to stay below flood mark I and Lake Constance has also lost a bit more water. It is an overcast, rainy day today which is nice after several days of heat. If things go as planned, i.e. the long-term predictions turn out to be right, Maxau gauge will fall below 600cm and get steadily closer to the mean. It is now at 607cm (there had been a tiny rise actually in the last two days). With water levels at the mean at Maxau, does that mean we can get low water at Kaub soon? No. Kaub gauge is at 272cm. Low water in July is now impossible. It is almost guaranteed not to happen before 6 August and unlikely to happen before 10 August. Nota Bene: official low water for commercial traffic as regards logistics is at 150cm, low water which I am referring to for our purposes here is not a set figure but a range below 100cm that makes sailing more difficult and above 77cm, the figure that is the marker for the navigation channel. Below that it has no guaranteed depth of 190cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

It is raining by the bucket load in the Rhine valley, clouds are drifting in from France but are not much hitting Basel and Breisach. This means that the river will rise mostly in Germany rather than in the French/joint river section. It will be a noticeable rise downstream from Mannheim but not substantial enough to cause problems.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

I hope everyone on the ships is enjoying the splendid refreshed air - at least in the Middle Rhine valley - and warm temperatures after yesterday's heavy rain. A short geography and history lesson over Sunday afternoon tea. 😁

 

When you do ship tracking, along the Rhine you can see this:

 

At Bingen the Rhine sharply changes direction. This is what it looked like around 1900:

 

And it still looks very similar today. This is of course the famous Mouse Tower: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binger_Mäuseturm

You can switch to English, the postcard is on the German page.

 

At this point the river hits the rocks of the Rhenish slate mountains. It needs to change direction. The Rhine also changes its appearance and habits, or you could even say its nature. From a meandering river with many islands, slow current and a width of up to 1000 metres it becomes a fast river with a width that is reduced to 160m at its narrowest point. The entrance gate is right there past Rüdesheim and is marked by the Binger Loch. That is literally a hole. You would think that it refers to the gap in the mountains but that is not the case. It instead refers to what is underneath the water - or was. The Rhine has left a rift under water that created rapids and were a dangerous obstacle for ships. Here is a photo from 1971: https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/FHJ72HX5I4CA2WZED6DJOMHPDA5AUHFB

 

Shipping was complicated right into the 1970's when the navigation channel as we know it today was finally created. Here is the situation just before that in 1971 with two channels and the (diminished in size) rapids still visible:

 

Photo cropped, taken from here: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?113530-Bingerloch-Durchfahrt-bis-1974/page2

 

The quarzite rift underneath the water had proved a literally hard - and stubborn - problem from Roman times onwards and the rock is of course still underneath the water. It is just now so far down that together with the wall that directs the water flow ships can pass safely all year round in all water levels. Well, almost...

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The Bingen rapids were infamous and famous, often described in literature and occasionally painted. No wonder then that with the onset of interest in the dramatic landscape after the defeat of Napoleon and the emergence of Rhine Romanticism this perhaps busiest of all landscape painters of the valley's vistas painted the gateway to the Rhine Gorge, too. This is how William Turner saw the Bingen rapids and hills: https://www.turner-route.de/en/

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

This track made me curious. The Amasiena is on the downstream itinerary and today has docked in Remagen. It is not on the itinerary given for this week. It appears that there was no stop for the excursion at Lahneck Castle but this is just a conclusion by me from the track colours as the signal was lost for some time. The ship is now in Cologne but you can see the dot at Remagen this afternoon:

 

Just an unusual occurrence. If anyone knows why, a short note would be appreciated.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Notamermaid thank you, thank you, thank you JWT is a particular favourite his use of colour and brush work that gives a slightly eastern slant to his work, I remember as a student sitting in aww at seeing the Fighting Temeraire  for the first time what an artist.

[notamermaid]

On 7/29/2024 at 8:21 AM, Canal archive said:

Notamermaid thank you, thank you, thank you JWT is a particular favourite his use of colour and brush work that gives a slightly eastern slant to his work, I remember as a student sitting in aww at seeing the Fighting Temeraire  for the first time what an artist.

My pleasure. When I was in London several years back I went to the National Gallery. The Monets and the other famous paintings were beleaguered by tourists from all sorts of countries.😉

I went to "my" Turner and was almost alone, being able to appreciate the Fighting Temeraire. The motif just had to be a souvenir of that day - the fridge magnet is on my freezer.

 

Speaking of fridge magnets - I also have a couple from the Rhine valley. Never seen one of old ships' reproductions. Perhaps one can get them at museums I have not been to yet.

 

The Fighting Temeraire is that iconic painting of a new age dawning, the Industrial Revolution and its steam ships. The years spanning 1815 to 1827 were exciting times on the Rhine, too, for that reason. But we will get to that again in another post.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

If folks would like to know a bit more about life and shipping on the Rhine, they can visit several museums. One of them is in Ehrenbreitstein (not on top), that is the district on the other side of Koblenz city centre. A bus or the small ferry can get you there. https://www.rhein-museum.de/

It is in German only from what I can tell but you can get some English info via QR codes.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

If anyone visits Portsmouth go to the Dockyard and if your into ships HMS  Warrior is a must then obviously the flagship of the British Fleet HMS Victory and the oldest of all King Henry V111 Mary Rose.