View source for Drachenfels (Siebengebirge)

{{Short description|Hill in Germany}}
{{Distinguish|Drachenfels Castle (Wasgau)}}
[[File:20130816 Drachenfels.jpg|thumb|right|Drachenfels, view from Mehlem]]
The '''Drachenfels''' ("Dragon's Rock", {{IPA|de|ˈdʁaxənˌfɛls}}) is a [[hill]] ({{convert|321|m}}) in the [[Siebengebirge]] [[Highland|uplands]] between [[Königswinter]] and [[Bad Honnef]] in [[Germany]]. The hill was formed by rising [[magma]] that could not break through to the surface, and then cooled and became solid underneath. It is the subject of much tourism and romanticism in the [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] area.
[[File:Drachenfels-497-.jpg|thumb|Drachenfels – aerial view]]
== History ==
[[File:Merian Wolkenburg Drachenfels.jpg|thumb|right|The ''Drachenfels'' in 1624 by [[Matthäus Merian]]. The slide used to transport the rock from the quarry to the Rhine is shown, as is the (now disappeared) ''Burg Wolkenburg'' and an intact ''Burgfried''. The [[engraving]] is an advertisement for glass windows.]]
The ruined castle [[Burg Drachenfels]], on the summit of the hill, was built between 1138 and 1167 by [[Archbishop]] [[Arnold I of Cologne]] and bears the same name. It was originally intended for the protection of the [[Cologne]] region from any assault from the south. Originally it consisted of a ''[[bergfried]]'' with court, [[chapel]] and living quarters for servants. The castle was [[slighted]] in 1634, during the [[Thirty Years' War]], by the Protestant [[Swedish Empire|Swedes]] and never rebuilt. As a strategic asset it had outlived its usefulness. [[Erosion]] due to the continued quarrying undermined much of the remains and only a small part is left today.
The rock, like the rest of the Siebengebirge, is formed by the remnants of a volcano and has been the site of a [[trachyte]] [[quarry]] since Roman times, which, amongst others, delivered the building material for the [[Cologne Cathedral]]. Of all the hills in the Siebengebirge, it is closest to the river Rhine, which facilitates easy transport by [[barge]]s, thus making it an excellent place for a quarry. Quarrying ended in 1836, when the [[Prussia]]n government bought the quarry. In 1922 the first protection measures were put in place and in 1956 the site was declared a national park.
== Tourism ==
[[File:Koenigswinter 1900.jpg|thumb|right|[[Königswinter]] and the ''Drachenfels''. Postcard in [[Photochrom]], around 1900]]
The rock and the ruins gained popularity in the [[Romanticism|romantic era]], after the [[Napoleonic Wars]] had ended. The visit of [[Lord Byron]] to {{Interlanguage link multi|Mehlem|de}} and its appearance in ''[[Childe Harold's Pilgrimage]]'' provided the rock with international attention. It soon became a highlight of the so-called [[Rhine romanticism]]. Poems were composed by people including [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton|Edward Bulwer-Lytton]]<ref>''Pilgrims of the Rhine'', 1834</ref> and locally by [[Heinrich Heine]].<ref>''Die Nacht auf dem Drachenfels'', May 1820</ref> Thus popularized, and, since 1883, accessible by [[Drachenfels Railway|rail]] it evolved into a tourist attraction, which it still is.
A [[neogothic]] castle, lower on the hill, is named [[Schloss Drachenburg]] and was built in 1882 by Baron {{Interlanguage link multi|Stephan von Sarter|de}}. Both the top and Schloss Drachenburg can be reached by the ''[[Drachenfelsbahn]]'', a [[rack railway]] built in the 19th century to satisfy demand from growing tourism. The Drachenfels is sometimes irreverently called ''Schwiegermutterfelsen'' (mother-in-law rock) or jokingly referred to as "the highest hill in Holland" because of its popularity among [[Dutch people|Dutch]] tourists. It is the first substantial elevation one encounters when traveling upstream on the Rhine from the [[Netherlands]].
[[File:RuineDrachenfels1900.jpg|thumb|right|The ruins of ''Burg Drachenfels'', around 1900]]
{{Quotation|
The castled crag of Drachenfels<br />
Frowns o’er the wide and winding Rhine.<br />
Whose breast of waters broadly swells<br />
Between the banks which bear the vine,<br />
And hills all rich with blossomed trees,<br />
And fields which promise corn and wine,<br />
And scattered cities crowning these,<br />
Whose far white walls along them shine,<br />
Have strewed a scene, which I should see<br />
With double joy wert thou with me!
|[[Lord Byron]]|''[[Childe Harold's Pilgrimage]]''}}
In the 1970s a new restaurant (with view) was built on top of the hill in the then popular [[Brutalist architecture|brutalistic]] style. In January 2011 work began to demolish it, renovate the buildings from the 1930s and replace the restaurant with a glass cube. The new restaurant was opened November 30, 2012,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Oschmann |first1=Roswitha |title=Erste Glaskubus-Besucher genossen die Aussicht |url=http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/region/siebengebirge/koenigswinter/Erste-Glaskubus-Besucher-genossen-die-Aussicht-article918465.html |accessdate=22 June 2019 |newspaper=Bonner Generalanzeiger |date=2 December 2012 |language=de}}</ref> the outside facilities were finished June 2, 2013.<ref>{{cite web |title=Offizielle Eröffnung des Drachenfels-Plateaus am 2. Juni 2013 |url=http://www.virtuellesbrueckenhofmuseum.de/vmuseum/historie/abfrage_sql.php?schublade=Drachenfelsbahn |accessdate=22 June 2019 |publisher=Virtuelles Brückenhofmuseum |language=de}}</ref>
== Legends ==
Several legends surround the Drachenfels, most famously that [[Sigurd|Siegfried]] – the hero of the ''[[Nibelungenlied]]'' – killed the [[dragon]] [[Fafnir]], who lived in a cave in the hill, then bathed in its blood to become invulnerable.  Hence, the hill is named the "Dragon's Rock", ''Drachenfels''.
About a third of the way up is the Nibelungenhalle, built in 1913, a gallery of paintings by the symbolist painter [[Hermann Hendrich]] depicting scenes from [[Richard Wagner]]'s operas.
Another legend tells of prisoners being sacrificed to a dragon. One of these was a Christian virgin, who, in her fear, held up a little cross. In fear of this holy symbol, the dragon jumped into the Rhine and was never heard from again.
A third story has it the dragon one day attacked a boat laden with gunpowder, causing an explosion which destroyed the ship and killed the dragon.
== Viticulture ==
Next to [[Oberdollendorf]], some 10&nbsp;km downstream, the Drachenfels is the most northerly slope used for [[viticulture]] along the Rhine. [[Riesling]] dominates, but in smaller quantities also [[Gewürztraminer]], [[Scheurebe]], [[Dornfelder]], [[Kerner (grape)|Kerner]], ''[[Pinot gris|Grau-]]'',  ''[[Pinot blanc|Weiss-]]'' and ''[[Pinot noir|Spätburgunder]]'' are cultivated. The slopes are maintained and harvested by hand, since they are too steep for machinery.
== See also ==
* [[List of mountains and hills in North Rhine-Westphalia]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
== Sources ==
* This article is a condensed version of the [[:de:Drachenfels (Siebengebirge)|German article]].
==External links==
{{Commons and category|Drachenfels (Siebengebirge)|Drachenfels (Siebengebirge)}}
* [http://www.drachenfels.net/ Official page] (in [[German language|German]])
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060826142550/http://www.siebengebirge.de/sg/pages/touren_drachenfels.php Information about the Drachenfels] (in [[German language|German]])
* [http://www.honighaeuschen.de/ Apiary Honighäuschen at the Drachenfels] (in [[English language|English]])
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{{Castles in Germany - The Middle Rhine Valley}}
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[[Category:Drachenfels (Siebengebirge)| ]]
[[Category:Mountains and hills of North Rhine-Westphalia]]
[[Category:Hills of the Siebengebirge]]