Frankfurt

The City

Population: 640,000
Airport: Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport
Origins: This former Free City of the Empire on the river Main has been a crossroads with European trade for centuries. It was also the place of coronation of the German Emperor. Since the Middle Ages, it has developed into one of the most important financial centres in Europe.

Frankfurt is approximately 40km from the Rheingau, one of Germany's finest wine growing regions, and also within easy striking distance of the Rheinhessen.

The heart of the Rheingau borders the Rhine on its east-west course from Wiesbaden to Rüdesheim, with a broad ribbon of vineyards lining the hills from the river up to the forested summit of the Taunus Hills. It is easy to become acquainted with the area and its wines, thanks to three well-marked "Rheingauer Riesling" routes (driving, hiking and cycling) which wind through the attractive landscape, and to nearly two dozen wine villages, most of which have open-air tasting stands and annual wine festivals.

The 12th-century Cistercian monastery Kloster Eberbach is the wine and cultural centre of the region. From Eberbach and neighbouring Schloss Vollrads come the earliest mentions of a Cabinet (Kabinett) cellar for storing wines of superior quality, while the Prädikat Spätlese originates from Schloss Johannisberg, where a late harvest in 1775 set the stage for the rich, ripe Botrytis wines for which Germany is renowned.

For further information about activities in the Rheingau contact the Gesellschaft für Rheingauer Weinkultur mbH: Tel: 0049 6723/91757/ info@rheingauer-wbv.de/ www.rheingauer-wbv.de

The Rheinhessen region is made up of spacious, fertile farmland carpeted with fields of grain and vegetables, orchards and vineyards. The heartland is ringed by scenic, forested hills in the west and the vine-clad slopes of Rhine Terrace in the east. The cities of Mainz & Worms each have a magnificent Romanesque cathedral and fascinating museums that chronicle the 2,000-year-old viticultural history of Germany's largest wine growing region.

The Mainzer Johannisnacht in late June (in honour of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of movable type printing) is one of the region's most colourful festivals. Traditional wine festivals in Bodenheim, Nackenheim, Nierstein and Oppenheim draw thousands of wine fans to the Rhine Terrace every summer.

For further information about activities in the Rheinhessen contact the Rheinhessenwein e.V. Tel.: 06731/9510740/ info@rheinhessenwein.de/ www.rheinhessenwein.de

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