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town in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in Hesse, Germany
Europe > Central Europe > Germany > Hesse > Rheingau > Rüdesheim

Rüdesheim am Rhein (also spelled Rudesheim or Ruedesheim) is a city in the Rheingau in Hesse, at the southern end of the Rhine Valley, across the river from Bingen. The Rüdesheim village within the city is a small picturesque place at the Rhine, one very typical example of Rheinromantik

Understand

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The town incorporates the village of Assmannshausen, also on the Rhine but on the other side of a bend in the river, and is also known as Rüdesheim am Rhein to distinguish it from the smaller nearby town of Rüdesheim an der Nahe.

Uphill (go by car or ropeway) you will find the Niederwald monument and its surroundings. The monument is one of a select group of national monuments in Germany and is a major attraction. It has a tremendous view over the Rhine, Rüdesheim and Bingen. You can combine the visit with a walk in the forest that includes an animal park and other smaller places to see.

Tourist information

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Get in

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Drosselgasse in Rüdesheim
Map
Map of Rüdesheim

By train

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Ruins of Ehrenfels Castle, view to Mouse Tower

Rüdesheim is served by the Rechte Rheinstrecke train line between Koblenz and Neuwied and Wiesbaden and Frankfurt. Trains are infrequent, with around one service per hour, but cheap towards Frankfurt/Wiesbaden/Mainz, as all towns lie in the RMV fare region.

  • 1 Rüdesheim railway station (Bahnhof Rüdesheim). Rüdesheim (Rhein) station (Q801387) on Wikidata Rüdesheim (Rhein) station on Wikipedia (updated Aug 2019)

By car

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From Frankfurt the Autobahn A66 passes to the south of Wiesbaden via Eltville to Rüdesheim, where it links into federal highway B42. The B42 runs along the right bank of the Rhine from Koblenz to Wiesbaden via Rüdesheim. As you enter the town from the north, a railway level crossing ensures long traffic jams, particularly on weekends when the weather is fine.

From Bingen harbour you can take a car-ferry to Rüdesheim. Between Wiesbaden and Koblenz there are no bridges across the Rhine although there are a number of ferries.

By boat

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KD[dead link] and BR boats cruising the Rhine stop at Rüdesheim.

Ferry Rüdesheim – Bingen - You can also hop on a ferry across the river to Bingen and board there.

On foot

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The Rheinsteig walking trail passes above Eibingen, Rüdesheim and through Assmannshausen.

Get around

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Rüdesheim is small enough to cover on foot. You can travel to Assmannshausen by train or bus, or just walk along the Rhine (6-7 km), you can also take a cable car up to Niederwald and a chair lift back down to Assmannshausen.

  • The cable car runs from late March to early November and during the run-up to Christmas over the vineyards to the Niederwald monument. Single: €5, return: €7, children 5-15 years: €2.50-3.50, including chairlift to Assmannshausen: €7, including return by boat: €13, including a tour on a larger boat and entrance to Rheinstein castle: €16.
  • Bus number 171 runs every hour from Wiesbaden station via Geisenheim to Rüdesheim and continues twice daily as far as Assmannshausen via Lorchhausen. Bus 187 runs from Rüdesheim via Aulhausen to Assmannshausen. This route makes a rough round trip through Eibingen and Windeck. At the weekend you must call for buses roughly 90 minutes in advance, and sometimes even during the week (Tel: +49 1803 101 113).
Adlerturm
  • 1 Drosselgasse. The heart of Rüdesheim's old town. Drosselgasse (Q1260562) on Wikidata 
  • 2 Adlerturm (Eagle Tower). This late Gothic corner tower was built in the 15th century as part of the old city wall. It is 20.5 m high and has an inner diameter of 5 m. The walls are 1 m thick. One of the four floors contains a dungeon which is only accessible through a hole in the vault. The tower used to stand directly on the Rhine. In the last century it was home to an inn called "Zum Adler", from which the tower took its name. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe lived here when he visited Rüdesheim, admiring the magnificent view of the river. Today the Adlerturm is owned by a bank. 
  • Aristocratic residences. A series of beautiful aristocratic residences dating back to a variety of cultural eras can be found on Oberstraße: Frankensteiner Hof, Ritter‘scher Hof and Bassenheimer Hof. The street is also home to what is undoubtedly the most attractive of all of Rüdesheim’s aristocratic dwellings, the Brömserhof, which was built in 1542. 
Brömserburg Castle
Niederwalddenkmal: Allegory of Germania above Rüdesheim commemorates the Franco-Prussian War
  • 3 Brömserburg Castle (Niederburg Castle). The archbishops of Mainz owned the Brömserburg from the early 10th to the early 19th century. They transformed the original fortification into a residential castle in the 12th century. It used to be completely surrounded by water. Walls more than two metres thick, and vaulted ceilings with apexes one metre thick, resisted every attack. The Duke of Longville could destroy only the southeastern part of the castle. The clergy sold Brömserburg in 1803, and the castle passed through several hands until it was acquired by the town of Rüdesheim in 1941. Today the castle hosts the Rheingau Wine Museum, the oldest wine-related collection in the world. The castle garden contains old wine presses from different periods. Brömserburg (Q995765) on Wikidata Brömserburg on Wikipedia 
  • 4 Boosenburg Castle (Oberburg Castle). Boosenburg (Q893095) on Wikidata Boosenburg on Wikipedia 
Choir of Eibingen Abbey
  • 5 Burgruine Ehrenfels (Ruins of Ehrenfels Castle). Ehrenfels Castle (Q895691) on Wikidata Ehrenfels Castle (Hesse) on Wikipedia 
  • 6 Niederwalddenkmal (Germania monument). A monument from 1883 in the Niederwald Landscape park. Niederwalddenkmal (Q646012) on Wikidata Niederwald monument on Wikipedia 
  • 7 Niederwald-Tempel (Niederwald Temple). The temple lies between the top station of the gondola lift and the Niederwald Monument, and offers views across the countryside. The Count of Ostein built it as an attraction in 1788. During the 19th century Romantic era the temple drew many artists, including famous composer Beethoven and the writers Goethe and Brentano. Allied bombers destroyed the temple in November 1944, but it was rebuilt and reopened in 2006. 
  • Zauberhöhle (Enchanted cave). 
  • Saint James’s Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Jakobus). from the 15th century. 
  • 8 Benedictine Abbey of St. Hildegard (Benediktinerinnenabtei St. Hildegard) (Eibingen). 
  • 9 Mouse Tower (Binger Mäuseturm) (On the island in the Rhine). 

Museums

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Brömserhof
  • 10 Siegfried's Mechanical Music Cabinet (Siegfrieds Mechanisches Musikkabinett), In the Brömserhof, Oberstraße 29. Mar-Dec: daily 10:00-18:00 and on request 18:00-22:00. The first German museum for data-storage musical instruments. Adult €6.50; children, student or handicapped person €3. 
  • Mediaeval Torture Museum (Mittelalterliches Foltermuseum), Oberstraße 49-51. Apr-Oct: daily 10:00-18:00; Nov: F-Su 13:00-17:00. Adult €5.50, pupil/student €4.50. 
  • Rheingauer Weinmuseum Brömserburg (Wine museum), Rheinstraße 2. March – October: daily 10:00 – 18:00. 1,000-year winegrowing history in the old castle. 

Events

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Rüdesheim is full of shops selling tourist trinkets, but there are also a few places to purchase some good local wines.

  • 1 Asbach Visitor center, Taunusstraße 3. Asbach Uralt brandy used to be distilled in the area. 
Drosselgasse in Rüdesheim
  • Drosselgasse is a very pretty (and very touristy) strip of restaurants and souvenir shops in the heart of Rüdesheim.
  • Da Toni, Marktstraße 27, ☏ +49 6722 4522. Good Italian restaurant 

Drink

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Rüdesheim is the heart of the Rheingau wine region and is particularly famous for the Rheingauer Riesling white wine.

Also try a Rüdesheimer Kaffee, a coffee with Asbach Uralt brandy, served flambéed.

Sleep

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Connect

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Go next

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Bingen, as seen from the Niederwald monument. As Bingen is on the other bank of the Rhine, you would have to use the ferry.


Routes through Rüdesheim
Bonn ← Assmannshausen ←  N  SE  → Geisenheim → Darmstadt
Bonn ← Assmannshausen ←  N  SE  → Geisenheim → Wiesbaden
Bonn ← Assmannshausen ←  N  SE  → Geisenheim → Wiesbaden


This city travel guide to Rüdesheim is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.
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