The siren's call

Oberwesel is a town on the most scenic stretch of the Rhine River in Germany. (Don Dale photo, 1967)

The Rhine River -- which flows north from Switzerland to the Netherlands -- has been a major cultural, political and economic force in Europe throughout history. The most scenic part of the Rhine is the stretch in Germany between Bingen and Koblenz. One of the ancient myths of this part of the river is that of Lorelei, a beautiful young maiden who committed suicide because of an unfaithful lover. She jumped from a steep rock into the Rhine and drowned. Legend holds that she was transformed into a siren, luring men on ships to their death with her call.

Lorelei's name is from an German word for "murmuring" and a Celtic word for "rock." The water itself creates a whispering sound around the rock that combines with a natural echo, and if you want to hear Lorelei's siren call, you can almost make yourself believe you can.

One Sunday afternoon, four of us medics took a cruise along this beautiful stretch of the Rhine. (This is known, in German, as a Rheinfahrt, combining the words for the river and "journey." Yes, we young airmen had great fun with this word.)

One of our stops was the small town of Oberwesel, which has both a Celtic and a Roman past. Oberwesel's castle (on the hill in the distance in the photo above) dates back at least to the 12th century. They've been growing grapes on the hillsides here for centuries.

It's difficult for Americans, who can drive for thousands of miles and still be in America, to realize how small European countries are by comparison. From Bitburg, we could hop in my VW and be cruising the Rhine in an hour. And the journey was cheap. We paid 14 cents a gallon for gasoline at the Air Force service station just a block from the hospital. The cost of the afternoon's cruise on the Rhine might have been 20 deutsche marks (about $5). And the beer we enjoyed while the scenery rolled by was about 25 cents a glass.

What impressed us most, I think, is the important role the river plays in European transportation. We passed barge after barge carrying everything from consumer goods to industrial supplies. In the Middle Ages, the feudal lords of the Rhine's castles controlled passage on the river, sometimes employing great chain barriers at strategic points. Every vessel that passed had to pay a toll. Today, the vessels pay taxes but they enjoy free passage.

Around every bend of the river, there's another castle high on a hilltop. Along this narrow gorge between Bingen and Koblenz, there are more castles than in any other river valley in the world.

All in all, I'd have to say it was a gute Fahrt.