Upper Middle Rhine Valley [World Heritage #2]

As a communication route, the Rhine has provided the European continent with a north-south link since prehistoric times, fostering trade and cultural exchanges that led to the establishment of new settlements, which, huddled together in a small area, gradually came together to form a string of villages and little municipalities. 

The valley’s steep slopes have been laid out in terraces for growing vines for over a thousand years.
  

The landscape is dotted with some forty castles and fortresses built over the course of the centuries. The late 18^th century was an era when sensitivity to nature’s beauty was at its height: the often breathtaking panorama of the Middle Rhine Valley, along with the many ruined castles atop its hillsides, was a major source of inspiration for the Romantics, who, in their turn, had considerable influence on the form taken by restoration and reconstruction operations in the 19^th century. 

On the web:

• Vallée du Haut-Rhin moyen (UNESCO)
• UNESCO Welterbe Oberes Mittelrheintal (en allemand)

• Patrimoine mondial de la vallée de Haut-Rhin moyen

Vitour

The Upper Middle Rhine Valley and the Loire Valley both took part in the European FEDER “Vitour” projects between 2005 and 2012. Since then, informal exchanges between members of this network of World Heritage European vineyards have continued, with the hope of launching a new European project. 

On this website:

• VITOUR, le réseau européen des vignobles du patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO