Cochem

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Cochem is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany, capital of the district Cochem-Zell. It is situated in the valley of the Mosel, at the foot of a hill surrounded by a feudal castle, the Reichsburg, dating from 1051. The town is surrounded by vineyards.

History

In 1688, King Louis XIV of France; during his invasion of the Rhine and the Moselle, swept in and captured Cochem Castle. His troops completely occupied the area and on May 19, 1689 they destroyed Cochem castle by setting it afire, undermining it and blowing it apart. Not satisfied with just the castle the town of Cochem was almost destroyed also.

During World War II, the operations staff of the underground subcamp Zeisig of the Natzweiler concentration camp between the villages Bruttig and Treis was located here. At its height, 13,000 people were imprisoned. They provided slave labour for Bosch, which made war-important spark plugs, ignition systems and glow plugs under brutal conditions.

References

External Links

Official Website of Cochem
Official Website of the Reichsburg
Informations about the subcamp Zeisig (german)
Live cam Cochem

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Last updated on Friday July 11, 2008 at 05:20:35 PDT (GMT -0700)
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