Rüdesheim am Rhein is a German winemaking town in the Rhine Gorge, and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in this region. It lies in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis district in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt, Hessen. Known as Rüdesheim, it is officially Rüdesheim am Rhein, to distinguish it from Rüdesheim an der Nahe. It is a major tourist attraction, especially for foreign visitors.
Geography
Location
Rüdesheim lies at the foot of the Niederwald on the Rhine's right bank in the Rheingau wine region. The town belongs to the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region and to the World Heritage Site Rhine Gorge. It has a picturesque Old Town, located in the Rheingau landscape celebrated in Rhine romanticism.
Territorial structure
Rüdesheim am Rhein as a municipality consists of five quarters: Rüdesheim am Rhein (initial part and center) Eibingen including Windeck, Eibingen Abbey and Nothgottes Assmannshausen Aulhausen including the former and Presberg Assmannshausen, Aulhausen and Presberg have the status of an Ortsbezirk. Central Rüdesheim and Eibingen form a combined fourth Ortsbezirk.
Neighbouring communities
Rüdesheim borders in the north and north-west on the town of Lorch, in the east on the town of Geisenheim. On the left bank of the Rhine in Rhineland-Palatinate, Rüdesheim faces the town of Bingen to the south, and the villages of Weiler und Trechtingshausen to the south-west. Rüdesheim is connected with the left Rhine bank by a ferry for pedestrians and one for cars.
History
The area was settled first by the Celts, then after the turn of the Christian Era by Ubii and later by Mattiaci. In the first century, the Romans pushed forth to the Taunus. In Bingen they built a castrum, and on the other side, near what is now Rüdesheim, lay a bridgehead on the way to the Limes.
The Romans were followed by the Alamanni, and during the Migration Period the Franks migrated into the region. Archaeological finds of glass from this time suggest that there was already winegrowing in Rüdesheim. The town's origin as a Frankish Haufendorf (roughly: "clump village") can still be seen on today's town maps.
Rüdesheim was first mentioned in a document in 1074. Its livelihood came mainly from winegrowing and shipping, particularly timber rafting.
On 1 January 1818, Rüdesheim received town rights. After Prussia annexed the Duchy of Nassau in 1867 and divided the area into districts (Kreise), Rüdesheim became a district seat in the newly founded Rheingaukreis. It held this status 110 years until 1977, when in the course of municipal reform in Hesse the districts of the Rheingaukreis and the Untertaunuskreis were merged into the new Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, and Rüdesheim had to yield the district seat to Bad Schwalbach.
In 1877, the first foundation stone was laid for the Niederwalddenkmal, a patriotic monument above the vineyards which would be finished in 1883. It attracted many tourists who could reach it on a cog railway. Today, a gondola lift brings visitors up to the monument. Tourism has more and more replaced shipping as a source of income.
In 1939, under the secrecy that held sway at the time, the formerly self-governing community of Eibingen was forcibly amalgamated with the town by the National Socialists, against the community inhabitants' will. In 1977, within the framework of municipal reform, Assmannshausen, Aulhausen and Presberg were incorporated into Rüdesheim as Ortsbezirke.
Politics
Town council
The municipal election for the town council (German: Stadtverordnetenversammlung) was held on 6 March 2016 and yielded the following results, compared to previous elections:
Town partnerships
Meursault, Côte-d'Or, France
Juliénas, Rhône, France (twinned with quarter Assmannshausen) Oingt, Rhône, France (twinned with quarter Presberg) Mezőkövesd, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Hungary Swanage, Dorset, England, UK
Culture and sightseeing
Museums
Siegfrieds Mechanisches Musikkabinett, a museum for mechanical musical instruments. On an exhibition area of over 400 m², the museum provides information about the history of self-playing music and its instruments. Also known as Brömserhof, formerly the home of Heinrich Brömser von Rüdesheim (born ca. 1601, died 1668). Mittelalterliches Foltermuseum ("Mediaeval torture museum"), with many instruments of torture Asbach Distillery, brandy museum illustrating the history of Asbach Uralt production Rheingauer Weinmuseum Brömserburg, about the area's 1000-year winegrowing history, located in castle Brömserburg.