Rheinau Germany Baden-Wurttemberg
Frequently Asked Questions
By the dykes protecting the plain, near the riverside villages. Rheinau occupies the German bank of the Upper Rhine, facing the Alsatian steeples.
Nine villages brought together under one name in 1975, chief among them Freistett, in the Baden country. The call appears on no list of great destinations, and that is precisely what makes it interesting.
Walk or cycle the dykes between wet meadows and backwaters, wander from Freistett to the neighbouring hamlets, then, if the programme allows, visit the Gambsheim fish pass.
No, and it is better to know. This is a rural interlude: half-timbered farms, modest churches, vegetable gardens and storks nesting on the roofs. Anyone after monuments will be disappointed.
A plain shaped by the former wanderings of the Rhine. Until the great straightening works of the nineteenth century led by engineer Johann Gottfried Tulla, the river meandered freely in a multitude of arms; today ponds and alluvial forests are their direct heirs.
One of the largest fish passes in western Europe, on the French bank opposite Rheinau, with an interpretation centre where glass walls let you watch salmon and other migratory fish climb the current. It is reached by the road crossing the dam.
Yes, by the road crossing the Gambsheim dam. Some shore programmes use it to switch to the French side for a visit.
Strasbourg and its cathedral are about 25 kilometres upstream, reachable only by organised excursion or taxi. There is no simple link from the dykes.
Yes, and it is the best way to move from village to village. The long-distance cycle route following the river from Switzerland to the Netherlands passes here, along quiet banks where you hear only the current and the birds. Some ships lend bicycles.
Spring for the plain asparagus on the stalls, summer for the orchard fruit. Either way, bring walking shoes or a bicycle: the entire interest of this call is outdoors.
