Rhine water levels 2024 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

The Siebengebirgsmuseum is in one of the old streets leading to the Rhine. A renovated Baroque townhouse with extension houses regional exhibits, history on the area and the Drachenfels tourism, but there are also changing exhibitions with a regional or Rhine Romanticism theme. The one we saw, "Teamwork" as they called it, explored the collaboration of painters and sculptors that is teachers and their students of the Düsseldorf school of painting. The advertising canvas:

 

It shows "Die beiden Leonoren" by Carl Ferdinand Sohn. I had not been to an exhibition that focused on the school before so it was interesting to see so many paintings at once. The Düsseldorf teachers were able to draw a wide range of talents from many countries and the Hudson River School had ties with the painters from the Rhine. A notable member of both circles was the German-born Albert Bierstadt.

 

This time we were able to access the roof terrace where, if you squint a bit, you can make out the Drachenfels in this photo:

 

and the Petersberg with its famous hotel in this one:

 

The Petersberg has an interesting place in German history.

 

It was a short but pleasant trip to the town. On the way back we of course saw the vine clad hills, but here is proof that not all wine comes from the hills. A local vintner has its grounds near the Rhine river just a little higher than the floodplains:

 

notamermaid

 

 

Edited October 18 by notamermaid
added info

[notamermaid]

River levels. Just a brief note. Maxau gauge is at 573cm and pleasantly going down towards the mean. Kaub gauge is at 284cm and falling slowly. It will stay above 150cm most likely for the rest of the month. A good sailing level throughout and when the mists clear and the rain stops you may well see the valley in beautiful autumn colours now.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

I wrote that the river level is falling and while that is true I must also say that from Koblenz onwards downstream the level is rising. Just in case you notice this or read about it. This is due to heavy rain which the Rhine can take and it is not a problem but the Moselle is contributing a high volume of water that the upstream Rhine river and tributaries are not showing in graphs. There is a bit of uncertainty in the forecast but it should not be a big deal, unless the ships have problems passing under the Moselle bridge at Koblenz. This I cannot determine in detail. The docking at the Moselle embankment is before the bridge.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

To add a bit of detail to my post above, those new to the topic may not know that Koblenz has docking on both the Rhine (mostly left bank, a little right bank) and on the Moselle. This what it looks like tonight:

 

The middle of the three bridges, the railway bridge, has the lowest clearance. Moselle docking is on the side of the city, sailing towards the lock (see the Don Zimmani in the lock in my screenshot) is along the Lützel side only. Quite a busy place again tonight, on the zoomed in version of this screenshot I count ten river cruise ships. The TUI Maya even docks from the prime spots further upstream:

 

The river is getting busier every year and it has reached the point where one could in a not so benevolent mood say that more and more passengers pick the short straw with their docking locations. Some time earlier this year I mentioned the out of town docking of Viking in Cologne. Rafting is for Viking in Koblenz now standard - rafting with a sister ship that is.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

In post #650 I wrote that 1824 was an exciting year for shipping on the Rhine. And indeed we can celebrate a 200 year anniversary this month. Let us set the scene. The river in that year is still mostly untamed, Johann GottfriedTulla has only recently begun the straightening of the Upper Rhine. The Rhine Gorge is even more treacherous than it still is now, with rapids, rocks and shallows. But even the Lower Rhine is not what it is today. The Rhine from Basel to Rotterdam is many kilometres longer as the meanders still exist that have been cut off in the 19th century. Rotterdam is very much the main port for passengers and goods alike and has close connections to the ports of England. Amsterdam can only be reached through small canals, nothing like we know today. The enlarged connection you use today is a canal project of the 20th century. A journey on sailing boats is long and sometimes unpredictable or even not possible at all. Not all days are good for sailing and winter ice occurs almost every year to varying extent, rendering the river impassable. Sailing ships need to be pulled by horses upstream. Journeys from Rotterdam to Basel are therefore very long indeed. If it is even considered a worthwhile endeavour to reach Basel by ship.

 

Steam has been used to power machines for decades but steam ship technology is still in its infancy on the continent. But progress has been made in the US and in Britain so by 1816 a steamship has tried its luck on the Elbe and the Rhineland people have cheered a couple of ships passing by since 1816. The time is right and entrepreneurs are ready for steam to change economy and shipping for ever.

 

The problem on the Rhine: current. While the Dutch river is enjoying a regular steam service already (started in 1822), the German Rhine is a more difficult terrain and requires more horsepower to make the change from sail to steam possible. This is where Gerhard Moritz Roentgen enters the scene.

 

To be continued.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[RDVIK2016]

On 10/19/2024 at 1:39 PM, notamermaid said:

 

The river is getting busier every year and it has reached the point where one could in a not so benevolent mood say that more and more passengers pick the short straw with their docking locations. Some time earlier this year I mentioned the out of town docking of Viking in Cologne. Rafting is for Viking in Koblenz now standard - rafting with a sister ship that is.

 

notamermaid

 

In 2023 our Koblenz day on our Viking cruise had us docking upstream at Braubach.  From there we were bussed to Ehrenbreitstein.

[notamermaid]

7 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

In 2023 our Koblenz day on our Viking cruise had us docking upstream at Braubach.  From there we were bussed to Ehrenbreitstein.

A bit more unusual but understandable these days. Braubach is normally for Marksburg Castle and from the excursion you are bussed to Koblenz if you are sailing in the downstream direction. Not sure here if your situation was connected to that.

 

I did not mention that in my first screenshot the two Viking ships rafting are the blue arrows closest to the word Deutsches Eck. The Ehrenbreitstein dock on the right bank is probably where the red dot for the ship "Lahnplus" is.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Our weather is a bit foggy but "pleasantly autumn" I would call it. Relatively settled with a bit of rain, cloudy with sunny spells. Temperatures in double digits.

 

The small wave of high water from the Moselle (where it caused little to no change to life on or at the river) has moved through to the Lower Rhine and as expected has had little impact on the river levels. The Upper Rhine is close to mean water levels and Kaub gauge looks stable over 150cm for the rest of the month (predicted as of today). All looks really pleasant.

 

I hope the last tourists on the excursion boats this season are having a great time. Unfortunately, the "MS Goethe" could not finish her season properly, due to technical issues she went to the winter harbour in September and is now in dry dock.

 

notamermaid.

 

[RDVIK2016]

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

A bit more unusual but understandable these days. Braubach is normally for Marksburg Castle and from the excursion you are bussed to Koblenz if you are sailing in the downstream direction. Not sure here if your situation was connected to that.

 

I did not mention that in my first screenshot the two Viking ships rafting are the blue arrows closest to the word Deutsches Eck. The Ehrenbreitstein dock on the right bank is probably where the red dot for the ship "Lahnplus" is.

 

notamermaid

 

Yes, Braubach is very convenient for visiting Marksburg as the castle is directly overlooking the town. It was one of the excursions available to our fellow passengers. We elected to Ehrenbreitstein to go that more recently built fortress to also get a view from above of the Deutsches Eck, the confluence of the Mosel and Rhein, and to ride the gondola across the river. 

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

We elected to Ehrenbreitstein to go that more recently built fortress to also get a view from above of the Deutsches Eck, the confluence of the Mosel and Rhein, and to ride the gondola across the river. 

Tough decision between Marksburg Castle and Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. For those with "weak ankles" the Fortress is easier. I dare say the view is even greater from the fortress, too. I have so far opted out of taking the gondola as I do not like the heights, of course it is possible to go up there in a car or taxi. A local bus goes to the entrance, too. Just requires a bit more planning.

 

Again, the webcam for those who have only recently found this thread:

https://www.feratel.com/en/webcams/germany/koblenz.html

 

And here is a webcam from Basel: https://www.feratel.com/en/webcams/switzerland/basel.html

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Tough decision between Marksburg Castle and Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. For those with "weak ankles" the Fortress is easier. I dare say the view is even greater from the fortress, too. I have so far opted out of taking the gondola as I do not like the heights, of course it is possible to go up there in a car or taxi. A local bus goes to the entrance, too. Just requires a bit more planning.

 

Again, the webcam for those who have only recently found this thread:

https://www.feratel.com/en/webcams/germany/koblenz.html

 

And here is a webcam from Basel: https://www.feratel.com/en/webcams/switzerland/basel.html

 

notamermaid

 

We don't have any trouble, yet, with the steeper excursions, but decided on Ehrenbreitstein for the reasons I stated before  The Viking bus took to the fortress. After the reenactor/guide's tour was done we took the gondola across the river and the bus met us over there. It was a very nice and interesting excursion.

RDVIK

[notamermaid]

On 10/22/2024 at 12:06 AM, RDVIK2016 said:

After the reenactor/guide's tour was done we took the gondola across the river and the bus met us over there.

I would really like to see one of those tours they do up there. They sound interesting. I would go for the English engineer one.

 

To a short story, something different. We get debris in the Rhine, tons of it, but sometimes things get into the Rhine "deliberately". A gentleman walking along the Rhine saw what he thought was standard debris, but then made out the boot of a car. So he informed the police. That was a few days ago. The car has now been salvaged with the help of a special crane. It is not safe to leave that in the river for long for ship traffic. Traffic was briefly suspended for the operation. Divers and police have so far been able to establish that likely the car was disposed of, it had open windows, no registration plate and was on an international "wanted list" according to the serial number. Why someone outside of Germany is looking for the car the police did not say...

https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/mainz/bergung-von-auto-im-rhein-100.html

 

notamermaid

 

Edited Thursday at 11:35 AM by notamermaid
added link

[notamermaid]

The dry weather means the river levels are falling further but that buffer we got from the September rain is keeping the levels still really pleasant. Kaub gauge is going down steadily but gradually and may fall below 140cm at the beginning of November. If this happens it could again go into the business pages internationally. It is not a problem for river cruising, it just economically speaking means low water.

 

notamermaid