Schweich

How long to stay?

An afternoon is enough. Schweich is a stage town, not a destination. An hour or two is enough for the ferry tower on the Mosel, the church and a walk through the streets. Your mind is already in Trier anyway. Use the evening to prepare for the last day.

Schweich in Ninja numbers

• 20.7 kilometres remain to Trier on the Mosel-Camino, and 136.5 lie behind you since Koblenz-Stolzenfels.
• 27.1 kilometres lie between Klausen and Schweich, with 596 metres of ascent and 708 metres of descent.
• 1794 is the year the ferry tower was built, with a point facing upstream that broke the ice.
• 254 metres is the highest point of the last day to Trier, at kilometre 148.1.

Arriving: from the vineyards to the river

From Klausen you come via Klüsserath and Ensch through the vineyards. At kilometre 132.3 you are up at 394 metres once more, then you descend to Schweich at 133 metres. Since Klausen you have been on the same track as the Eifel-Camino, which also leads to Trier from here.

In brief: abbey, ferry and a poet

For centuries Schweich belonged to the world of Trier. The Hisgenhaus was an administrative seat of the abbey of St. Maximin, and the Niederprümer Hof of 1620 stands on the remains of a Roman villa. For a long time you could only cross the Mosel by ferry; in 1794 Elector Clemens Wenceslaus had the ferry tower built. In the twentieth century the writer Stefan Andres grew up here, and in the pogrom night of 1938 the synagogue was damaged.

Between ferry tower and synagogue: what to see

• The ferry tower: Three storeys under a pyramid roof, built in 1794 under Elector Clemens Wenceslaus. Its point faced upstream and served as an icebreaker when the Mosel froze. Today it houses a restaurant.
• The former synagogue: In Richtstraße. Damaged in 1938, a prisoner-of-war camp in the Second World War, bought by the town in 1984 and renovated from 1987 to 1989. Today it is a venue for culture and conferences and is shown on guided tours as a place of remembrance.
• St. Martin: The parish church was built from 1894 to 1896 in the neo-Gothic style onto an older classicist west tower.
• The Stefan Andres fountain: In the street named after the writer. Andres, born in Trittenheim in 1906, spent his childhood in Schweich and tells of it in "Der Knabe im Brunnen".
• The Marian chapel at the Heilbrunnen: A small pilgrimage chapel of 1833 with Stations of the Cross from 1889.

Honestly

• No pilgrim hostel. You sleep in guesthouses, wine estates or hotels.
• The last day is no stroll. On the 20.7 kilometres to Trier you climb 318 metres.
• You need an appointment for the synagogue. It is shown on guided tours; we did not find regular opening hours.

Where pilgrims sleep

There is no pilgrim hostel in Schweich. Camino Ninja shows wine-estate guesthouses, holiday flats and hotels here, some of them on Brückenstraße near the Mosel. The last pilgrim hostel before Trier is in Klausen.

Ninja tips

• Celebrate your last evening by the river. The ferry tower stands on the Mosel, a good place to look back on the week.
• Set off early. In Trier you will want time for the cathedral and for St. Matthias, where the Mosel-Camino ends at the apostle's tomb.
• Read Stefan Andres. "Der Knabe im Brunnen" is the book about the Mosel valley you have just walked through.

Onward: the last day to Trier

From Schweich the route runs via Quint, Ehrang and Biewer to Trier-Pallien and across the Mosel into the city: 20.7 kilometres with 318 metres of ascent and 314 metres of descent, the highest point 254 metres at kilometre 148.1. At the end stands the abbey of St. Matthias in Trier.

What awaits you tomorrow

Tomorrow you arrive. In Trier, in the abbey of St. Matthias, lies the tomb of the apostle Matthias, the only apostle's tomb north of the Alps. After a week on the Mosel you stand at the goal of the Mosel-Camino.

Deep dive: A boy at the well

A short read, in case you want to learn more about Schweich. About three minutes' reading.

A place by the ferry

For a long time Schweich was a place by a ferry. Anyone who wanted to cross the Mosel had to be ferried over, and in winter, when the river froze, often nothing moved at all. In the year 1794 the last Elector of Trier, Clemens Wenceslaus, had a tower built for the ferry. It has three storeys and a pointed roof, and its point faced upstream. When the ice came, it broke it. The tower still stands on the bank today.

A childhood on the Mosel

Stefan Andres was born in 1906 in Trittenheim, a few kilometres upstream, and grew up in Schweich. In the fifties he was one of the most widely read writers in Germany. In his book "Der Knabe im Brunnen" he tells of a childhood on the Mosel, among vineyards, mills and the river. In Schweich a fountain recalls him, in the street that bears his name.

A house that remains

In the pogrom night of 1938 the synagogue of Schweich was damaged. In the Second World War it served as a camp for prisoners of war. In 1984 the town bought the building, and from 1987 to 1989 it was renovated. Today it is a place for culture and conferences, and on guided tours its story is told. It is a place that does not let people forget who once lived here.

What Schweich gives you

On the evening before the goal you are often restless. Schweich is a good place for that: a town that does not make much fuss, with a tower that for centuries simply broke the ice so that people could cross the river. Tomorrow you walk the last day. Do not let it pass too quickly.