Along the Rhine, Old Europe's New Vibe
Want fusion sauce on that bratwurst? In Germany's Rhineland, boutiques meet beer gardens.

By Gary Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 1, 2005

In Rhineland, the New Europe vibe is everywhere.

The cobbled streets of Rudolfplatz, a popular Cologne dining quarter, are lined with traditional German brauhauses -- and French bistros, Spanish bodegas and Italian trattorias. On the Rhine, the mighty river that gives this corner of western Germany its name, the Koln-Dusseldorfer ferry chugs along blue-green waters past grand mansions that look untouched since the baroque era, while a waiter serves platters of fresh French camembert and glasses of German riesling. Upriver in Dusseldorf, a fashionista's dreamland, one crowd flocks to a boutique featuring the latest African-inspired garb from Kenzo's Paris studio, while another lines up deep for denim creations from the Milan workshop of Dolce &; Gabbana.

Auf Wiedersehen, Old Europe, where borders were strictly defined and the locals clung tightly to their cultural mores and traditions.

In spite of its heritage as an early Roman outpost, Rhineland is an unlikely place for roads from across Europe to meet. Comprising small towns and mid-size rust-belt cities straddling the Rhine River, it is geographically more a heartland region, a German version of the Mississippi Valley. In the past, odd dialects, zany celebrations, beer proffered by the meter and other local customs gave Rhineland a provincial atmosphere. But since the pact for the modern European Union was sealed in 1993, opening up the country's borders to an easy flow of people and trends, Rhinelanders have glommed on to the concept with all the passion of crazed fans chasing a pop star.

The resulting melange of continental cuisines and fashions make it possible for travelers to practically take a tour of Europe without venturing far. Although Cologne and other Rhineland cities lack the urban groove of Berlin, London and other major metropolises, they offer much of what visitors seek in Europe, including medieval and baroque architecture, top-notch dining and a vast selection of art venues. A wide and well-managed network of ferries, trams, trains and buses connects the urban areas and towns, making it easy to get around without a car. Many clerks, tour guides and waiters seem to have vacationed in the States and can shift easily from local dialects to high German and English.

Then there are the economic pluses. In this protracted period of the weak dollar, American travel budgets go much further here than in more heavily touristed parts of Europe. A fine dinner for two of goulash and other specialties at Zum Csikos, a popular Hungarian restaurant in Dusseldorf, runs $55. A spacious double room at the four-star hotel Mado in Cologne, including a buffet breakfast, goes for a special weekend rate of $93 a night. A fourth-row seat for a philharmonic concert at the Beethoven Hall in Bonn is $25.

The affable Rhinelanders round out the allure. Frank Henseleit, owner of Cologne's Galerie Henseleit Buchholz, is a good example. The 40-year-old Henseleit -- who doubles as gallery co-owner and a translator of Spanish, Portuguese, French and American literature -- took time out from his busy schedule to give me a primer on the art venues in his beloved city.

"These days people travel so easily across Europe and know what the best artists in Lisbon, London, Brussels or Paris or New York are doing," he said. "So we have to have the same variety here. Since the American influence is a strong part of it, it's always good to see American faces here, too."

Magi Moments

For my four-day Rhineland sojourn, I set up base in Cologne (population 1.1 million), an expanse of modern facades, brick factories and warehouses with an artsy inner core. After spending a day exploring the city's 757-year-old cathedral and touring its galleries and museums, I set off on a 16-mile cruise down the Rhine to the former German capital of Bonn. Another day trip took me by train to Dusseldorf for an afternoon of window-shopping.

As several Rhinelanders I met were proud to explain, the influence of far-flung cultures is deeply rooted. In 38 B.C., Roman explorers pushed up the Rhine and staked out their northernmost colony in Cologne.

With guidebook in hand, I visited some of the ancient remains of that settlement. The most impressive was the Romerturm, at the corner of Zeughausstrasse and St.-Apern-strasse, several blocks from the banks of the Rhine. A tower of multicolored stones constructed 2,000 years ago in mosaic fashion, it was part of a massive Roman wall that once ringed the city.

But travelers seeking sights with the allure of Rome's Colosseum or Forum won't find them here. Bombed to splinters during World War II, Cologne was rebuilt in an expanse of gangly postmodern buildings -- one exception being the Altstadt, or Old Town, an enclave of medieval structures once popular among silver merchants and bankers.

These days the riverfront buildings, converted into beer halls and restaurants, are a hub of nightlife, particularly on weekends.

With its finely crafted facade and twin spires soaring to 515 feet, the Cologne Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Mary, is one of Europe's most awe-inspiring pilgrimage destinations. Although it was hit by bombs, the Allied forces, apparently aware of the cathedral's historical and spiritual stature or perhaps as an orientation point, spared it from destruction. Today, the church, only a couple of blocks from the Rhine and next to the main train station, merits a tour of its own. The exterior, clad in flying buttresses, gargoyles and other features finely carved in volcanic stone, is so massive and ornate I spent a half-hour just gawking at it from different angles.

The interior -- with its 142-foot-high nave, stained-glass windows dating back five centuries, gilded altars and ornate wood carvings -- was equally majestic. Construction was started in 1248 to house the remains of the Three Magi (the wise men who celebrated the birth of Christ), which were brought here from Milan in the 12th century. Their bones are kept in a spectacular shrine fashioned from gold and blanketed with gems, cameos and 24 silver-gilt figures of prophets and apostles. As the resting place of the sacred trio, the shrine draws throngs of the faithful from throughout Europe.

Other wonders in the cathedral include a Schatzkammer , or treasure room, filled with jewels and relics made of gold and ivory. There's also a Dombild, or portrait, of the three wise men surrounded by saints; it was painted by Stephan Lochner, a 15th-century German artist.

And then there's the view: Before leaving, I climbed more than 500 steps, past ancient bells, to an overlook in one of the spires for a knock-your-socks-off panorama of the city.

I spent the rest of the day hopping among museums and galleries. Art experts rank Cologne as Europe's third-biggest stronghold of private art venues, after London and Basel, Switzerland. My first stop, the Ludwig Museum, is also highly regarded for its extensive acquisitions of contemporary art, including works by David Hockney, Salvador Dali and Gerhard Richter. And Picasso buffs will find that the modern structure -- with high ceilings, marble floors and several rooms of 20th- and 21st-century works -- houses one of the world's largest collections of the cubist's work (among them: 1923's "Harlequin With Folded Hands").

Where to visit next that afternoon was a harder decision. Daunted by the list of 100-plus private galleries provided by Cologne's tourism office, I consulted a few art specialists and narrowed my itinerary.

Galerie Gisela Capitain, one flight above Rudolfplatz, had the spare, cool look of an art venue in Manhattan's SoHo. On display were the canvases of Charline von Heyl, a young German artist whose oversize abstract works are splashed with brilliant colors and movement. Other recent shows have featured Austrian sculptor Franz West, Polish concept artist Edward Krasinski and Swiss photographer Guenther Foerg.

The scene at Galerie Daniel Buchholz, a 10-minute walk away, couldn't have been more different. The gallery, in the back of an antique-book store, was exhibiting a one-woman show by Lucy McKenzie, a rising artist from Scotland. Her works, figurative paintings of men and women against stark backgrounds, had a photographic quality to them.

Indeed, in many of Cologne's galleries, you never know what you might see on display -- or where it came from. "We might have neo-expressionist works from France one month and photographs from Russia the next," Buchholz told me. Finally, I dropped into Frank Henseleit's gallery, which features works from young German, Spanish and French painters. My attention was grabbed by "Himmel und Erde" ("Heaven and Earth"), a large canvas depicting the New York skyline with a portrait of an Indian chief, headdress and all, imposed on it.

Rainer Knaust, the painting's creator, explained that the current trend among artists in Germany -- and other parts of Europe -- is to incorporate current news into their works. "Afghanistan, Iraq, New York, these are all places where the big events are happening," he said. "We artists feel it important to document those places in images.

"Of course, there are political overtones to it all," Knaust added. "We don't only want to document what is going on. We want to engage the public."

Music to the Ears

The next afternoon, with sunny skies and 60-degree breezes, was just right for a Rhine cruise, so I stepped aboard the Koln-Dusseldorfer for the hour-long journey south to Bonn. As the ferry pulled away, the full range of Rhineland's attractions, both natural and man-made, became more apparent. Lush meadows gave way to inviting towns. A castle stood grandly on a wooded hillside. Flower gardens surrounded small houses set back a short way from the banks.

On the open water, I could also see why the Rhine is one of Europe's busiest rivers. As barges chugged along in one direction, carrying lumber and other goods, passenger boats passed going the other way, including some larger enclosed vessels that travel nearly the river's full 820-mile course. Compared with the Seine or the Danube, which mostly carry travelers on leisure trips, this is a working river.

Either way, it didn't matter. The pleasant autumn breeze, the wine and cheese provided onboard and the piped-in Mozart made me wish the ride could go on for days.

But then I would have missed my stop in Bonn. The city, which served as Germany's capital from 1949 to 1990, is today a picture of low-rise baroque charm. I strolled down Poppelsdorfer Allee, lined with stately art-nouveau homes and gas lamps, before making my way to the mint-green lawns and grand classroom buildings of the University of Bonn. Nearby, pastel houses dominate the city center's pedestrian zone; formerly merchant houses, they've been converted into beer halls and restaurants. I paused before the Easter-yellow central post office building to admire a towering bronze statue of Ludwig van Beethoven.

That set the stage for my tour of the small four-story house at Bonngasse 20, where Beethoven was born in 1770. The building is now Beethoven Haus, a museum dedicated to the composer. The walls are plastered with Beethoven portraits, including several of him performing, one as a young man with his family and another a well-known 1819 portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler. Also displayed are musical scores he authored, a viola, the last grand piano he used and several locks of his famously curly hair.

Recordings of some of his works can be heard through headphones the museum provides. I closed my eyes and let his melodious "Six Variations on a Swiss Song" take me back to Old Europe.

After my return journey up the Rhine, I was joined in Cologne by Michel, an old friend from my earlier visits to the city, for dinner. We scoped out the eclectic mix of cafes, clubs and restaurants near Rudolfplaltz and settled on Fischermanns', a small bistro in an art deco mansion off a tree-covered square. The tables were elegant, with white tablecloths and candles, and the crowd mostly young, stylish Germans.

The menu at first seemed like an odd experiment in fusion: duck breast on a bed of sauerkraut; gnocchi in walnut cream sauce; strawberry-infused tiramisu. We went along, ordering a bit of everything, and were not the least bit disappointed.

Joop! and More

Dusseldorf is only 19 miles from Cologne, but the posher, more refined scene seemed a world apart. After an hour's ride on a packed commuter train, I was strutting along Konigsallee, the city's showcase shopping boulevard.

Although the population is only 563,000, this street clearly has the ambitions of a bigger city. High-rise bank and financial buildings line one side, while towering chestnuts, smart boutiques and cafes border the other. In the middle is a canal filled with ducks and other waterfowl. A stream of locals, decked out in fur-trimmed jackets and stylish leather pants, paraded along the boulevard.

I'd come expecting to get a glimpse of fashion waves rolling in from the far-flung corners of the Continent. And Ko, as Rhinelanders know the street and the surrounding area, did not let me down. I popped into Jil Sander's boutique for a look at the German designer's spring offerings, geared mostly to young professional women with deep pockets: $2,000 cashmere sweaters, $700 basic long skirts, sleekly cut $1,000 leather jackets. A few blocks down, the shirts in the Kenzo boutique with their leopard-skin designs and open necks were equally pricey, but more imaginative.

For less expensive brands, I scoured the shops in the Schadow Arcade, an indoor U.S.-style mall with a Parisian buzz. The stores showcased low-cut Dolce & Gabbana jeans, bright sneakers and colorful pumps from Joop!, pinstriped suits from Armani and other garb from the new collections.

Pausing before the row of glitzy shops, I was momentarily transported somewhere else. Was it a shopping gallery in Milan? Or a row of fashion boutiques on the Left Bank of Paris? Only when the voices around me started rising in a cacophony of bitte schoens and danke sehrs was I back in the middle of Rhineland.

Details: Rhineland

GETTING THERE: To visit Rhineland, you can set up base in Cologne, which is accessible to the rest of the area by a well-maintained transportation system. On Travelocity.com, I found round-trip fares starting at $837 for British Airways shoulder-season flights from D.C. to Cologne, via London.

For a cheaper route, United is offering Dulles-to-Frankfurt flights for $690, with restrictions. From there, you can take a Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) train, which travels in part along the Rhine, to Cologne for as low as $45, with stops. Details: http://www.db.de/ .

GETTING AROUND: For a trip on the Rhine, your best bet is a one-day pass for $33 on a Koln-Dusseldorfer ferry. It's good for any of numerous outings from Cologne, including trips to Bonn and farther afield. Book online at http://www.viator.com/ . You can also buy tickets to Bonn without reservations at the kiosks along the Rhine in Cologne, near the main train station. The cheapest round trip is $11. Details: http://www.k-d.de/ .

For trips to Dusseldorf or Bonn from the main train station in Cologne, you can get a ticket on a u-bahn, or overground tram, for as little as $2.50 (many departures daily). Check with information in the Cologne train station for details.

WHERE TO STAY: I chose Cologne's Hotel Mado (Moselstr. 36, 011-49-221-92419, http://www.hotelmado.de/ ), a modern, well-located low-rise with spacious rooms and great service. It's 10 minutes by tram to the Cologne Cathedral, Ludwig Museum and main train station. Double rooms, including a sumptuous buffet breakfast, start at $120 a night. My room was an even better deal at $93, one of several special weekend rates frequently offered.

Price not an issue? Try the Excelsior Hotel Ernst (Trankgasse 1-5, 011-49- 221-2701, http://www.excelsiorhotelernst.de/ ). The location, a few minutes' walk from the cathedral, is hard to beat, and the rooms are opulently outfitted with plush beds, marble bathrooms and heavy drapes. Some rooms offer spectacular cathedral views. Doubles typically start at $385, but the hotel offers special rates as low as $280 for a double with breakfast buffet and free minibar.

For budget travelers, a good choice is the Ambassador Hotel (Barbarossaplatz 4A, 011-221-921- 5200, http://www.ambassador-koeln.de/ ), about 10 minutes by tram from the cathedral and other main sites. Rooms are clean, if a bit basic. Doubles, including breakfast, start at $115.

WHERE TO EAT: In Cologne, head straight for Fischermanns' (Rathenauplatz 21, 011-49-221-801- 7790, http://www.restaurant-fischermanns.de/ ), which offers a fusion of Italian, French and other European cuisines. The Asian chef adds an Oriental flair to many dishes. Though the melange sounds unlikely, it works, as does the price: A three-course dinner for two was $60; add a carafe of wine for about $15. In Brasserie Marienbild (Aachenerstr. 561, 011-49-221- 9-458-630, http://www.marienbild.de/ ), a popular restaurant modeled on Paris's famous La Coupole, you can get marvelous French specialties such as bouillabaisse or modern takes on traditional Rhineland veal and beef dishes. A dinner for two, including wine, cost about $70.

In Dusseldorf, Zum Csikos (Andreastr. 9, 011-49-211-32-9771, http://www.csikos.de/ ) serves first-rate Hungarian food. The goulash and chopped liver are standouts. For two, $55 -- including beers -- will get you a great meal.

In Bonn, Im Stiefel (Bonngasse 30, 011-49-228-69-6596, http://www.im-stiefel.de/ ) is a traditional German-style pub/restaurant next to the Beethoven Haus. A hearty dinner of veal chops with roast potatoes and a salad, with a glass or two of Rhine wine, goes for $75 for two.

WHAT TO DO: Save a half-day to tour Cologne's Ludwig Museum (Bischofsgartenstr. 1, 011-49-221- 26165, http://www.museenkoeln.de/ ), a showcase of 20th- and 21st-century paintings and scupltures. Admission is $9.75. For a list of the private Cologne art galleries, check out http://www.galerienkoeln.de/ , or drop by the city's tourism office, across from the main train station at Unter Fettenhennen 19. The Cologne Cathedral ( http://www.koelner-dom.de/ ) is open every day from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The best way to visit the Roman ruins is to do a self-guided tour; Frommer's and Rough Guide books on Germany have good maps to get you started. A tip: A "Welcome Card" available at the city tourism office ( http://www.koeln.de/ ) offers unlimited travel on all public transport, admission to most art musuems and some other perks.

In Bonn, admission at the Beethoven House (Bonngasse 18-26, 011-49-228- 98175, http://www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de/ ) is $5.50. Free half-hour guided tours, in German, are offered daily at 2:30 p.m. For more information on Bonn: http://www.bonn.de/ .

Those interested in shopping in Dusseldorf (or anywhere in the region) should keep in mind that most stores are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays, and are closed on Sundays. For more tips, contact the city's tourism office, 011- 49-211-17-2020, http://www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de/ .

INFORMATION: German National Tourist Office, 212-661-7200, http://www.cometogermany.com/ .

-- Gary Lee