German town of St. Goarshausen
Burg Katz is a castle above the German town of St. Goarshausen in Rhineland-Palatinate. This magnificent castle was first built around 1371 by Count Wilhelm II of Katzenelnbogen. The castle was bombarded in 1806 by Napoleon and rebuilt in the late 19th century, between 1896-98. It is now privately owned, and not open for visitors.
Loreley
In 1801 German author Clemens Brentano wrote the poem Zu Bacharach am Rheine which first created the story of an enchanting female connected to the rock. In the poem, the beautiful Lore Lay is falsely accused of maliciously bewitching men and driving them to ruin; later pardoned and on the way to a nunnery she passes and climbs the Lorelei rock, watching out for the lover who abandoned her, and falls to her death; the rock still retained an echo of her name afterwards.
