"Rhine in Flames", Golden Wine Autumn with Fireworks and "Federweisser"

Categories: Family and Kids, Sightseeing, Cultural and History, Entertainment

Returning back after the fireworks at

[ source: Flickr]

Since many years towns along the Rhine and Moselle rivers celebrate their annual wine festivals in the golden autumn season. The harvest is over and it's time to try the fermented, freshly pressed white- and red-grape juice, called Federweisser, a perfect match with Zwiebelkuchen, a delicious type of onion tart. Indisputable highlights are the fireworks at night. Join in the celebrations on land or take a boat-cruise and discover the heart & soul of this special region of Germany.

Rhine in Flames is a German tradition where huge fireworks and colorful programs take place in both the river Rhine and the Moselle regions. Light festivals are scheduled each year between May and October and include Bonn (Bonn vacation rentals | Bonn travel guide), Mainz (Mainz vacation rentals | Mainz travel guide), Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf vacation rentals | Düsseldorf travel guide), Koblenz (Koblenz vacation rentals | Koblenz travel guide) and Trier (Trier vacation rentals | Trier travel guide). The display of fire and light, set against the backdrop of these unique landscapes will leave you with unforgettable impressions. Other great destinations who join in the festivals are Bonn, Rüdesheim, Bingen (Bingen vacation rentals | Bingen travel guide), Oberwesel (Oberwesel vacation rentals | Oberwesel travel guide) and St. Goar.

The town St. Goar is located in the 65 km stretch of the Middle Rhine Valley, in the Rhineland-Palatinate. Next bigger cities are Koblenz to the north and Bingen to the south-east. St. Goar is well-known because it is central located in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley and since July 2002 part of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Above the town are the ruins of castle Rheinfels and on the other side of the river Rhine lies the sister-town St. Goarshausen with the castles Katz und Maus, meaning cat and mouse. The world famous Loreley Rock is nearby on the eastern bank of the Rhine and is the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea.

Mark the 3rd weekend of September in your calendar, that's when the action gets on its way both in St. Goar and in St. Goarshausen. From Friday through Sunday (18th-20th of September) the annual 3 day wine festival takes place and includes a market called Jahrmarkt der Jahrhundertwende, best translated with yearly market from the turn of the century. The absolute highlight is Rhine River in flames at the Loreley Rock on Saturday evening. It's a moment of magic, when firecrackers and brilliant cascades of light from Germany, China and a lot of other countries explode and contribute to the most beautiful spectacle in the early autumn nights. Every year, ten thousands of visitors witness this event on both sides of the Rhine river banks and more than 70 Rhine cruise-boats, with about 30,000 guests on board, cruise the river between St. Goar and St. Goarshausen.

If you can't travel to Germany in September, the last chance to experience the Rhine in Flames in the year 2009, comes on Saturday, the 10th and 17th of October. Natives and tourists will celebrate the Golden Wine Autumn and you might like to take a full-day, round trip boat-cruise and enjoy the Swimming Federweisser Vintage Festival on board of such a boat. The night will end with a romantic firework display called the Rhine River Lights. Cruise boats from the area around Bingen, Rüdesheim, Assmannshausen (Assmannshausen vacation rentals | Assmannshausen travel guide) and Lorch (Lorch vacation rentals | Lorch travel guide), Koblenz, Lahnstein (Lahnstein vacation rentals | Lahnstein travel guide), Rhens (Rhens vacation rentals | Rhens travel guide) and Braubach (Braubach vacation rentals | Braubach travel guide) as well as from the area around Boppard (Boppard vacation rentals | Boppard travel guide), Kamp-Bornhofen (Kamp-Bornhofen vacation rentals | Kamp-Bornhofen travel guide), St. Goar, St. Goarshausen and Oberwesel will be at your service during this festival. On board you will get to taste plenty of fermented, freshly pressed white- and red-grape juice, called Federweisser, with a small content of alcohol and another local speciality, fresh Zwiebelkuchen, or onion tart. You will get in the right mood to end your day with a great firework display.

Location, Map, and Driving Directions

Related Links

About this Article

This travel guide has been written by Monika Petra.

In her own words: When children are born they receive certain gifts to put them to good use or not. In my cradle there must have been at least music and the curiosity for the world we live in. Luckily I could combine those gifts eventually. My live as a jazz vocalist guided me to see and experience many places in Germany and far beyond. As in my music I like to dive in the historical background of given facts, simply to understand the present. During my travel, my circles got wider and wider and since many years I am now living in Thailand, very interesting to say the least. I grew up in Paderborn, lived and studied Jazz in Cologne's Musikhochschule and worked a while in Bayreuth and Kulmbach. My travels throughout Germany took me to all major cities and small towns. It was the people and local differences, be it language, food, traditions and customs, which made it a lot of fun. When finally the wall came down, I was one of those in Berlin posing on the rests of it for the camera. Off course I took the first opportunity to rediscover the new but old states of Germany and finally understood the impact the wall had on all Germans and in regards to the worst part in German history. Being a German living abroad, I discovered in years what I value most about Germany. Rest assured it is a country of rich cultural background still alive today. I visit my home country regularly and stay in touch with my friends, even those back from school. Another thing I always felt passionate about is writing and sharing my experience and thoughts. The internet provides us all with a great opportunity to connect, tell stories, read and learn from others and grow as a global community.

More Germany Travel Related Articles

• City Tour: Frankfurt am Main
• Visit Wetzlar's Historic Old Town
• The English Garden, Munich’s green oasis with a unique Beer Garden culture
• See Dinosaur Skeletons at Senckenberg Museum
• Mainz Wine Market
• Rhine in Flames
• Cologne, discovered with all senses
• Enjoy Wild Days and Nights in Germany's Captial
• Lutherweg – Tracing Martin Luther’s Footsteps
• Munich’s famous Hofbräuhaus – “oans, zwoa, g'suffa!”

Nearby Destinations Where You Can Find Nice Germany Vacation Rentals

Koblenz

The history and sites of Koblenz, located where the Moselle flows into the Rhine, stretch back to Roman times. No visitor to Koblenz should skip a tour of the Saalburg—the most fully-reconstructed Roman fortress in Germany.

Related: Koblenz travel guide

Idar-Oberstein

Idar-Oberstein is a city in the Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. It is The German Capital of Gemstone Industry. The city lies on the Nahe River, in the district of Birkenfeld. It is the largest city in the Hunsrück region of southwest Germany, and has…

Related: Idar-Oberstein travel guide

Bacharach

Bacharach is a small German town, lying on the west bank of the Rhine, just south of Koblenz. From here you can take a roundtrip Rhine cruise and marvel at the ruined castles, drive to Bad Soden in the summer for a relaxing Saturday at an open-air jazz…

Related: Bacharach travel guide

Cochem

Cochem is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, capital of the district Cochem-Zell. It is situated in the valley of the Mosel, at the foot of a hill surrounded by a feudal castle, the Reichsburg, dating from 1051. The town is surrounded by…

Related: Cochem travel guide

Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden is a city in southwestern Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 300,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 35,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the American military). Wiesbaden, together with the…

Related: Wiesbaden travel guide

Browse Related Photos (Interactive Slideshow)

The pictures shown are part of our Live Like a German Travel Guide to Germany group on Flickr. If you have great Germany pictures please consider joining that group and sharing them on Flickr. If you tag them with rhine river (and they got approved) they will also show up in the slide show above.

Feedback, comments, questions?

If you have visited here please share your experiences with our readers on Facebook. Or, if you have other cool trip suggestions and would like to contribute a travel guide here, please drop me an email. We also are encouraging free-lancers, travel guide writers or publishers who have great Germany related content to send us an email and get in touch with us.