Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Bingen

On the place, where the St. Martin Basilica is now, was a Roman temple (Mercury) upto 406. The foundation of this temple were used, when the first Christian churches were erected here. In 891, when the Normans burnt down Bingen, the church got ruined as well. When a new church was completed more than a century later Archbishop Williges (975-1011), who had the nearby Drusus-bridge constructed, established a college of canons here, so the church was a collegiate church from then on. In 1403 this Romanesque church got destroyed by fire. The new collegiate church was done in Gothic style. The St. Martin Basilica of today joins actually two churches: the former collegiate church and the former parish church, from the early 16th century, dedicated to Saint Barbara. Below the choir of the Gothic basilica is the Romanesque crypt of the predecessor (11th century). A gravestone was found here, proving that a Christian parish existed already within the 6th century.

On the place, where the St. Martin Basilica is now, was a Roman temple (Mercury) upto 406. The foundation of this temple were used, when the first Christian churches were erected here. In 891, when the Normans burnt down Bingen, the church got ruined as well. When a new church was completed more than a century later Archbishop Williges (975-1011), who had the nearby Drusus-bridge constructed, established a college of canons here, so the church was a collegiate church from then on. In 1403 this Romanesque church got destroyed by fire. The new collegiate church was done in Gothic style. The St. Martin Basilica of today joins actually two churches: the former collegiate church and the former parish church, from the early 16th century, dedicated to Saint Barbara. Below the choir of the Gothic basilica is the Romanesque crypt of the predecessor (11th century). A gravestone was found here, proving that a Christian parish existed already within the 6th century.

On the place, where the St. Martin Basilica is now, was a Roman temple (Mercury) upto 406. The foundation of this temple were used, when the first Christian churches were erected here. In 891, when the Normans burnt down Bingen, the church got ruined as well. When a new church was completed more than a century later Archbishop Williges (975-1011), who had the nearby Drusus-bridge constructed, established a college of canons here, so the church was a collegiate church from then on. In 1403 this Romanesque church got destroyed by fire. The new collegiate church was done in Gothic style. The St. Martin Basilica seen today joins actually two churches: the former collegiate church and the former parish church, from the early 16th century, dedicated to Saint Barbara. Below the choir of the basilica still is the Romanesque crypt of the predecessor (11th century).

The Rhine, seen from the hotel in Bingen. On the slope to the right Burg Ehrenfels, vinyards all around. On an little island the Maeuseturm (Mousetower). Similar to Kaub (about 20km downriver) this once was a toll-station, as just north of the Maeuseturm the "Binger Loch", a dangerous shallow blocked the channel. This rocky shallow was blasted with dynamite in the 19th century. The Maeuseturm was used as a beacon upto the 1970s. A tower existed here in early medieval times. This tower got destroyed during the Nine Years' War (1689). Since the Congress of Vienna, the small island was part of Prussia. In 1856 (Rhine romanticism!) Frederick William IV of Prussia (Friedrich Wilhelm IV) had the tower rebuilt in neo-Gothic style. A legend tells, that inside the medieval tower Archbishop Hatto II of Trier (+ 980), who had showed his his heartlessness when the pious population died from hunger, was was eaten up by mice. The right banks of the Rhine with Burg Ehrenfels belong to the state of Hesse, while the island and the left banks belong to the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.