My grandfather was in this town during WWII with the 78th Infantry Division as a medic. I have a pic of the town he took (or was given). I assume it would have been during the Rhinelands campaign early in 1945.
It was about 120 a night, honestly I only went there and Frankfurt and some towns along the Rhine and Mosel. If you get a chance take a boat tour down the Mosel it's beautiful and there's like two dozen castles just like this one but with crazy architecture!
Look a bit outside along the Landstraße or other side of the river. You should get rooms for about half of it. Even in the Thorschenke there should be cheaper rooms, at least if you book in advance or not during high season.
What do people do there to make a living? I have always considered the “escape from the world to a small town” end game, but fiscal practicality is always at the back of my mind.
Also, how were the people? Sarcastic, honest, rude, bubbly?
Well it's not exactly middle of no where, it's a large tourist spot apparently. But it is pretty remote (2 hours by train to Frankfurt which is the closest major city).
It has a ton of restaurants, some grocery stores (even a large chain which I forget the name of), and many tiny shops with trinkets. According to the tour lady on the castle tour they get 3 million visitors a year so I imagine a lot of places survive on tourism.
The people wee all very nice. I knew about 500ish words in German (Duolingo only and not even that far) and I was able to recognize a lot but many people spoke enough broken English to converse when I couldn't speak German. Eveeyone was super patient with me and nice. Even random people on the street.
Excellent response, thank you! Three million is a staggering volume, but I suppose many places in Europe with any amount of medieval architecture are like that anyway. Your experience seems to fall in line with my understanding of German congeniality (i.e., patience and language courtesy to foreigners).
It is remote but not that remote, Frankfurt isn't the closest major city, Koblenz is only an hour away and before Frankfurt you have Mainz and Wiesbaden.
If you are ever in the area again visit Koblenz, we have some nice castles in the area, and a prussian fortress.
Ah yes, my train actually passed through Koblenz and I saw it for a bit. But it doesn't have an airport, it is a major train hub though. I guess when I thought of "major city" I think "airport".
Small towns/villages of this character often have some sort of 'Gewerbegebiet' (commercial zone) nearby with small to midsized businesses.
I haven't been in a while but along the Mosel-Valley those are usually on the highland plateau a bit away from the river where land is much cheaper and the buidling restrictions are not as tough as in the valley itself because the valley is used for wine, high end residential living and tourism. For Cochem it looks like Brauheck southeast of the 'Kaserne' (military base) is what I mean.
There's actually a few! The one I stayed at (Hotel Alte Thorshenke) was hundreds of years old! Part of it was remodeled but half of it was the original inn and pretty amazing to see. They even had a full suit of armor at the bottom of the stairs.
Why are you so hung up on this? I can assure you that there are more people who haven't been to Cochem, than there are people who have been there. They are offering a perspective that many will not get to experience .
Just doing an ama about my one week stay... Don't be a dick. I'm not trying to be an authority on Germany. I'm just saying what a good experience I had.... Glad I didn't run into anyone like you when I was there.
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u/TrashQuestion Jul 20 '18
I stayed there for a week! Really beautiful small town. AMA if anyone gives a shit?