Some Memories of Germany, Rüdesheim, Part 9

I went on a bus tour from Frankfurt to the town of Rüdesheim in the late 1980s. They are about 40 miles apart. Rüdesheim is in the state of Hessen in a vineyard region along the Rhine River, and it is also known by its extended name of "Rüdesheim am Rhein," the addition meaning "on the Rhine." The town is known for its old style architecture and for its wine bars, especially in the "Drosselgasse," * a very narrow pedestrian street, or we might say, "alley" ** (see photo below), lined with wine bars, many of which have live music while you guzzle, I mean sip, your wine or beer. The tour included a lunch break in Rüdesheim, but I can't recall the name of the place. Our tour guide was a man from Brazil, I believe it was, but one of his parents was German, and he was fluent in German and English, as well as a couple of other languages. By chance he sat at my table during lunch, along with about 5 or 6 others, all but two of whom were Americans, if I remember correctly, and those two were Canadians. The guide asked everyone some questions, like where we were from and a few other things, which I just don't remember anymore. When he got to me, among other things, he asked if I was German. I explained my German heritage and he said, "Boy, you sure look like 'em." I never forgot that, but I have lots of English and Scots-Irish, too, besides bits of other European heritage. I think he was contrasting me with himself, as his appearance obviously favored his South American side, as he had black hair and a darker complexion; not that everyone of South American descent has black hair and a dark complexion. The tour actually then went on to Heidelberg, which I covered in an earlier segment. Heidelberg is about 65 or 70  miles from Frankfurt. 

* German has two words "Drossel," and while the two words are spelled the same in modern times, they come from different Germanic sources. One is "Drossel," the name of a common variety of songbird, the "thrush," in English, and "thrush" and "Drossel" are closely related, as they come from the same Old Germanic source. The other word "Drossel" (all German nouns are capitalized) is the same word as English "throttle." (see note below for changes in "t" to s").  

** The German word "Gasse" is closely related to English "gate," which once also meant "passageway," and is still present in many old place names for that reason. The old high Germanic dialects underwent a sound shift, often with "t" sounds becoming "s," thus English has "kettle," but German has "Kessel." For the Word History for "gate" and its relatives, here is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-weather-and-feeling-miserable-and.html

This picture and the next show the vineyards planted in like tiers up the hillside. Vines for the wine. The Rhine River is in the foreground.

Hotel Krone in the Assmannshausen part of Rüdesheim.

More of Rüdesheim.

The tour included a stop for lunch, but I forget the name of the place, but you can see the mural in the wall. 

Drosselgasse in Rüdesheim. As you can see, it is very narrow, which likely gave it its name, as "Drossel" means, and is related to, English "throttle;" that is, "a device that constricts the flow of fuel to an engine," and of course "constricts" implies narrowing.