A Voyage Through Germany’s Majestic River Moselle | World’s Most Scenic River Journeys

Escape with us on a magical journey down Germany’s beautiful river Moselle, a river shaped by an extraordinary heritage. We’ll travel through a dramatic landscape of astonishing bends and tranquil waters, discovering a river of trade and romance, and we’ll explore underground worlds, engineering marvels, and enchanted castles. We will meet and travel with the people who live and work along this beautiful and historic river.

Subscribe to see more full documentaries every week:
https://bit.ly/2lneXNy

TRACKS publishes unique, unexpected and untold stories from across the world every week.

Any queries, please contact us at:
owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com

#rivers #moselle #germany

[Music] escape with us on a magical journey down a river shaped by an extraordinary Heritage we’ll travel through a dramatic landscape of astonishing bends and Tranquil Waters no other noise but just your paddle and maybe the birds discovering a river of trade and romance when you’re on the river you are not connected to the banks you feel free we’ll explore underground worlds engineering Marvels and Enchanted castles it’s like a fairy tale we’ll meet and travel with the people who live and work along this River the wine business has been in the family for 15 Generations now all the way to the mighty R where our journey spectacularly ends this is one of the most scenic River Journeys in the world Germany’s Melle [Music] River Autumn on the mzelle and the vines have been harvested we’re in Tria 150 km west of Frankfurt the city claims to be the oldest in Germany with a proud Roman history the incredible 30 m High pter Negra was built in 180 ad from 7,000 stone blocks it’s one of six Gates which encircled the city Tria also marks the starting point of the most beautiful section of the mzelle as it travels 200 km across Southwest Germany to the City of Kent while we could catch a tourist boat from Tria we’re starting our adventure down river just as Roman Traders would have done to thousand years ago although we have a slightly bigger boat the 110 M long Ms Sophie Draymond is making just one of the more than 10,000 cargo trips made on the river each year today our barge is heading for cologne loaded with containers full of grain I think the river mosul it’s a like an old lady because it’s a very elegant not so much trouble easygoing Tony hartvig originally from Eastern Germany has been working on riverboats for more than 20 years in the end of school I need a job and in the east of Germany in this time was very hard to find a job for young people so I said to myself okay I’m leaving home the first year was very hard because I was 16 uh far away from home but after one here for me it was sure to stay on [Music] board from Tria we’ll call in at noar and Dron heart of the mzelle wine industry before traveling on to the medieval town of burn Castle czz through the lock at zelan towards the high Melle bridge then the river carries us to the Forgotten cellers of trb and trabar past princ and cop town to to the Steep Vineyards at the calmont before we journey on to cckm Castle and finally to the city of kaben where the Melle meets the Rind and our journey ends the mazelle is famed for its wine unspoiled Villages and remarkable Meandering Loops eroded over millions of years these great bends are not the easiest thing to navigate around when you’ve got a barge as long as a football pitch okay now I go and starboard curve yeah so now I won’t tell them 10° to starboard 20 km after leaving Tria Tony has to navigate the first of more than a dozen sharp curves between here and Kent the ship moves always to the port because the power of the river pushed me there with boats coming in in the other direction there is no room for error Tony needs to anticipate the current and judge exactly the right line as he moves through the bend we have no controllers which Cruise automatically yeah we always cruising by our feelings yeah and now I have to move more to starboard side to control this to zero again and he’s done it only a dozen more to go but the most beautiful thing is there to have this free feeling you see you have the world in front of [Music] you our barge is heading on towards the Rind but we’re jumping off at the small village of Noy Maran Dron in the heart of Mosel wine country today the Melle is one of 13 German wine growing regions producing 65 to 100 million lers a year it’s famed for what many consider to be the finest reasing Wines in the world the roots of the Mel’s Vin culture can be traced back nearly 2,000 years thanks to a remarkable discovery made here in 1878 it’s a sculpture of a thirdd century Roman wine ship a copy now adorns the center of the [Music] village the statue provided the inspiration for a group of local wine lovers to take on an incredible [Music] project the 18 M long nyagan star Faithfully brought back to life using local Larch and Oak is the only working Roman wine ship of its kind in the world and we’re hitching a ride down river with a group of multinational mzelle enthusiasts when you’re on the river is you are not connected to the banks you feel free this is the best place on Earth beautiful scenery wonderful people and the Wine’s not bad we had a visitor here last year who likened it to the Norwegian Fields it’s uh not quite as steep but it’s just as green it’s very green and beautiful all your stress and and and all your uh Sorrows they Dro down from you Julius Caesar conquered the Melle Valley around 55 BC and Roman soldiers were garrisoned here they brought with them a belief that wine was a necessity and should be drunk throughout the day we always used to tell people they went into battle half had one and a half liters and trying to kill people as more Roman garrisons were established here in the 2 Century demand for wine increased originally it was shipped from Rome someone had a bright idea looked around saw the hills and thought we don’t need to do that we could grow our own wine hence the German wine industry the deep valley provided shelter from cold winds while the river reflected sunlight keeping temperatures far warmer than the surrounding Hills unfortunately I don’t think that Roman wine would have been quite up the same standard as nowadays the wine that we have here but uh I think it would have been very sour actually I don’t think it would have be very nice at all but who knows whatever its shortcomings it was certainly popular at the time and ships like the nyagan star would have transported mzelle wine as far as Roman Britain our ship still carries wine today but not much of it reaches its destination it’s an important part of the local economy so we have to support it so you’re only drinking to support the economy absolutely yes i’ I’d prefer not to but but I’m I’m a [Music] patriot having been on board a cargo barge and a Roman wine ship when now switching to a very different kind of boat to continue our journey Downstream the luxury cruise ship Ms Casanova is 2 days into her 8 day trip which started near the French border and ends in stutgart we’re hitching a ride to the medieval Wonder of burn Castle czz then onto zeltic and lock before we reach the Magnificent High mzelle Bridge 100 m met long with 48 cabins three decks and a leisurely cruising speed of 20 km per hour the kasanova hosts a gentile crowd of 96 passengers who have plenty of time to take in the sights or just their cards Kristoff and Yan are in charge of keeping everything flowing smoothly and rowdiness to a minimum my job is is a lovely job just keep traveling enjoying the countryside it’s nice because we are traveling all the time and you’re every day in a different place every bent is is different every village is different very small very very tiny yeah it’s it’s it’s like a second home for me yeah the Mosel is one of the most romantic rivers of Europe because of its small villages it’s the environment it’s The Vineyards it’s the people it’s the way of living the mosle is so quiet when you sailing along the mosle [Music] silence what is really different on the mosle is the colors this is my opinion this is the one there are the colors you have the most beautiful colors in the mosle and now we have October for example you see all the colors brown yellow red is beautiful for my sake it’s it’s the most beautiful R in [Music] Europe around the next Corner 65 km from Tria are the remains of the 13th century L Hood Castle they stand guard above the medieval Gem of burn Castle Couz the town’s wealth dates back to the Middle Ages when for the first time reasing grapes were planted in The Vineyards around it the medieval Market Square is so pretty it would make Christmas cards blush one of the most eye-catching buildings is Spitz Housen or the pointed house no more than 2 m wide at its base it was built in 1416 at a time when tax was charged on the amount of land built on not the size of the house above [Music] it on the Square itself is Cafe Hansen since the early 20th century it’s been enticing River Travelers and Traders through its doors with a spread of homemade Temptations Norbert Hansen was born upstairs as was his father and grandfather he’s the third generation of Hansen pastry chefs and his passion is making chocolates his newest variety is inspired by burn Castle’s world famous son the 15th century philosopher mathematician and general big thinker Nicholas cusanos it’s a product from here from the MOs and it’s only here amongst his other achievements Kos invented a bowling game where the bowling balls were hollowed out on one side to affect how they rolled in homage to the great man norber is making chocolates using the same distinctive bowling ball shape filled with two types of truffle cream a little bit milky chocolate with ginger and the dark chocolate with uh chili and it’s the same like uh the game from Nicolas kuzos and we say wow it’s from the mosu Fantastic everyone loves chocolate chocolate makes [Music] happy I think that’s an interesting thing this one piece will make 52 layers watch on mobile devices or the big screen all for free no subscription required this stretch of the Melle is one of the most atmospheric and we’re going to meet a renowned artist who lives nearby her unique glasswork captures the very Spirit of the river sosal is like a lady like a like a woman and and she’s also a perhaps an princess the same time she is really capricious and is is what I called mosal feeling Mana bince has exhibited across Europe and has wealthy buyers from as far away as Korea who covet her work every material have its own elements and glass had his own Beauty I feel it here and so uh I uh love to have to spend my days here and to translate it for the viewer mana’s Creations build on a long tradition of glass making on the mzelle a tradition which historically relied on the coal industry in the region to provide the high temperatures needed for glass work mana’s latest piece is an Ode to the mzelle I have here the river and I think it would be nice to put a flow here in it with a kind of cobalt blue Mana uses several layers of glass and a paint made from ground up stained glass windows the finished piece has a unique aquatic texture with trapped bubbles of air and vibrant colors my imagination is here much better this is my my my guide my my idea behind every uh day here at at this mosa it connect me really with the whole [Music] world we’re back on board the MS kasanova just ahead of us is the Mighty zigan lock it’s one of 10 locks between Tria and Kens that regulate the depth of the river and it’s crucial to keeping the mzelle working at 210 M long with a double chamber zelan is the busiest lock on the river we’re hopping off to find out a bit more for more than 10 years Garrett Clem has been working on the Melle for Germany’s waterways agency because my father was already a civil engineer working in the Water Business and when I was 7 years old I could explain how a lock functions so it’s stuck I just got stuck with it I studied civil engineering and it was the specialization that I wanted to do and finally I got a job where I can put these skills to work Garrett is responsible for keeping the river navigable for larger boats without the locks and the barges we wouldn’t have any commercial shipping on the Moselle and the livelihood of many people along the river depends on the locks and that they’re working and this is what we’re here for to do the Melle drops 72 M between Tria and Ken without any artificial controls the water would be less than a meter deep far too shallow for larger vessels but the locks ensure the water always has a depth of at least 3 m meaning even the most heavily Laden ships can safely navigate the river 10 million tons of cargo and thousands of cruise trips now rely on the locks but something happens once a year that all boat captains dread where we only have single chamber locks we have a maintenance period of 10 days a year where we have to shut down the locks to make sure that the locks working perfectly so we have to maintain it and where there’s only one chamber we can’t have any traffic in that period the plan is to gradually convert all the locks to have double Chambers like zelan so even if maintenance is going on in one chamber the mzelle can remain open for business each lock manages a difference in water level of between 6 to 9 M that’s the height of two double-decker buses in preparation for the next customer the lower Gates of the lock are closed the lower Gates weigh 30 tons each and they are adjusted to a tenth of a millimeter in order to close tight so that no water comes out when it shouldn’t boats heading Downstream navigate themselves into the channel Channel with just 25 cm of space on each side it’s the maritime equivalent of threading a needle once safely in the upper gate is raised behind them we’re looking at a small hydraulic cylinder that shifts a 45 ton gate with millimet Precision then more than 15,000 cubic M of water are drained in just 6 minutes sensors confirm when the water is the same level and the lower gates open automatically allowing boats on their merry way this is always magnificent to watch and it it never gets boring I love my job it’s the best job in the [Music] world as we leave the lock the mzelle valley stretches out before us a few kilometers around the next Corner an even more astonishing engineering Wonder slides into [Music] view with a span of more than 1 and 1/2 km and a height of 160 m the high Melle bridge is the second tallest in Germany it was built to connect Frankfurt and Germany’s Industrial Rin land with the Benelux countries to the north the beam bridge a culmination of 60 years of talking and8 years of building was finally completed in 2019 at a cost of $ 23 million us almost everyone is impressed by the architecture of this bridge and how Mighty it the first impression is that wow [Music] Sebastian Quint lives in the area and took a keen interest in the Bridge’s construction I was here following this project from the very beginning some might say he was even slightly obsessed with it I saw every step when they pushed it I even came here sometimes at night to see them pushing the bridge from one side to the other it was the country’s biggest engineering project the superstructure was moved across in sections in a process which took 4 years to complete Engineers strive to make the bridge as elegant as possible when it was finalized there was a big party on the bridge and there were up to 15,000 people come to see it to be opened in order to minimize its profile the finished bridge is supported by just 10 towering pillars spaced up to 200 M apart stability is achieved with foundations Bard 50 m into the Rock and their thin design only possible thanks to 35,000 tons of steel hidden within them the bridge is light the design is clear so I think it’s a nice [Music] architecture we’re back on board our river cruise ship and nearly halfway through our 200 km trip from Tria to where the mzelle flows into the RO R we’re heading to the town of traban trabar then we’ll continue down river pausing to look out at princet and cop hill before we pass through the Mel’s great Loops to reach Europe’s steepest Vineyards at the [Music] calmont ahead the river takes us through broad valleys patchworks of quilted Vineyards and it’s here that we find Tran Trac a Charming mzelle Town made up of pretty streets and Noble spires but Tran trabar has a secret because beneath this town there is another concealed world a honeycomb of abandoned Wine sellers remnants of a time when traban Trak was one of the global centers of wine trading luckily for us our guide is Akim ox and no one knows these sellers better under this town we have many maybe around 20 25 kilom of Sellers and every seller has a special history a special architector and we show it to our guests and guided tours it was during the 19th century traban trac’s importance as a wine trading center grew dramatically its position on the mzelle gave the town access to lucrative but distant wine markets such as the Netherlands and Britain [Music] and by the end of the century there were more than 100 wine trading companies here Dr Jaba was the second biggest wine trading city in Europe the biggest city was Bordeaux I think we are the biggest city because Bordeaux was a city with maybe 50,000 inhabitants we were only 5,000 liters per person we are the biggest city the demand for storage led to a Subterranean building boom more than 200 cellers were built those closest to the river with the shortest distance to roll barrels could charge the highest rents sellers could stretch hundreds of meters under the city and go down several floors R traded in the year 193 60 million lers of wine from TR tra 60 million this Cellar was built in the 1890s and once held up to 400 barrels of wine that’s 400,000 L all kept at an ideal temperature of between 10 to 15° quite handy for those times it was cold enough for a quick game of five aside on the river I’m every time again is astonished about special Corners maybe there’s a lighting system oh it’s still existing great it isn’t Adventure I like these sellers the stories of History I like it very much it’s a history of my hometown Melle wine probably shipped from here was on board the Titanic but changing wine tastes World War I and the 1920s crash brought a an end to trb and truck export boom today the town has just two trading companies but its brief moment in the spotlight has left an unusual Heritage and the Intriguing possibility that there are many more lost sellers still to discover there’s a seller entrance there is a seller entrance down there you will find it everywhere maybe we are standing on those sill which I don’t know back on the river and the Melle passes through some of its most spectacular sections to really appreciate its Majesty you need to get up above it at more than 200 M High The Prince and cop Hill dominates this part of the river the first time I came to the MOS was in 2001 my now husband corded me back then but the mosle corded me as well American Carrie schwickart lives in the nearby Village of [Music] pundik I just felt like really wrapped up by the valley and just completely surrounded by just absolutely stunning views nature Vineyards half timbered houses from the mid Middle Ages from medieval times and coming from the states that’s nothing I’d ever experienced before and it was just incredible one of car’s favorite spots is the princ and cop Tower I really enjoy coming up on top of the mountain because you just can clear your head completely and it’s it’s a place to recharge and just just admire how beautiful it [Music] is this is at least the fourth Tower to stand on this spot the first was built in the late 19th century this latest steel iteration was opened in 2009 the view from the prinsen cop is absolutely stunning from here you can see how the river sets off on a great 13 km Ark before coming back to within a few hundred meters of where it started this dramatic landscape was formed in the same way as the Grand Canyon as the land started rising up half a million years ago the river cut down into it keeping its existing shape and making the meanders appear all the more impressive it made me weep and how beautiful it was it’s the absolute best view on the mosle that I’ve seen [Music] given its commanding position it’s perhaps not surprising that this hill has seen Bloodshed in times of [Music] War at the foot of the tower is a place with a special significance for carry it’s a World War II graveyard for German soldiers who fell during the war the cemetery holds the graves of 96 German soldiers and 14 civilians a few of the graves are actually marked Unknown [Music] Soldier the Mosel River became a key strategic objective in the last months of World War 2 many of those buried here were killed by American forces who launched an attack on this hill in March 1945 I do feel a bit uncomfortable because I know that what was happening at that time was was the American forces were bombing this area I always get a chill walking through this graveyard because some of the ages when you see how young some of the people were I do feel a reverence here and I am very aware of the fact what happened right here leaving behind the princ and cop hill we continue our journey down street 5 km North we come to the Village of brem and another epic bend the 300 M High slopes which look down on the spectacular curve were formed 400 million years ago with an angle of nearly 70° in places these are the steepest Vineyards in Europe and with everything having to be done by hand the they’re also some of the most labor intensive but rather than being shunned by wine makers the slopes known as the calmont are some of the most sought after on the mzelle this time of the year we start uh trimming the grapes we take most away as you can see we leave only two for next year that’s uh more than enough to get that quality what we’re looking for Michael Oster and his sister Isabelle are two Intrepid venters who cultivate Vines here they come from a very long tradition of wine makers the wine business has been in the in the family for 15 Generations now so I’m the 15th generation the family owns Vineyards in other parts of the valley but nothing compares to working the calmont during the Harvest if you carry down the grapes let’s say 40 kilos each you have to do it between 40 to 60 times a day so it is quite challenging I can tell you it is uh it is a lot of work my family and also the employees were not so so eager that I buy this vineard because it’s so much work to make things a little easier Michael has invested in what appears to be a lawn mower attached to a rail a sort of primitive precarious roller coaster although quite a slow one 200 M long and journeying to a height of over 250 M it’s used to transport equipment grapes and the occasional dog despite the challenges of working here the rewards can be great the plants here at the Steep vignard they are the perfect angle to the sun which means more sunlight comes directly to the grapes which uh gives him more possibility to absorb the sun reduce the acidity build up more flavors and that’s something you don’t have in the flat Vineyard s that’s why we do it it’s not just the extra Sunshine that makes these Vineyards special it’s the soil we have a pure slate soil that means it’s really Rocky only a few Vines can survive and that’s why we uh mainly grow [Music] reeling this soil gives a special taste to the wine it gives the wine a lot of minerality a little bit of salt iness and also a really fine structure in the taste so there’s the soil the area in general the climate and the wine maker itself so it’s a combination of these four elements and uh all four elements are really important it’s Michael’s job to harness that potential there’s no sense in producing good grapes if you’re not able to produce uh something good out of these grapes so that’s where the wine makers can come in place as well and they transform the amazing quality of the grapes they transform it into great [Music] wine past The Vineyards of the calmont the river continues its stately progress carving a white winding route between the Eiffel and the hunr hills we’re now less than 70 km from Kent our River Journey continues on a more traditional form of [Music] Transport you are very connected with the water surface you don’t feel this in a big boat in the canoe we feel the currents we feel the move we feel the wind Udo marks was born on the maelle and for the last 15 years he’s been running guided canoe tours for rudo traveling by canoe is the only way to truly experience the river the nicest thing is to be on the water and move in a very silent way through the water this is fantastic you know you might hear no other noise but just your paddle and maybe the the [Music] birds before the locks were built in the 1950s in increasing the depth of the river only smaller boats could move along the Melle was the only possibility to travel this River because there was no street that connected The Villages and so when the British began journeying around Europe in the early 19th century canoes helped them to explore the river the British on this Grand Tour what they called they found the Moselle it was not easy traveling the river Moselle and so they hired some guys in a canoe one of those pioneering visitors was the famous British painter William Turner over the course of two trips here he made dozens of sketches and paintings they became the moselle’s first tourist brochure showcasing this part of the world to the British public people saw them in London in the gallery and they said oh wow we have to go there it looks not very nice then so it was a little bit like the starting point of uh of Tourism 200 years ago and for Udo there’s still no better way to appreciate the charms of the river than by canoe it’s like a little holiday you’re only few M away from the shoreline but you’re just a little little bit out of the [Music] world at nearly 150 km into our adventure down Germany’s mzelle River we’re nearing the end of our trip like many other towns on the river cckm has a castle what makes this Castle unusual is that it’s not a ruin you can understand why they built this Castle here on this place greet Cox originally from Belgium has been working as a tour guide here for 40 years I like it because you have such a beautiful view along the river both sides they always say it’s like a fairy tale Sleeping Beauty is living here I’m always telling she will come around a corner the Castle’s Origins can be traced back to the 11th century when it Formed part of a formidable wall guarding the town it collected tolls from passing ships on the river in the centuries that followed it became an imperial Castle home to a succession of kings and queens but it was almost completely destroyed in 1689 when Louis the 14th’s troops blew it up the building lay in ruins for nearly 200 years until a wealthy Berlin industrialist called Lou Ravine bought it for a pittance in 1868 he invested a fortune reimagining the ruins as a romantic gothic fantasy all the castles along the mosul are still ruins koham they had luck they found a rich man who rebuilt the ruin Lou Ravine died in 1879 a decade before his dream was finally completed but his vision lives on as the castle we see today this view it’s beautiful each day I’m wondering after 40 years I am so lucky to work where other people are having holidays this is my favorite [Music] place we leave behind cckm Castle continuing Northeast on the river toward Kent and we’re ending our journey in style I spend about uh two or three times a week on the river mosul I like to be separated from everything and be included into the surrounding [Music] area like many around here teimo l a local musician owned his own boat I need that space I need that uh space for me that uh it’s like a holiday you know small holidays when I’m driving Lear on the moso I have the best ideas for writing songs in the last few bends of the river the landscape gradually transitions from Vineyards to houses as we enter the city of coblence Caesar’s troops established a Garrison here in 55 BC and when the Romans founded a town here 50 years later they named it confluent deutche e or the German corner is the iconic spot where the gentle Waters of the Melle are swallowed up by the mighty rind all watched over by Kaiser Wilhelm I the exact moment when we leave the Melle is marked by a change in the color of the water it’s a fitting place for us to end our journey when I get to the end from the mosle it’s a very special feeling because um I love this place a lot so I can’t imagine to live somewhere [Music] else we’ve followed the Tranquil Waters of the Melle River all the way from Tria to its dramatic end here at the r we’ve hitched rides on cargo barges Roman wine ships [Music] and canoes met the locals who call this River home and learned the maelle is a river of contrasts mystical and romantic yet modern and hardworking it’s been an amazing Scenic Journey [Music] [Music] that