Loreley ferry
Coordinates: 50 ° 9 '10.9' N , 7 ° 43 '2.6 " O The Loreley VI is a Rheinfähre the ferry Loreley GmbH & Co. KG . The inland ferry crosses the Rhine at river kilometer 556 and connects the two sister cities Sankt Goar and Sankt Goarshausen .
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location
The ferry travels in a north-south direction across the Rhine, which flows from south-east to north-west. Sankt Goarshausen is in the north; to the east is the Loreley harbor of Sankt Goarshausen; in the south is Sankt Goar; and to the west is the port of Sankt Goar.
The landing stages of the ferry are both directly connected to a federal highway: On the left bank of the Rhine the B 9 runs parallel to the Rhine and on the right bank of the B 42 runs parallel to the Rhine. The A 61 , which is only a few kilometers away, runs parallel to the B 9 .
history
400 to 55 BC
In the early days, simple rafts were used to translate people, animals and small wagons . The raft was driven to the other bank with a peg with the help of the current . The raft on the other bank of the river had to be pulled back the way it had covered by the river current. Celts and Teutons who settled in the region used this opportunity to cross the river, which can be proven by their well-known network of paths.
55 BC to 400 AD
During the rule of the Romans over the countries west of the Rhine, the network of roads of the Celts was not only taken over, but also expanded. The ferries were mostly operated to supply the Limes . Since the Romans already knew anchors , it is assumed that they also used them on the rafts to secure them against drifting away. To the west of the Rhine, a messenger path was built on the bank, which could also be used as a towpath .
400-1532
From a technical point of view, the rafts underwent little further development during this time: the stability of the ferries was increased through portal constructions. Later rafts were replaced by ferry frames .
Charlemagne transferred the right to operate a ferry to the king and only lent it in return for a corresponding consideration . The right to operate the ferry was first granted to the County of Katzenelnbogen and later to the Landgraviate of Hesse .
At that time farmhands (called ferrymen for short ) were used to operate the ferry . They did the hard physical work of maintaining the rafts and, later, the prams and pulling them back upstream to the ferry point on the other bank.
In 1479 the possession of the County of Katzenelnbogen was bequeathed to the Landgraviate of Hesse , and the Hessians ruled the region until the end of the 18th century. Sankt Goar acted as a bridgehead in the Electorate of Trier region for the Hessians in the west of their territory . The ferry played an important role here, as it did in the strategic expansion of Rheinfels Castle into a fortress (1497–1527).
1532-1794
Since ferry traffic was important for Landgrave Philipp von Hessen , he had a yaw ferry built with a longitudinal rope. This (also called "flying bridge") consisted of two boats connected to form a platform and was also reinforced by a portal construction. It was anchored with a chain roughly in the middle of the river and could easily commute between the two banks with an oar. The term "flying bridge" probably originated because the ferry crossed the river much faster than previous ferries.
Seven ferrymen carried up to 800 people across the Rhine in one day. This ferry needed a jetty for loading and unloading because it had so much draft . This enabled people, animals and heavy work equipment to be loaded onto the ferry, which was first mentioned in 1532: Peter Menges from Sankt Goar was appointed "ship bridge servant". The ferry was not paid for by its users: Sankt Goar and Sankt Goarshausen supported the ferry with an annual “bridge fee”, money, wood and services for “ship bridge construction” and any repairs. The only exception was Easter : Here the passengers brought eggs with them, which were given to the ferrymen as thanks for their services. Today the “Festival of the Flying Bridge” on Easter Monday commemorates this custom.
Sankt Goarshausen belonged to the municipality of Sankt Goar and so farmers brought their goods to the market in Sankt Goar, for which they used the ferry. Ferries were also an important prerequisite for viticulture : in many places barges were again used as ferries. Presumably in 1555 all traffic was carried out again by barge and only in 1622 a “flying bridge” was built again.
This was enlarged in 1657 and new buildings replaced the previous ferry in 1692 and 1748. On this last yaw ferry, Christian Anton Menges (from 1749 to 1780) and his son Christof Menges (from 1780 to 1794) were on duty as "bridge workers". With Peter Menges, they are the ancestors of today's ferry family.
1794-1868
In October 1794 French revolutionary troops besieged the previously undefeated Rheinfels Castle; then 3,000 soldiers from Hesse left the fortress on November 1st and took the ferry across. This kidnapped the French garrison in 1796 to Neuwied , so that Napoleon's troops could cross over there faster.
Christof Menges founded the ferry company in 1794 in an unlawful area , between French and Hessian rule. This ferry company was initially only tolerated, but has been operated continuously by the same family since then. In 1796 Menges was given the "mid-trip for his own account" and was obliged to provide two ferries:
"... a large boat for cattle or for the passage of 10 adults and a small boat for light loads."
After Napoleon's defeat, Sankt Goar was assigned to the Prussian Rhine Province and Sankt Goarshausen to the Duchy of Nassau . As a result, two ferries were operated between the two cities, as the ferry from Sankt Goar was only allowed to cross from Sankt Goar to Sankt Goarshausen. The same was true for the other side: The ferryman Menges now lived in Sankt Goarshausen and was therefore only allowed to transport people from Sankt Goarshausen to Sankt Goar; he drove back empty. This regulation did not end until 1866, due to the transition from the Duchy of Nassau to Prussia.
Christof Menges died in 1831 and his son Johannes took over the right to operate a commercial ferry in Sankt Goarshausen, which was leased for nine years. This right was also an obligation and cost 62 guilders per year from 1831 to 1840 . Johannes Menges died in 1858 and his widow continued to run the company with a partner until her son Jakob Menges took over the business in 1867 when he was 25 years old.
1868-1930
Jakob Menges bought a “screw steamboat ” in the Netherlands in 1868 , which as the “Loreley I” was the first steam ferry on the Middle Rhine . As a pedestrian you could get on board this ferry via landing bridges. Since they could carry cars, however neither livestock nor a passable was close to the ferry pulled. Helpers had to row the last stretch to the bank, where they could be loaded and unloaded. Jakob Menges had his own iron closet built in 1884, which was so heavy that the "Loreley I" was only able to pull it with difficulty: rowers had to support the ferry in order to be able to cross between the tow trains .
Jakob Menges put the "Loreley II" into operation in 1888 and handed the company over to his son Felix Menges in 1905. Together with the Ruthof shipyard in Mainz, he planned a new ferry, which was required due to the faster and denser longitudinal navigation and higher flow speeds. The much stronger "Loreley III" moved closer from 1906.
In 1920, after the First World War, traffic fell so sharply that the ferry did not operate for four months, and in autumn 1923 the company survived the inflationary period only with the help of its own viticulture. Since Felix Menges died in 1924, his widow had to take over the wine bar, viticulture and ferry operations. Her son Willy-Franz Menges took over the company in 1929 and recognized the need for a new ferry: previously only three cars or two trucks could be transported, while the number of automobiles had increased significantly.
1930-1959
Willy-Franz Menges bought a ferry from the Königswinter ferry company. It was built in 1903, called "Loreley IV" and had two steam engines . For their operation, two landing stages had to be built, which trucks could also drive on and which could be used regardless of the water level . This ferry could transport up to 13 vehicles, which got onto the ferry via flaps on the sides of the ship. During the Second World War, the National Socialists sank the ferry in the Loreley harbor. But after the war the ferry could be lifted and repaired again; Despite the high costs, no state aid was required.
Over the years the "Loreley IV" became too small for the changed requirements: During the time of the economic miracle , motor vehicle traffic increased sharply.
1959 until today
Willy-Franz Menges and the Ruthof shipyard planned a new ferry with two navigable sides so that vehicles could leave the ferry in the direction of travel without having to turn around. The "Loreley V" had two diesel engines , each with 165 hp driving a controllable pitch propeller. It could transport up to 21 cars , was equipped with a radio system in 1970 and has operated with radar since 1985 .
Since Willy-Franz Menges had no children, he handed the business over to his nephew Wolfgang Hammerl in 1974. To successfully operate the ferry, new loading ramps were necessary on land, which Wolfgang Hammerl had built on both banks in 1976: A long concrete ramp with a guide for a ramp car was built so that the ferry could operate independently of the water level.
Over the years, the size and weight of the vehicles to be transported have increased so much that the ferry's capacity was soon too small. The recurring political discussion about a bridge over the Middle Rhine made the decision on a new ferry more difficult. In 2002, Klaus Hammerl had the "Loreley VI" built as Wolfgang Hammerl's son. This was in May by the shipyard SET Schiffbau- u. Development company Tangermünde (before 2000 German inland shipyards ) in Tangermünde towed across the North Sea to Sankt Goarshausen. It has been in use since April 2003 and can transport up to 30 cars.
Ferry access
The ramps of the ferry access have a maximum gradient of 11% and have no height limit. The minimum clear width of the ramps is 5.20 m. The ramps are built so that they can also be used when the water level is very high. At about 5.70 m water level (in Kaub ) the maximum water level is reached and at higher water level ferry operations are no longer possible. In this case the water is already so high that the access roads are flooded.
The height of the vehicles is limited on the access roads of the ferry: The passage of the B 42 to the Loreley has a clearance height of 3.90 m, of the B 9 in the direction of Gründelbachtal is 4.10 m and in the direction of Pfalzfeld 3.20 m clear height. In the direction of Oberwesel from the B 9 in the direction of Engehöll and between the B 42 and B 274 , the clearance is over 4 meters in each case.
Travel times and prices
The ferry operates daily, with hours of operation varying on special occasions. On weekdays the ferry runs according to a fixed timetable. The time between two crossings varies, depending on the time, from 15 minutes during rush hour to 30 minutes in the evening.
The cost of a trip is not calculated based on length, but based on the type of vehicle. The world cultural heritage ticket for cyclists is valid on all ferries between Koblenz and Ingelheim am Rhein . Tickets of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Mosel (VRM) and the Rhineland-Palatinate tickets are also valid on the Loreley Rhine ferry.