BBC's Great Continental Railway Journeys "Berlin to The Rhein" S01E03

[Music] i'm embarking on a new railway adventure that would take me across the heart of europe i'll be using this my bradshaw's continental railway guide dated 1913 which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel for the british tourist it told travellers where to go what to see and how to navigate the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing the continent now a century later i'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy where technology industry science and the arts were flourishing i want to rediscover that lost europe that in 1913 couldn't know that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war [Music] steered by my 1913 railway guide i'm journeying across prosperous pre-war europe [Music] this leg takes me to imperial germany whose emperor queen victoria's grandson kaiser wilhelm ii would soon take family feuding to a tragic new level so the two countries that went to war were ruled over by first customers yes i'll take to the skies on a train i can actually see into everybody's window i can see into everybody's house sample local cuisine went on the rhine you just right landers do appreciate local smells that is very very strong meet local characters hello my beauty [Music] my journey begins in the capital berlin heads west to the city of magdeburg and the picturesque hearts mountains i'll then discover the majesty of hanover from where i'll continue to germany's industrial rural valley at essen followed then by the gothic beauty of cologne i'll head towards koblenz learning what role the railways played in the first world war before joining the tourist trail down the castle-studded banks of the river rhine [Music] in 1913 the so-called german empire was then a young country having been brought together just a few decades before out of a group of formerly independent states my bradshaws tells me that the german empire consists of 25 states and the imperial territory of alsace lorraine and it then lists them in order of magnitude beginning of course with prussia and i'm headed now for its glittering capital berlin [Music] i'm arriving at berlin's hub hof a spectacular product of the new unified germany this five-tiered glass and steel structure opened in 2006 at a cost of 480 million pounds to provide travelers with a one-stop connection north to south and more symbolically east to west [Music] i love berlin's new main railway station it's two crystal tunnels intersecting at this point it's an aesthetic and technological triumph and yet despite being entirely modern it's reminiscent of victorian railway stations made of cast iron and glass [Music] in 1913 germany's engineering and industrial prowess was being nurtured by its vehemently nationalist emperor kaiser wilhelm was obsessed with bettering the two major powers of the previous century he aimed for a navy to emulate britons and berlin his capital was fast rivaling paris berlin asserts my bradshaws is the most modern of the great cities of europe broad streets handsome buildings spacious squares and open places rendered more attractive by trees and statues and at a time when britain was suffering from industrial strife turmoil and ireland and suffragette outrages it adds perhaps little enviously cleanliness and order are everywhere i'm heading to the heart of wilhelm's imperial berlin and probably the city's best known landmark in 1913 the brandenbull gate would have beckoned visitors towards the kaiser's palace but after the second world war it symbolically barred passage between communist east and capitalist west germany matt robinson is my guide matt the brandenburg gate why is it such an important symbol for germany this though was the gate used by the king who had come from the royal district further down under then linden passing through to the tier garden this is where germans came to celebrate in 1871 when germany became germany it's where the german soldiers marched back through in december 1918 following the armistice in november they ended the first world war and what happened to the brandenburg gate during the cold war between 1961 and 1989 the brandenburg gate was in the death strip of the berlin wall and this is the area in between the two walls that existed this is the area where east german border guards were shooting people as traitors to the state as they tried to escape to the west these germans of course never referred to the berlin wall as the berlin wall that they built stop east germans were leaving it was always the anti-fascist protection barrier to stop the fascists in the west from getting to the east and corrupting this east german socialist paradise it's quite a sword [Music] for all its melancholy history the gate is now a tourist attraction but i'm juggling a busy schedule and need to move on my branches says of the railway lines that they're probably more useful for residents than for tourists whose convenience is better served by the tramways can we take a tram we can there are none around here but we can certainly head further into the east very good [Music] in the decades before my 1913 guy book was published the great european powers were in a race for technological supremacy and when the world's first electric tran ran in berlin in 1881 the city took a step ahead of its rivals so historically the trams have been pretty important in berlin as building developed in the late 1800s as the imperial capital of germany there was a necessity to get workers to the factories in the central parts of the city thus the public transportation network developed to become one of the largest in the country in fact to this day is still the largest in germany and how big did this network become eventually by the late 1920s it was massive uh there were some 600 kilometers of track throughout the city 90 different lines in fact in berlin alone [Music] 1913 germany was both wealthy and learned to speed industrial and military development wilhelm's government gave unprecedented financial support to universities and research institutes in another success for the kaiser the world center of science and technology shifted from britain and france to berlin i've come to the uppenhalt observatory in search of a genius who was developing theories at the time my guidebook was written that were to change science forever dr felix looning is head of astronomy at arkham halt in the southeast of the city hello felix hello michael my uh guidebook tells me that berlin's scientific institutions are a worldwide renown was it important to the kaiser to the german right to promote science yes it was a matter of reputation and it was also a matter of um well so to speak support for big business in 1879 the centerpiece of berlin's trade fair was the world's first electric railway then the city amazed visitors again by unveiling a huge and powerful telescope the trepto [Music] well it's absolutely the biggest telescope that i've ever seen when is it built and how big is it well it was built in 1896 and it is the longest telescope of the world 21 meters focus such telescope at the end of the 19th century must have attracted visitors from far and wide yes that's right the observatory was crowded with people everybody was curious what to see in this back telescope can we see it operating yes of course very simple just push the button with a magnification factor of 210 the telescope provides detailed observations of the moon and planets but just after my 1913 guidebook was written an event at the arkanholt observatory had an even bigger impact on science in 1915 the most influential scientist of the century albert einstein stunned the world with his first ever speech on relativity so this is where albert einstein gave his lecture yes imagine this all filled with visitors reporters writing down to write articles born in germany in 1879 einstein developed his general theory of relativity to explain the newtonian mystery of gravity and what did it change it changed everything it changed the science it changed astronomy it changed also nuclear physics and it changed cosmology einstein's approach to science was radical and his nobel prize in 1921 made him a genius celebrity but he could explain his complex ideas in amusing layman's terms einstein apparently joked that the theory of relativity meant that two hours spent with a beautiful girl passed in a minute and a minute spent on a hot stove seemed like two hours but presumably what he was really saying was that time itself is elastic that it is relative yes he showed that it depended how you are moving the faster you're moving the slower times goes by for you an avowed pacifist einstein devised the now world famous equation e equals m c squared which confirmed the relationship between mass and energy an insight necessary to develop the atomic bomb a consequence that made him uncomfortable in later life i believe that railways played an important part in his theory yes because railways are a perfect example for the relativity of movements they are a perfect example for constant moving system using models einstein explained how a train traveling along the horizon will appear to move at a much slower speed than one rushing pasture on a platform but they are in fact going at the same speed einstein showed that things can't be regarded separately time mass and space are connected together felix i don't think i'll ever think the same way about a railway journey again thank you to leave berlin i'm heading for charlottenburg in the west of the city the affluent suburb is still home to an ornate palace and gardens which my 1913 guidebook notes contains the mausoleum of the kaiser's late mother and father but i'm destined for more rural landscapes [Music] tanka [Music] i'm traveling via magdeburg to the natural beauties of saxony unhult a state steeped in legend [Music] my bradshaw's guide tells me that german scenery is generally pleasing and varied and there are many pretty mountain chains of moderate elevation i'm headed now for the hearts mountains which edwardian travelers enjoyed for the beautiful fresh air and the stunning views the hearts mountains extend for 100 kilometers maximizing its engineering resources germany laid three railways here in the late 19th century primarily to transport the range's rich minerals [Music] when the third scaled the mountain's tallest peak the broken it became the country's longest and most scenic narrow gauge railway and i'm excited to ride it because it runs on steam my bradshaws tells me that the broken is 3145 feet high the highest summit of the hearts mountains and what better way to get there than on this delightful steam railway [Music] this must be one of the great train rides in europe the steam engine curling ahead the train weaving between the trees as we make our way hunting towards the summit of the broken [Music] but versus very attractive with their uh pictures of the uh locomotive dunker dunker is there good good for the heads yeah good for the heart i believe it yeah thank you good for the heart in the hearts mountain did it the hearts mountains are famous in german folklore hansel and gretel sleeping beauty and little red riding hood are all stories thought to have emanated from here but the broken is most famous for a pivotal scene in german literature set on a night of spooks similar to halloween called well pergus in faust an 18th century play by goethe witches worship the devil on this peak and evidently even now the odd one may be attracted here hello my beauty i don't understand everything but i think she's telling me that for ten years she's been coming here and on the broken mountain the witches practiced their witchcraft on valpurgis night everybody's known is that right yes do do hexa like a drink oh yes [Laughter] that's the way to do it isn't it wow that was a bite did you leave anything cheers yes [Music] they're good in 1913 lured by the broken scenery and witches at least 50 000 tourists trekked to the summit then as now it was traditional to make the one thousand one hundred and forty two meter ascent on foot we walked from uh twelve hours it's seven kilometers and how long has that taken o'clock 12 o'clock you you set out 2 30 now yep yeah 2 hours and 20 minutes yeah very good you're healthy yeah hello sir hello sir have you walked a long way oh not a long way from and how long is that taking you oh six kilometers i think about two hours do you come at the broken very often no it's the first time really yes right congratulations thank you leaving the natural beauty of the hearts mountains behind i'm bound for my next destination hanover the city may help me to understand why kaiser wilhelm was so driven by a sense of rivalry with britain to the west and russia to the east [Music] bradshaw's tells me that mid-europe time one hour in advance of greenwich time is observed on all lines in germany the fares are less than in most other parts of the continent averaging one and two-fifths pence per mile first class which shows the limitations of using a guidebook a hundred years old railway carriages in germany are clean and comfortable so some things haven't changed at all with its beautiful buildings and highly admired culture hanover a formerly independent german kingdom which had become a province of prussia was a magnet for early 20th century british travelers with an interest in royalty on my british railway journeys i've often followed in the footsteps of queen victoria in this city of hanover my brad shaws draws my attention to schloss herrenhausen where george the first and george ii lived so extraordinarily here in the heart of germany i find myself close to the origins of queen victoria who was our last monarch in the line of hanover [Music] i've made my way to the impressive royal palace and botanical gardens of herrenhausen to find out more from petra kill heidi a local guide petra hello hello where we going of course petra how did it come to be that george the first a german became the king of england oh you know he was in line of the throne number 58 59 but you know he was a protestant and all the other pretenders were catholics and therefore the english didn't want to have any catholic on the throne so they took george the first from hannover as their king in london because the thing that really mattered was that he wasn't a catholic and so that overrode his disadvantage of being a german amazingly enough yes after duke ernest augustus of hanover married sophia granddaughter of britain's king james the first the british act of settlement which banned catholics from the throne designated sofia aries to the british crown but after she died in 1714 her son george became the first of five monarchs to rule over both hanover and britain i suppose when george the first became king of england he had to learn a new language he didn't speak english not a single word so the english people couldn't believe that somebody was coming from germany who was not even able to communicate so he never learned english no he did not he was the only english king who was buried outside of great britain i have a guidebook here from 1913. so what was the relationship between the british royal family and the german royalty in that period you know both monarchs were cousins both were grandsons from queen victoria and here in germany it was emperor william ii and in england it was george the fifth so the two countries that went to war the year after my guidebook was written were ruled over by first cousins yes first cousins and they met together with the tsar from russia it was nicolas ii and they also met when the marriage of the emperor's daughter in 24th of may 1913. the very time of my guidebook yeah it was the last big event before the first world war started one year later then the tsar was also related to the british royal family yeah he was another cousin so there were three so george the fifth the kaiser and the zombie we're all cousins amazing and all involved in the war yeah one year later [Music] history weighs heavily in this city the first world war was not as hoped the war to end all wars during the second world war almost all of majestic hanover was obliterated by allied bombing after the conflict some buildings were rebuilt from the rubble including my hotel for the night according to bradshaw's german hotels are second to the swiss the best in the world the cuisine is inferior only to the french and the restaurants superior castings hotel is recommended because it has central heating and an advertisement tells me it has a motor garage and a grand restaurant sounds like the place for me customs has served visitors to hanover for almost 160 years and i want to find out how the hotel has changed since my guidebook recommended it in 1913. good evening i'm using a guidebook from 1913. what was the hotel like that well it was like it is now the best hotel in town and a lot of aristocrats stayed here and many travelers also from england and then what happened to the hotel in world war ii as hannah was bombed and the hotel was also hit and it was completely destroyed the owning family then just rebuild it and we had our first uh rooms ready for the first international fair in 1947. a wonderful effort i'm looking forward to staying here which room am i in your room number is 119 on the first floor enjoy your stay with us thank you good night good night i'm bound next for the rua valley in 1913 it was both germany's industrial heartland and the kaiser's arsenal i'll then push south to cologne detour east to experience a technological marvel in vupatal before journeying to the rhineland to discover the river the vineyards that adorn its banks and the cultural roots of german nationalism [Music] germany in common with france and spain and italy and japan for that matter has a network of high-speed trains they're beautiful they're silver they're called ice and that spells cool [Music] [Music] is this your german breakfast yeah wow this looks really beer at this time of the day it's always good always good birthday are you celebrating today gentlemen is it a special occasion and we have a trip to dusseldorf once a year um we have a trip to a city this case uh dusseldorf last time we were in munich for octoberfest and so on and what is that you're eating what what is this meatballs red forest are those gherkins okay oh wow you're very you're very very kind thank you very much indeed good appetite they're good i can safely say this is the earliest in the morning that i've ever eaten kirkin that's good man cannot live by gherkin alone time for my own breakfast [Music] i've left behind the elegant palaces of hanover and i'm now heading for the traditional industrial heartland of germany the rhineland west failure coal district which my bradshaws describes as 32 miles in length and 5 to 14 miles wide one of the most productive coal fields in the world the apparently never ending sequence of town after town with the innumerable chimneys in all directions testify to an enormous activity by the time my guidebook was written in 1913 germany had overtaken britain in industrial production [Music] having been whisked along on the flagship of german railways i need to change here at dortmund onto a slower train bound for my next destination essen [Music] [Applause] since the 18th century the rue valley has been synonymous with the two essential ingredients of industrialization coal and steel as wilhelm ii settled on the throne the pits and foundries of the rule were expanded so fast that essence population almost quadrupled between 1890 and 1910 this was industrialization on an unprecedented scale the collieries and steel works may have turned the valley into something resembling dante's inferno but they were the kaiser's powerhouse and in the early years of the 20th century germany's army was war ready rebuilt in 1932 the sullivan coal mine was once the world's most modern and productive it closed in the 1980s and is now a unesco world heritage site and cultural center christiane schroeder is a curator welcome michael nice to meet you it's great to see you this is a beautiful mine museum when did mining begin in the essen area in the northern parts in 1830 well all the buildings you can see are rather much younger they are from 1928 to 1932. mining here became very extensive oh yeah the rural area used to be europe's biggest industrial area we used to cook iron on steel on 2 800 square kilometers we used to have more than 700 big coal mines and what thousands of buyers of tunnels i imagine oh yeah thousands of them now this mine shaft is not only very impressive it's architecturally beautiful and that's because the the young architects having built this they were inspired by bauhaus architecture that was the functional cubism of those dice maybe take a look around ah shall we do here we go we're getting a wonderful view of the plant now oh yeah we will and it's going to get better and better [Music] wow it's an amazing view tell me at the beginning of the 20th century what would we have been able to see from here beginning of the 20th century uh skies would have been covered with dust and the streets would have been covered with ashes the horizon would have been crowned with chimneys blast furnaces coking plants steel mills here all this and today it's a huge green park landscape as you can see yeah my my bradford's guide tells me about the chimneys extending to the horizon and also says the crooks huge works they're here where was crooks crips was in this direction at the other side of the city center and group company used to be the biggest seal company here in essence essence associated always with the family cup and group is always associated with essence yeah it's interesting isn't it that uh my english fragiles guide in 1913 says crook it doesn't have to say steel crook meant steel yeah that's that's legend in germany group uh he was one of the first industrial pioneers and he made german steel what he became later on he was a maniac in cooking steel he slept in his workshop he lived in his workshop all he was doing was cooking steel 24 hours a day in 1852 industrialist alfred krupp invented the seamless steel railway tire which made him his fortune his passion for steel and profit then propelled him into the arms business by the time of his death he had armed 46 nations and in the run-up to the first world war his company would arm germany earning crooks the moniker the arsenal of the reich modern germany is a peace-loving country the roars chimneys have been felled solverine now pursues seams of culture rather than coal [Music] do [Music] [Music] bravo thank you that was wonderful back to essen central to catch a connection to my next destination [Music] cologne no good my german is not up to it i'll stick to my brad shores bradshaw's tells me that my next destination cologne lies on the left bank of the river rhine it's an imperial fortress the largest town of the rhine provinces of prussia having thrown off the rust and dust of the roar in the 19th and 20th centuries i'm looking forward to seeing the wonderful medieval cathedral in cologne the oldest large town in germany cologne sits a stride of mighty rhine with 6 million visitors a year its cathedral is germany's most popular place of interest its towers added in the 19th century have dominated the city skyline since their completion in 1880 the way they built the railway next to the cathedral in cologne means that the view you get on leaving this station must have very few rivals anywhere in europe in 1164 archbishop reinold von dassel brought to cologne from the vanquish city of milan what he and the devout believed to be the remains of the three kings who had visited the baby jesus the gothic cathedral was a fittingly grand building that impressed pilgrims paying homage to the magi measuring almost 8 000 square meters with space for 4 000 worshipers it's one of germany's true architectural glories i'm hugely impressed by the cathedral which my branch force tells me is sometimes described as the most magnificent gothic edifice in the world and i want to do something which in my guide comes highly recommended a visit to johann maria farina number four eulix plus for oh da cologne in the 18th century perfume was big business because filthy sewerless cities led to foul odors whilst polluted water discouraged regular ablutions in cologne italian immigrant johann maria farina transformed the industry by distilling pure alcohol to produce lighter less sticky and more fragrant perfumes his signature scent was odor cologne johann maria farina i presume um very good steve so who was johann maria farina uh well he basically was an italian perfume maker who came to cologne about 300 years ago and he invented the perfume which he then called order colonia this perfume created by an italian in germany did it still have a very strong italian accent to it uh it did yes basically um well faulina must have missed his native native land of italy so he tried to create a perfume which reminded him of italy and you need to understand that in his days cologne was a very small city the city altogether was and also the people themselves didn't really watch because they were afraid of the water because that would spread diseases and all salts did it become an immediate success uh yes it did very very very soon yes because it was so basic so different to all the perfumes which was there were which weather before because basically what you got were very kind of heavy heavy smelling perfume that was all of a sudden very light refreshing perfume was it for men or for women both unisex it was what sort of people were able to buy perfume in those days not many because it was very very expensive in today's terms about maybe two thousand euro per bottle what sorts of people were the clients of oda cologne in cologne you got famous prince elector clemens august to actually off those bottles about 40 bottles in a month and also a french emperor napoleon used one bottle a day for private purpose and napoleon actually had himself made special boots into the back of which he could actually hide one rosely bottle of odor colonia so that even when he was sitting on a horse you could still kind of secretly use the other colonial you've lots of intriguing bottles here any other liking sniff yeah sure this year for example is a heavy smell something people used before foreigner came to cologne and be be careful with that just do a bit of hand waving there because very very strong that is very very strong and so if i mix that smell with body odor and seriously not washing for a couple of months and you can kind of imagine what people what people smell like and something people wouldn't have had before the year 1700 totally different story um it's a free fruit yes grapefruit indeed well done yeah yes see if you can guess which one that is that's a lovely fragrance um what is that it's what we call amber and amma is actually made from the intestines of the sperm whale given that it smells quite good over 300 years only 30 people have been entrusted with the secret recipe of farina's eau de cologne the current johann maria farina is one of them is the recipe today the same as it was yes it is always kept secret and always kept the same way tell me about the great british clients of your firm from the late 18th century on we delivered to england and or london also the queens and kings in london bought this product from us and from queen victoria onwards we've been the purveyor of the court queen victoria what did she like to buy she bought the original cologne she knew this product from childhood on and average order of 60 dozen was not unusual i'm leaving cologne bound for my next destination and i wonder what my fellow passengers will make of farina's 18th century scent excuse me i've got some odor cologne here can i just test it on you [Music] do you think that's for a man or a woman both really both would you like to try this eau de cologne should i okay no i can what do you think of that it's nice puffin but i think it's a girl puffer when do you wear a scent when i shave then it's with this aftershave you like to smell good yes nice and your girlfriend likes you to smell good yes one of them whatever you're very interested what do you think of that it's very nice it's not too strong would you wear it yourself yes i think so have a good journey where are you going to i'm going to tell i'm going there too maybe i'll see you there i hope so bye bye before i leave germany's industrial heartland my bradshaws draws my attention to elberfelt and bar men with several suburbs they're practically one large industrial town stretching along the valley of the vupa and up the side slopes those areas have now been consolidated in vupatal and i'm attracted there because of its special place in railway history at the turn of the 20th century as germany's industrial output soared and workers flooded into the rural valley those who settled in elberfelt and barman needed a transport system to get them to and from their factories the answer was typically german modern pragmatic and perfectly engineered the 13 kilometer schweiber barn a unique suspended railway known locally as the old lady began running in 1901 my guide is melanie sherpa [Music] [Applause] why did they build this sort of railway here why not a conventional one because we have a very rocky subsoil and so we had to build a railway over the woofer river you couldn't have one underground no it's not possible and i imagine that it was going to be a kind of museum railway but actually it's well used by the public yes you're right about 80 000 people used to train daily one of the things i'm not used to is that i can actually see into everybody's window i can see into everybody's house do the people feel okay about that oh at the beginning of the foreign century there were many religious groups with which protested vigorously against the iron dragon as they called the suspension my way in those days but today the people are used to it so they thought they were going to be able to see into people's bedrooms which indeed you can the schwabebahn runs a non-stopping service aboard a very historic carriage dispensing cheesecake and coffee this is going to be great the railway welcomes passengers aboard its kaiser bargain the very train that carried emperor wilhelm ii on the day that he came to open the line which represented his country's latest engineering trials more than a hundred years later as i've whisked along this unique suspended monorail i can readily appreciate the pride that he felt [Music] [Applause] i'm now extending my bradshaw's recommended routes to travel to the region of the rhine an area that at the beginning of the 20th century was immensely popular with tourists but at that time its railways were important for another reason too for the transport of soldiers and guns [Music] my 1913 bradshaws tells me that on a war footing germany has an army of 3 million not information that i'd expect to find in a modern guide book before i get to my overnight stay at koblenz i'm meeting military historian dr reina mertens to learn of the railway's central role in germany's war readiness how early on do you think it was appreciated that the railways could be helpful to armies i think in germany it started with the revolution in 1848 where prussian troops were were moved were transported to defeat the revolutionaries my guidebook is from 1913. now what plans were in place in 1913 for the use of the railways in wartime in the years before the first world war general schlieffen developed a plan first to defeat france and the west by 7 8 of all german troops and then after defeating the french troops bringing back the troops to the east and fighting against russia now that from plan must have depended heavily entirely on railways absolutely and you have to imagine when the war broke out at the 2nd of august and up to the 14th of august they had transported over 3 million soldiers by 11 000 trains there was some very famous railway guns when there we in britain have heard of big bertha they constructed weapon guns that were very heavy like they could shoot about 60 or 70 miles it was almost like a rocket in general you can say the world war one was a railway war because um all that strategy was based on the railways more than ever before were killed and the next were brought to the battlefields and so millions and millions lost their lives and this was only possible by the railway after the first world war a vanquished germany yielded some of its outlying territories towns and cities for more than 10 years after the armistice the town of koblenz in the rhineland was held by france but that was unforeseeable in 1913 my bradshaw says that koblenz is the capital of the rhinish province of prussia picturesquely situated at the confluence of the river's rhine and moselle and since the names of both those rivers make you think of wine this could be a good place to spend the night and i bet the food's not bad [Music] either [Music] good evening looks like a lovely restaurant [Music] thank you the asparagus looks wonderful yes thank you good night thank you very much german asparagus in season heaven after a splendid evening i've woken in the rhineland my bradshaw says vinecat hills rugged peaks ruined castles at modern stately dwellings with a glamour of history and legend clinging to many a scene [Music] i'm now in the region of the rhine castles a mixture of authentic medieval ruins and 19th century gothic restorations and a favorite with edwardian travellers [Music] i'm heading for one recommended by my 1913 guy book tells me that stoltenfels castle is on the wooded heights above the river it's the property of the emperor and can be visited and it hopefully suggests that i can take a donkey they don't seem to be any around so it will have to be shanks pony the french often conquered the rhineland destroying castles in their path but in the early 19th century prussia won it back and crown prince friedrich wilhelm decided to rebuild stolzenfeld's once a bishop's seat as his summer residence queen victoria visited her cousin's new castle and in the early 20th century so did many edwardian tourists historian angela kaiser lama was involved in stalson fels's most recent restoration the castle is in beautiful condition yes we have it restored the recent years and it's now looking as it has in the 1840s presumably this has been many many years work has it oh yes uh basically six to eight years and a wonderful view of course over the rhine well that is lovely oh yes indeed his many visitors are saying the same thing angela you see so many castles on the rhine river how many are there or were there in between copelands and bingham they are said to be more than 40 so every 10 kilometers or sometimes less than 10 kilometers you find castle of two why were there so many the rhine was the main transport route in the middle ages so um every good was transported over the rhine and that means much income for those who couldn't draw the taxes from all these goods and was stolen felt built for that reason yes it was more or less a custom station and uh the bishop of tria took quite a lot of his income from these taxes the powerful rhineland magnates became known as robber barons but during the 19th century their castles provided the backdrop for a new artistic movement called the romantics whose patriotism drew inspiration from fables of the middle ages celebrating the glories of german culture richard wagner set his opera about the dragon slayer siegfried on the rhine by the time of my 1913 guidebook britain was intensely worried that german nationalism had become aggressive and europe feared war so you get romanticism you get richard wagner you get the rebuild you have some of the rhine castles and you get german nationalism at the same time when scholzer felt was rebuilt and that was about 1842 nationalism was young and it had a different drive it was more patriotism more romantic at the end of the 19th century germany wanted to play in the same league as great britain and france and this patriotism really became nationalism the rhines steep slopes and eerie ruins inspired enduring german myths just like a traveller in 1913 i feel dragons and seductive rhine sprites always close at hand bradshaw says the river rhine is abundantly interesting from its investors source to its sluggish meeting with the sea i think it's one of the great rivers of the world and the way to experience it is a float my final destination is downriver at rhinegal what better way to get there than on a beautiful paddle steamer built in 1913 the year that my guidebook was published it lists the times of train arrivals and steamer departures to help rail passengers to plan a smooth journey went on the rhine you just rained landers dude hello mayo join you yes isn't it wonderful today what a lovely view it's lovely it's a dream what do you think of the ship i think there are more modern ones but this one is a beautiful comfortable ship i chose this ship because i'm using a 1913 guidebook ah that's interesting and this ship is from the beginning of the 20th century as well i can tell you the time of all the steamers in 1913. this this is amazing coming from england and i know nothing [Applause] my bradshaws draws attention to a famous wine producing district extending from a little west of rudesheim to eltville at the beginning of the 20th century rhine wines were particularly prized by british connoisseurs and have no reason to believe that they're any less deserving of admiration today [Music] in late 20th century britain german wine fell from fashion but for the edwardians riesling made from the grapes grown on the banks of the rhine was very popular and known simply as hock this has to be one of the loveliest views in europe well it's certainly a very special place here in the ryan valley with this fantastic view on the river and the whole landscape dieter greiner is managing director at close to aberbach sited in an ancient cistercian monastery whose monks planted vines here 800 years ago [Music] why are these slopes here so good for wine well first of all we are very much north we're on the 50th parallel and you see down there the rhine river it's over a kilometer wide and it keeps really the warmth here in winter and in summer it really cools down so in winter it's never too cold in summer and never too hot at the beginning of the 20th century particularly i think riesling was very popular in the united kingdom and it was called hawk why was it called hawk well your queen victoria visited a village called hogheim and she was presented a wine from this village and she loved it a lot and then she made this wine very popular in the uk and then the british called this wine from hockheim with abbreviation just hock [Music] so this is the bedroom of the monks it's the most beautiful space absolutely love it it was obviously a big abbey there were a lot of monks oh yes about 60 months on average but sometimes even up to 120 and all these monks were sleeping in here and just imagine the snoring sound at night after they drunk their riesling well they certainly had their share [Music] here we are it's wonderful you obviously have some wonderful wines here what would be the oldest that you had well in fact the oldest bottles date back to the year 1706. 17. that's incredible and valuable wines too what's the most force the most expensive bottle is about 18 000 pounds we have in here extraordinary i always ask people were the railways ever used in this business there was one very important transportation of wine when the duke of nassau was took the wrong side on the war of the prussians against the austrians and so you had to leave and all the wines were evacuated overnight and all put on a railway wagon and taken into exile i'm sure they would have been entirely safe on german railways and how long would a wine like this keep by the way well 150 200 years minimum really so you could you could still drink some wine from the 19th century the best vintages yes of course they're almost ageless what might we sample today well i think what would be very interesting is a dry style riesling which is the original style of riesling maestro you will need your instrument not this time we use screw caps smells good to me how is it this dried apricots it has this um bit of hay fresh cut hay the body is not too rich it's a medium body and a great length this wonderful crisp acidity but not too acidic just fresh and gives a wonderful wine which makes you want more that's what i meant to say yes i like it very much [Music] edwardians flocked to germany because they loved its landscape and admired its science and industry queen victoria enjoyed this scenery from her railway carriage yet our two countries went to war spilling the blood of generations thankfully in the modern world we've rediscovered the bonds that we took for granted when my bradshaw's guide was published [Music] on my next journey i'll explore switzerland whose remarkable railways made it a favorite with edwardian tourists i've been lucky enough to experience some very beautiful train journeys but this one must be one of the very best i'll immerse myself in literature do you remember any show at home stories and see how great engineering feats conquered the most challenging peaks that is awe-inspiring [Music] tomorrow the journey takes us to our island parish that's here on bbc hd at half past eight but back to tonight now and we're off to heaven [Music] next [Applause] you

Channel: JOURNEYS

Views: 160,303

Rating: 4.8996329 out of 5

Keywords: England, France, London, Monte Carlo, Paris, Europe, Continental, Eiffel, World, Hungary, Austria, Budapest, Vienna, BBC, Railways, Journeys, Berlin, Germany, The Rhein

Id: MoGY_t1WGII

Length: 59min 1sec (3541 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 19 2020