Where Two Rivers Meet

We have been sailing downstream on the Rhine River.  That is about to change.  Koblenz is at the intersection of the Rhine and the Moselle Rivers.  Tomorrow we will start going upstream on the Moselle.

At the intersection of the rivers stands a monument and park called German Corner.  It features the statue of William II astride his horse receiving the crown of victory for unifying Germany.  There are also flags of the original members of the European Union.  The British flag still flies, but who knows what will happen when Britain finally leaves the EU.  After 9/11 a United States flag was added to the display.  Nearby are 3 pieces of the wall which used to divide Germany into East Germany (the German Democratic Republic) and West Germany.  The theme of the whole corner is German Unity.




















Some say that the Germans have no sense of humor, but Koblenz seems to refute that.  On a building next to the former jail there is a clock and the face of a not-too-bright criminal.  He is constantly rolling his eyes.  Every few minutes he sticks out his tongue, supposedly a gesture he made just before he was beheaded.





















Another statue honors the Peppermint Lady.  She made strong peppermints to sell to men leaving the bars so that they could hide their alcohol breath from their wives.  With the profits she took care of stray cats, but actually spent most of the money on booze.  When she had an especially good night, she went into a church to thank the statue of Jesus for letting her sell so much peppermint that she could buy a lot of booze.  A priest, overhearing her, told her to give the money to the church instead of getting drunk.  In her inebriated state, she thought the statue was talking to her, and she told Jesus to mind His own business.  She never went into a church again.





During one of the many times when France occupied the town, many of the French had liaisons with the local women.  The resulting boys were bullied, so they retaliated playing tricks and by spitting on any unwary citizens.  There is even a statue commemorating this.  Don't get too close -- you never know when he will take his revenge.




On a more serious note, the townspeople designed a symbol to show understanding and cooperation between the 3 major religions.  It incorporated a cross, the star of David and a crescent moon, all at the edges of a circle.  When you look at it, you see an angel, even though that was not the intended image.  They named it "The Unity Angel."  Back to the theme of unity!




There is also a large modern art museum near where we docked.  This is one of the works outside the museum.  There is not supposed to be any "correct" interpretation of modern art, but I think this should be named "A Tribute to Hitchhikers."

You need to fill in the center of the cross.

This town was also the center of the German knights who fought in the crusades.  I was familiar with the Maltese knights who used a white cross as a symbol, but the German knights used a similar shape, but in black.  The remains of their symbol can be seen on the side of the building which was their headquarters.