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cent Cologne Cathedral, regarded as a masterwork of medieval
Gothic architecture.
“It took 600 years to build,” she told us through our radio ear
pieces as we navigated our way through the crowds. “It was
started in 1248 to house the reliquary of the Three Kings” —
their supposed mortal remains brought back as a victor’s spoils
of war with Milan in 1164. “It remains the largest shrine of the
Middle Ages today,” she said. Indeed, Cologne Cathedral is said
to be the most visited landmark today in Germany, drawing
20,000 visitors every day.
Of special interest here, of course, is cologne. “It wasn’t until
the end of the 19th Century that an underground sewer was
built,” Marion said. “With no sewage treatment, lots of garbage
and water often contaminated, people didn’t bathe. In 1709, an
Italian man named Farina was the first to use citrus oils to mask
personal odor — only the very wealthy could buy it. Queen Vic-
toria, Mark Twain, Mozart, Beethoven all used it and Napoleon
was said to use a bottle a day.” World-renowned perfume 4711
was Farina’s first competitor and these two perfumers are still in
business in Cologne today.
In Heidelberg, Susanne Hofer von Lobenstein led us to the
impressive Heidelberg Castle, a dominant landmark on the hill
overlooking the charming city.
“A ruin must be rightly situated, to be effective,” wrote Mark
Twain after visiting Heidelberg Castle in 1878. “This one could
not have been better placed. It stands upon a commanding el-
evation, it is buried in green woods, there is no level ground
about it and one looks down through shining leaves into pro-
found chasms and abysses where the sun cannot intrude.”
Though abandoned more than 300 years ago, the castle still
commands fantastic views of the Neckar Valley and its river that
flows into the Rhine.
“The Rhine, Neckar and Danube were very important and
a main way of travel during medieval times,” Susanne told us.
“The oldest Jewish settlements are also along these rivers.” She
pointed out some of the brass plaques in front of historic homes
in the city center that once were homes to Jewish residents be-
fore World War II.
In Strasbourg, our guide, Vivienne, shared its volatile history.
It was an independent Alsatian republic for 700 years until after
the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). “Strasbourg held out until
1681, when it became French for 200 years.” But in 1870 it went
to Germany until 1918 when it went back to France, then un-
der Nazi occupation during World War II before returning to
France at the end of that war.
Strasbourg proved a favorite for many of us — it is unfailingly
lovely with its half-timbered houses lining canals punctuated
by weeping willows. It has its own imposing Cathedral de No-
tre Dame that soars over the old town’s center, at 426 feet, the
highest medieval building in Europe. The town is filled with
antique shops, artisans and craftspeople as well as beer makers
and purveyors of tarte flambe — Strasbourg’s version of a very-
thin-crusted pizza.
And finally the medieval Alsatian village of Colmar captured
our imaginations. Our guide, Peter, told us about its turbu-
lent history which also involved going back and forth between
France and Germany.
“Colmar is an intact medieval town,” Peter told us. “Ruins and
houses here date back to the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th centuries,

48 Wine Dine & Travel 2016