Koblenz

Koblenz (also Coblenz in older German spellings; French Coblence; from Latin Confluentes, "confluence" or "merging (rivers)") is after Mainz and Ludwigshafen am Rhein the third largest city in Rhineland-Palatinate (german Rheinland-Pfalz), Germany.

History of Koblenz

Koblenz (Confluentes, Covelenz, Cobelenz) was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 9 B.C. Later it was frequently the residence of the Frankish kings, and in 860 and 922 was the scene of ecclesiastical synods. At the former of these, held in the Liebfrauenkirche, took place the reconciliation of Louis the German with his half-brother Charles the Bald.

Related Topics:
Drusus - Frankish - Louis the German - Charles the Bald

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In 1018 the city, after receiving a charter, was given by the emperor Henry II. to the archbishop of Trier (Treves), and it remained in the possession of the archbishop-electors till the close of the 18th century. In 1249-1254 it was surrounded with new walls by Archbishop Arnold II (of Isenburg); and it was partly to overawe the turbulent townsmen that successive archbishops built and strengthened the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein that dominates the city. As a member of the league of the Rhenish cities which took its rise in the 13th century, Koblenz attained to great prosperity; and it continued to advance till the disasters of the Thirty Years' War occasioned a rapid decline. After Philip Christopher, elector of Trier, had surrendered Ehrenbreitstein to the French the town received an imperial garrison (1632), which was soon, however, expelled by the Swedes. They in their turn handed the city over to the French, but the imperial forces succeeded in retaking it by storm (1636).

Related Topics:
Trier - Thirty Years' War

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In 1688 Koblenz was besieged by the French under Marshal de Boufflers, but they only succeeded in bombarding the Altstadt into ruins, destroying among other buildings the old merchants' hall (Kaufhaus), which was restored in its present form in 1725. In 1786 the elector of Trier, Clement Wenceslaus of Saxony, took up his residence in the town, and gave great assistance in its extension and improvement; a few years later it became, through the invitation of his minister, Ferdinand, Freiherr von Duminique, one of the principal rendezvous of the French émigrés. This drew down upon the archbishop-elector the wrath of the French republicans; in 1794 Coblenz was taken by the French Revolutionary army under Marceau (who fell during the siege), and, after the signing of the Treaty of Lunéville (1801) it was made the chief town of the Rhine and Mosel department. In 1814 it was occupied by the Russians, by the congress of Vienna it was assigned to Prussia, and in 1822 it was made the seat of government of the Prussian Rhine province.

Related Topics:
Marshal de Boufflers - 1794 - Marceau - Treaty of Lunéville - Rhine and Mosel department - Russia - Congress of Vienna - Prussia

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Near Koblenz is the Lahneck Castle near Lahnstein on the picturesque Middle Rhine. (Open to visitors from April 1 to October 31.)

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Source: {{1911}}

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