Things to Do in Cochem, Germany: Walking Guide

The best things to do in Cochem include exploring its hilltop castles, historic city gates, churches and former monasteries beside the Moselle. The town’s most recognizable landmark is Reichsburg Cochem, while places such as the Bundesbank Bunker reveal a more unexpected side of its history. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Cochem with 9 narrated places, available in 11 languages.

Cochem is in Rhineland-Palatinate, a region where medieval heritage and historic towns meet the Moselle landscape. For more destinations nearby, you can also explore Koblenz, Trier or Bacharach.

What to see in Cochem

Reichsburg Cochem

Reichsburg Cochem rises on the clearly visible hill above the Moselle and is one of the town’s defining landmarks. Its origins probably reach back to around 1100 or the first half of the twelfth century. In the Middle Ages, it served as a toll castle, using its elevated position to oversee an important route.

The castle seen today is also a nineteenth-century reconstruction. After the medieval complex was destroyed in the seventeenth century, the Berlin merchant Louis Fréderic Jacques Ravené rebuilt it between 1868 and 1877. The result reflects the neo-Gothic style and the taste for castle romanticism that shaped historicist architecture.

Winneburg

Winneburg, also known as Winnenburg, is the ruin of a hilltop castle in Cochem beside the Moselle. Its atmospheric setting gives the town another connection with medieval fortifications, distinct from the reconstructed appearance of Reichsburg Cochem.

Burg Kemplon

Burg Kemplon was a former hilltop castle whose history reaches back more than a thousand years. It is first mentioned on December 20, 866, in a contract between Prüm Abbey and Hiedilda, a Frankish noblewoman. The reference describes a former hilltop stronghold in what is now Cochem, linking the site with the town’s early medieval past.

Kapuzinerkloster Cochem

The former Kapuzinerkloster Cochem, or Capuchin Monastery, is now the Kulturzentrum Kapuzinerkloster. Its spaces are used for cultural, private and public events, while the building retains its importance as a Baroque religious site.

The monastery was founded in 1623, and construction began in 1625 at a place known as Kempeln. After extensive renovation and conversion, the complex began its new life as a cultural center in 2008.

St Martin

St Martin, also known as Pfarrkirche St. Martin, stands along Cochem’s Moselpromenade. It is one of the town’s Catholic places of worship and forms part of the historic character of the area beside the river.

Enderttor

At the northern edge of Cochem, Enderttor marks the route toward the Endert Valley. It is one of the town’s three surviving city gates and the most powerful-looking of the three.

Enderttor, together with Martinstor and Balduinstor, is one of the only three city gates still preserved in Cochem. Its structure offers a tangible reminder of the town’s former defenses.

Bundesbank Bunker

The Bundesbank Bunker, also known as Bundesbank-Bunker Cochem, reveals a very different chapter of German history. Hidden inside this secret facility was an emergency reserve intended to protect West Germany during a severe economic crisis.

From 1964 to 1988, the bunker stored up to 15 billion marks in emergency currency. The reserve was intended for use if the Cold War resulted in hyperinflation and a national economic crisis. Its concealed underground setting makes it one of the most unusual places to visit in Cochem.

Kloster Ebernach

Kloster Ebernach is a monastery beside the Moselle in Sehl, a locality belonging to Cochem. Its history connects Benedictine beginnings with the Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross and, more recently, the Alexians.

The monastery was founded in 1130 as a provostship of the Benedictine monastery of Laach, now known as Maria Laach. Since 1887, it belonged to the Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross, a congregation founded in 1862 by Peter Wirth, who took the religious name Brother Jacobus.

St. Remaclus

St. Remaclus is a church in Cond, Germany. It adds another religious landmark to Cochem’s wider urban area and can be included when exploring the town beyond its central streets and riverfront.

A Cochem self-guided walking tour

For a focused introduction to the town, Neywo’s Cochem self-guided walking tour follows a 2.29-kilometre route lasting 66 minutes. It has 6 narrated stops: Reichsburg Cochem, St Martin, Burg Kemplon, Kapuzinerkloster Cochem, Enderttor and the Bundesbank Bunker.

The route brings together Cochem’s best-known castle, religious heritage, medieval remains and Cold War history. It is also a practical way to experience a free walking tour in Cochem without joining a group or following a fixed schedule.

Explore Cochem with Neywo

Download Neywo and explore Cochem with one walking tour covering 2.29 km in 66 minutes, with 6 narrated stops. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule.

Neywo’s free audio guide for Cochem includes 9 narrated places, and the narration is available in 11 languages. Put on your headphones, start walking and let the town’s castles, churches, gates and bunker unfold along the route.