Sankt Goarshausen (abbreviated St. Goarshausen) is a town located in the

Rhein-Lahn-Kreis Rhein-Lahn-Kreis is a district (''Kreis'') in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Westerwaldkreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Rheingau-Taunus, Mainz-Bingen, Rhein-Hunsrück, Mayen-Koblenz, and the di ...

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

on the eastern shore of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

, in the section known as the Rhine Gorge, directly across the river from Sankt Goar, in the German

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. It is located within the

Nassau Nature Park The Nassau Nature Park (german: Naturpark Nassau) is a nature park in the southwestern Westerwald and the northwestern Taunus area of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, located within the historical state of Nassau and including the town ...

and the Rhine Gorge UNESCO world heritage site, and was historically part of the Duchy of Nassau. It lies approximately 30 km south of

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its nam ...

, and it is above all famous for the Lorelei rock nearby. Sankt Goarshausen is the seat of the Loreley collective municipality. The town's economy is based on wine making and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. The Sankt Goarshausen railway station connects the town with

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

and

. Sankt Goarshausen was formerly the terminus of the

Nassau Light Railway The Nassau Light Railway (''Nassauische Kleinbahn AG'') was a narrow gauge railway in Nassau, Germany, connecting the Lahn, Aar and Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 ...

line between Sankt Goarshausen and

Nastätten Nastätten is a municipality in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Taunus, approx. 25 km southeast of Koblenz, and 35 km northwest of Wiesbaden. Nastätten is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemein ...

History

In 1885, St. Goarshausen had almost 1,456 inhabitants. Close to the town in the hillside just above it, lie the ruins of 14th century

Castle Katz Katz Castle (german: Burg Katz) is a castle above the German town of St. Goarshausen in Rhineland-Palatinate. The castle stands on a ledge looking downstream from the riverside at St. Goar. It was first built around 1371 by Count William II of ...

, ruined since 1806.

Demographics

Traditionally more than 60% of the population are Protestants, while around 30% are Catholics; however Sankt Goarshausen is located in close proximity to Catholic-majority areas where the reverse situation exists. Due to the abandonment of religious beliefs, fewer people are members of the churches today, whether Protestant or Catholic. Sankt Goarshausen had a small but well-established Jewish community from the 17th century to the 1930s, peaking at 2.4% in 1895. As of 1860, the district of St. Goarshausen, which included St. Goarshausen proper and its surrounding villages, had a population that included 8557 Protestants, 3840 Catholics, 110 Jews and 6 Mennonites.
Staats- und Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Nassau für das Jahr 1860
', p. 130,

, Government of the Duchy of Nassau

Economy

The town has 1,585 inhabitants December 31, 2002, and is the seat of the township association (

Verbandsgemeinde A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns. Rhinelan ...

) '' Loreley''. With the villages Ehrental, Wellmich and Heide, the number of inhabitants is over 2,000. The most important economic areas for St. Goarshausen are

and wine making. In earlier times was the town an important place along the Rhein for fishing and as an embarcation area. Today, the formerly very busy town is losing its importance and relies more and more on tourism. Especially problematic for St. Goarshausen is the short distance to the larger city

, that has replaced St. Goarshausen as the regional centre. In tourism, the biggest competitor is the twin city St. Goar on the other shore of the Rhine. St. Goar is only reachable by ferry, as the closest bridge is 30 km away. While there is an established need for a bridge across the Rhine, plans for connecting the towns have not yet been realised. To help tourism, a visitors centre has been established in connection to the Lorelei rock.

Sights

The most famous and most popular tourist attraction in town is the Lorelei rock. In St. Goarshausen, there are two castles, Burg Katz (English: ''Castle Cat'', formerly Burg Neu-Katzenelnbogen) and

Burg Maus Maus Castle (german: Burg Maus, meaning ''Mouse Castle'') is a castle above the village of Wellmich (part of Sankt Goarshausen) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It lies on the east side of the Rhine, north of Katz Castle (''Cat Castle'') in San ...

(English: ''Castle Mouse''). Burg Katz is not open for visitors. There is a good view of the town from Burg Maus, and also visible are the ruins of Burg Rheinfels on the other side of Rhine.

Recurring events

*The third weekend of September:

Rhein in Flammen Rhein in Flammen (English: "Rhine in Flames") is the name of five different firework displays along the river Rhine in Germany. The displays take place annually, at various locations along the river. On the five different dates, brightly illuminat ...

, large fireworks from Burg Katz in St. Goarshausen, Burg Rheinfels in St. Goar and from the middle of the Rhine. *The Night of the Prog festival is held annually at the Loreley Amphitheatre (except in 2020 when it cancelled due to the pandemic).

Gallery

Image:Sankt goarshausen.jpg, View of St. Goarshausen Image:Burg Katz Oberhalb St. Goarshausen.JPG, Burg Katz, above St. Goarshausen Image:Thomas M Richardson St Goarshausen.jpg, St. Goarshausen, by Thomas M. Richardson Felsen Loreley.jpg, Loreley Rock St. Goarshausen-1.jpg, St. Goarshausen St. Goarshausen.jpg, St. Goarshausen StGH006.jpg, Castle Katz StGH001.jpg, Secthaus St. Goarshausen StGH003.jpg, St. Goarshausen - Wellmich StGH004.jpg, St. Goarshausen - Wellmich Sankt Goar.jpg,

St. Goar Sankt Goar is a town on the west bank of the Middle Rhine in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen. Sankt Goar is wel ...

Burgruine_Rheinfels_xx.jpg, Castle Rheinfels Goarshausen Heinrich Heine bust2.jpg, Bust of

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

References

External links

About Verbandsgemeinde Loreley, with map
* {{Authority control Populated places on the Rhine Rhein-Lahn-Kreis Middle Rhine