Andernach

Andernach can claim something no other city in Germany can: the world's highest cold-water geyser, which erupts from the bank of the Rhine to a height of over 60 metres — a column of carbon-dioxide-charged water that is driven not by volcanic heat but by the dissolved gas pressure of the region's mineral-rich geology. The Geysir Andernach, located on the Namedy peninsula in the Rhine, can only be reached by boat, and the anticipation of the 20-minute ferry ride to the eruption site — where visitors wait on a viewing platform until the ground begins to rumble and the water shoots skyward with a force that sends spray over a radius of several metres — is part of the spectacle.

The town itself, sitting on the left bank of the Rhine between Koblenz and Bonn, is one of the oldest settlements in Germany. Founded as Antunnacum by the Romans around 12 BCE, Andernach served as a legionary base guarding the Rhine frontier and a rest stop on the road from Cologne to Mainz. The Round Tower (Runder Turm), a 56-metre defensive tower built in the 15th century and one of the largest of its kind on the Rhine, dominates the town's silhouette and now houses exhibitions on the region's history. The medieval town walls, largely intact, frame a compact old town of half-timbered houses, Romanesque churches, and the ruins of the Elector's Palace — a Gothic residential tower that overlooks the Rhine promenade.

The culinary traditions of the Middle Rhine valley are shaped by wine, game, and the hearty fare of a river-trading community. Andernach sits within the Mittelrhein wine region, where steep, south-facing slopes above the Rhine produce Rieslings of crystalline acidity and aromatic complexity — the kind of precise, mineral-driven wines that have made the Rhine one of the world's great white wine regions. Local restaurants serve Rheinischer Sauerbraten — pot-roasted beef marinated for days in wine and vinegar, served with potato dumplings and red cabbage — alongside seasonal specialities like Spargel (white asparagus) in spring and Zwiebelkuchen (onion tart) during the autumn wine festivals.

The Rhine Valley surrounding Andernach is rich in excursion possibilities. The Laacher See, a volcanic crater lake just west of the town, is the largest lake in Rhineland-Palatinate and the caldera of a volcano that erupted catastrophically 12,900 years ago — the most powerful volcanic event in Central European history, whose ash deposits are found as far as Scandinavia. The Maria Laach Abbey, a Romanesque Benedictine monastery on the lake's western shore, has been in continuous operation since 1093 and produces the herbal liqueurs, pottery, and garden plants that sustain monastic life in the 21st century. The Rhine Gorge, beginning upstream at Koblenz and stretching south to Bingen — a UNESCO World Heritage Site of castles, vineyards, and the legendary Lorelei rock — is the centrepiece of most Rhine river itineraries.

Andernach is served by APT Cruising on Rhine river itineraries, with vessels docking at the town's riverside berth. The most pleasant visiting season runs from April through October, with the wine harvest in September and October adding festive energy to the riverside promenades and the autumn foliage painting the vineyard slopes in shades of gold and amber.