Oberwesel Kulturhaus Rhine Valley

Every April, Oberwesel crowns not a Weinkönigin (wine queen), as in most Rhine towns, but a Weinhexe (wine witch) – a good witch who is said to protect the vineyards. Photos of all the Weinhexen crowned since 1946 are on display in the cellar of Oberwesel’s Kulturhaus, whose local history exhibits feature ice age skeletons of mammoths, aurochs (extinct wild cattle) and prehistoric horses found in the area, along with 19th-century engravings of the Romantic Rhine and models of Rhine riverboats. An excellent English visitors’ brochure is available at reception.