Rhineland-Palatinate is a state in western Germany defined by the Rhine, Moselle, and Nahe rivers, rolling vineyard hills, and dense forests. It is home to the Rhine Gorge and the legendary Loreley rock, Germany's oldest city Trier with its Roman Porta Nigra, the romantic hilltop castle Burg Eltz, and the Romanesque Speyer Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The state is also Germany's wine heartland, crossed by the historic Deutsche Weinstrasse (German Wine Route) through the Palatinate Forest.
Historical timeline
Key moments that shaped Rhineland-Palatinate.
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1
Founding of Augusta Treverorum
Rome founds Augusta Treverorum, later Trier, on the Moselle; it grows into the oldest city in Germany and eventually one of the four capitals of the Tetrarchy
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2
Trier Becomes an Imperial Residence
Under the Tetrarchy, Trier serves as a residence of the Western Roman Emperor, prompting construction of the Porta Nigra, imperial baths and basilica
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3
Viking Raids on Trier
Norse raiders sack Trier, part of a wave of Viking incursions up the Rhine and Moselle that devastated Frankish river towns
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4
Speyer Cathedral Begun
Salian Emperor Conrad II begins construction of Speyer Cathedral as the dynastic burial church of the Salian emperors, later the largest Romanesque church in the world
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5
Barbarossa's Kaiserpfalz at Kaiserslautern
Emperor Frederick Barbarossa builds an imperial palace at Kaiserslautern, one of the largest secular buildings of the 12th-century empire
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6
Richard the Lionheart Held at Trifels
England's King Richard I is held for a period at Trifels Castle in the Palatinate Forest after his capture returning from the Third Crusade
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7
Diet of Worms
Martin Luther appears before Emperor Charles V and the Imperial Diet at Worms and refuses to recant his writings, a turning point of the Reformation
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8
French Destruction in the Nine Years' War
Troops of Louis XIV burn and demolish castles and towns across the Rhineland and Palatinate, including Speyer and numerous hilltop castles
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9
Mainz Republic Declared
Revolutionary Mainz clubbists declare the short-lived Mainz Republic, the first republic established on German soil, under French Revolutionary protection
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10
Congress of Vienna Divides the Region
The Congress of Vienna assigns the left-bank Rhineland to Prussia and the Palatinate to Bavaria, splitting the future state between two very different rulers
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11
Hambacher Fest
Around 30,000 people gather at Hambach Castle demanding German unity and democratic freedoms under the black-red-gold flag, a landmark event of German democratic history
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12
Founding of Rhineland-Palatinate
The French occupying authority creates the state of Rhineland-Palatinate from parts of the former Prussian Rhine Province, Bavarian Palatinate, and Hesse
Historical sites
Places where Rhineland-Palatinate's past comes alive.
Porta Nigra
The best-preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps, built around 170 AD in dark sandstone to guard Augusta Treverorum's northern approach, part of the UNESCO-listed Roman Monuments of Trier.
Where: Trier
Admission: €4 adults, €2.50 ages 6-18, free under 6
Trier Cathedral (Hohe Domkirche St. Peter)
Germany's oldest cathedral, its core built around a 4th-century Roman hall converted into a church under Constantine, forming part of the UNESCO-listed Roman Monuments of Trier alongside the adjoining Liebfrauenkirche.
Where: Trier
Admission: Free; museum and treasury charge a small separate fee
Kaiserthermen (Imperial Roman Baths)
Ruins of one of the largest Roman bath complexes outside Rome, begun around 300 AD under Constantine, with surviving service tunnels and heating chambers open to visitors beneath the imperial-era brick walls.
Where: Trier
Admission: €6 adults, €5 reduced, €3 ages 6-18, free under 6
Trier Amphitheater
A Roman amphitheater built around 100 AD into the Petrisberg hillside, once seating up to 20,000 spectators for gladiatorial games, with underground animal and equipment chambers open beneath the arena floor.
Where: Trier
Admission: €6 adults, €5 reduced, €3 ages 6-18, free under 6
Burg Eltz
A castle held by the same family for over 800 years and never destroyed, preserving an authentic medieval interior with its original armory and treasury, standing on a rock spur above the Elzbach valley.
Where: Wierschem
Admission: €14 adults, €7 ages 6-17 and students, family ticket €34
Marksburg
The only hilltop castle on the Middle Rhine never destroyed or rebuilt, preserving its original medieval fortifications, kitchen and knights' hall, part of the UNESCO-listed Upper Middle Rhine Valley.
Where: Braubach
Admission: Approx €11 adults; reduced rate for children and families
Speyer Cathedral (Kaiserdom)
The largest Romanesque church still standing, begun in 1030 under Salian Emperor Conrad II as the burial church of the Salian dynasty; its imperial crypt holds the tombs of four Holy Roman Emperors and four German kings, and it was Germany's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1981.
Where: Speyer
Admission: Cathedral, baptistery and relic exhibition free; crypt, tower and audio guide charge a small fee
Worms Cathedral (Dom St. Peter)
A High Romanesque cathedral largely completed by 1181 on the highest point of the old town, site of the 1521 Diet of Worms where Martin Luther refused to recant his writings before Emperor Charles V.
Where: Worms
Admission: Free
Reichsburg Cochem
A castle first documented around 1000 AD, destroyed by French troops in 1689, and rebuilt in neo-Gothic style in the 1860s; guided tours cover the great hall, kitchen and armory above the Moselle loop.
Where: Cochem
Admission: €5 adults, €3 children, family ticket €14.50
Hambacher Schloss (Hambach Castle)
The hilltop castle where roughly 30,000 people gathered in 1832 demanding German unity and democratic freedoms under the black-red-gold flag, an event regarded as a foundational moment of German democracy, now home to a permanent exhibition on the Hambacher Fest.
Where: Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Admission: Grounds free; permanent exhibition €6.50, €4.50 for visitors with disabilities
Gutenberg Museum
A museum built around a reconstruction of Johannes Gutenberg's original workshop, holding two surviving original Gutenberg Bibles from around 1454 in a secure vault room, commemorating his invention of movable-type printing in Mainz.
Where: Mainz
Admission: €5 adults, €3 students, €2 ages 8-18, free ages 0-7
Ehrenbreitstein Fortress
One of Europe's largest preserved fortresses, rebuilt by Prussia in the early 19th century on the site of earlier fortifications above the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle, now linked to Koblenz by cable car.
Where: Koblenz
Admission: €12.80 adults, €6.90 students, free ages 6 and under
Villa Ludwigshöhe
A neoclassical summer palace built between 1846 and 1852 for King Ludwig I of Bavaria overlooking the vineyards of the Palatinate, its Italianate design reflecting the king's fondness for Italy, now housing a museum of painter Max Slevogt.
Where: Edenkoben
Admission: Modest standard admission fee; reduced rates for students, pensioners and visitors with disabilities
Burg Rheinfels
The largest castle ruin on the Rhine, built in 1245 and expanded into a vast fortress with extensive underground tunnels, largely demolished by French troops in 1797, leaving atmospheric ruins open to visitors today.
Where: St. Goar
Admission: €6 adults, €4 reduced, €3 ages 6-14, family ticket €13
Trifels Castle
An imperial castle that housed the regalia of the Holy Roman Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries and briefly held England's King Richard the Lionheart captive in 1193-1194, now a reconstructed keep and chapel open to visitors.
Where: Annweiler am Trifels
Admission: €6 adults, €5 reduced, €3 ages 6-17, free under 6
Kloster Maria Laach
A Benedictine abbey founded in 1093 on the shore of the volcanic Laacher See in the Eifel, its Romanesque abbey church notable for six towers and a monumental westwork, still home to an active monastic community.
Where: Glees (Maria Laach)
Admission: Free; parking €2
Basilika St. Kastor
Koblenz's oldest church, consecrated in 836 under Louis the Pious beside the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle; it hosted the 843 negotiations leading to the Treaty of Verdun, which divided the Carolingian Empire among Charlemagne's grandsons.
Where: Koblenz
Admission: Free
Kaiserpfalz Barbarossaburg
The ruins of a 12th-century imperial palace built for Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, once one of the largest palaces of the Holy Roman Empire, largely destroyed by French troops in 1703, with the surviving Kasimirsaal and underground chambers open on guided tours.
Where: Kaiserslautern
Admission: Free exterior; guided tour of the interior charges a small fee
St. Stephan's Church (Chagall Windows)
A Gothic hilltop church known for nine deep-blue stained glass windows created by Marc Chagall between 1978 and 1985, his only work in Germany, conceived as a symbol of reconciliation between Judaism and Christianity.
Where: Mainz
Admission: Free