12 Best Sights in The Rhineland, Germany

The largest collection of Roman antiquities in Germany is housed here. The highlight is the 4th-century stone relief of a Roman ship transporting barrels of wine up the river. This tombstone of a Roman wine merchant was discovered in 1874, when Constantine's citadel in Neumagen was excavated. Have a look at the 108-square-foot model of the city as it looked in the 4th century—it provides a sense of perspective to many of the sights you can still visit today.

The cathedral houses sacred art from late antiquity and the Carolingian, Ottonian, and Hohenstaufen eras. A bust of Charlemagne on view here was commissioned in the late 14th century by Emperor Karl IV, who traveled here from Prague for the sole reason of having it made. The bust incorporates a piece of Charlemagne's skull. Other highlights include the Cross of Lothair and the Persephone Sarcophagus.

German history since World War II is the subject of this museum, which begins with "hour zero," as the Germans call the unconditional surrender of 1945. The museum displays an overwhelming amount of documentary material organized on five levels and engages various types of media. You can even step inside a re-created 1950s ice-cream parlor, complete with an interactive jukebox. An audio guide in English is available.

This museum and archive houses significant manuscripts of the German poet and man of letters, Heinrich Heine. Part of the complex was once the residence of the composer Robert Schumann.

At this small but very well cared-for museum, you can see the most intact set of Roman surgical tools ever discovered (2nd century), period rooms from the Rhine Romantic era, and displays about Abbess St. Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179), one of the most remarkable women of the Middle Ages. An outspoken critic of papal and imperial machinations, she was a highly respected scholar, naturopath, and artist whose mystic writings and (especially) music became very popular starting in the 1990s, when her work was rediscovered and popularized by feminist religious scholars. An excellent illustrated booklet in English on Rhine Romanticism, The Romantic Rhine, is sold at the museum shop. The museum is housed in a former power station (1898) on the riverbank.

The Mittelmosel Museum features twenty fine 18th- and 19th-century rooms in the baroque villa Haus Böcking (1750) exhibiting a number of works of art as well as a collection chronicling the historical development of the area.

Museum Wiesbaden offers a heady mix of nature and culture. The natural history section exhibits a wealth of geological finds and preserved animals, and the art collection ranges from 12th-century polychromes to present-day installations. The museum is best known for its expressionist paintings, particularly the works of Russian artist Alexej Jawlensky, who lived in Wiesbaden for the last 20 years of his life.

Just outside Düsseldorf, the Düssel River forms a valley, called the Neanderthal, where the bones of a Stone Age relative of modern man were found. The impressive museum, built at the site of the discovery in the suburb of Mettmann, includes models of the original discovery, replicas of cave drawings, and life-size models of Neanderthal Man.

While this archeological museum is closed for renovations until 2026, a selection of important treasures from its collection of ancient Roman artifacts is on view in the Belgian House, near the Neumarkt Galerie shopping mall. Among them are tombstones and busts from the 1st century, ancient glass vessels decorated with the trademark “Cologne Squiggle,” and everyday objects from Roman life. Placards are in both German and English.

Oberwesel's city museum—a former winery—offers a virtual tour of the town, as well as a multimedia "journey through time" showing the area from the Stone Age to the present day. It also houses a fine collection of old etchings and drawings of the Rhine Valley, including one by John Gardnor, an English clergyman and painter, who published a book of sketches upon his return to England and kicked off a wave of Romantic-era tourism in the late 18th century.

Housed in one of the oldest castles on the Rhine, dating to around the year 1000, the museum displays wine-related artifacts and drinking vessels dating from Roman times. There are great views from the roof and the terrace, where there are occasionally wine tastings (ask at the desk). The entrance fee includes an audio-visual guide, tasting glass, and savory baked treats.