Maria Ruh

Maria Ruh is the seat facing the Loreley. On the left bank's heights above the Rhine's most dramatic bend — opposite the siren's cliff itself — the viewpoint of Maria Ruh offers what many judge the definitive Loreley panorama: the rock in full profile across the water, the river narrowing into its treacherous elbow beneath, barges taking the curve in slow ceremony, the vineyards of Urbar falling away below the terrace. Where the crowds stand on the Loreley, connoisseurs stand at Maria Ruh and look at it.

The site — named for a small memorial devotion, and belonging to the village of Urbar in the Rhein-Hunsrück, which the archive should record as the responsible municipality — has grown into a modest destination in its own right: a panorama restaurant and event terrace serve weddings, concerts and summer evenings above the gorge, the RheinBurgenWeg long-distance trail delivers hikers along the rim, and the Rhine in Flames fireworks are watched from here with proprietary satisfaction, the illuminated fleet passing directly below.

Around it spreads the plateau's quiet farm-and-vine country, with St. Goar's castle Rheinfels downstream and the ferry stitching the banks in lieu of any bridge. For the archive: Maria Ruh is a viewpoint and venue, not a settlement of its own — a balcony seat, permanently reserved, at the Rhine's most famous performance.