Bacharach is a small German town, in Rhineland-Palatinate (Mainz-Bingen district), situated on the west bank of the Rhine, 48km (30 miles) south of Koblenz. Traditionally, the town is said to have been founded in pre-Roman times, possibly by the Celts. Its original name is said to have been Baccaracum. However, the first documentary evidence of its existence is in 923. There is a basilica, dating from the beginning of the 13th century. There are also ruins of a Gothic church of the 13th and 15th centuries. The renovated castle of Stahleck (now a youth hostel), crowning the heights above the town, is celebrated in history as the scene of the marriage between Henry, eldest son of Henry the Lion (shortly before the latter’s death in 1195), and Agnes of Hohenstaufen, which effected a temporary reconciliation between the houses of Welf and Hohenstaufen. Other ruined castles are those of Fürstenberg and Stahlberg. All three belonged to the Counts Palatine. The wines of Bacharach were once held in the greatest esteem, and it is still one of the chief markets of the Rhenish wine trade.
