Zeltingen-Rachtig

Many towns along the Mosel boast a solid claim to fame, but Zeltingen-Rachtig’s is certainly the most dramatic. After all, it is the only village in the entire Mosel region for which an operetta was specially written.

Composed in the style of a Singspiel, the piece recounts the trials and tribulations faced by winegrowers in 1780 as they struggled to make their annual tithe of the grape harvest to the Elector Princes of Cologne.

The modern twin community has belonged to the Archdiocese of Cologne since the 7th century. Many physical testaments to this millennia of history still exist, including the ruins of the Rosenburg near what is today the Zeltinger Sonnenuhr and the Baroque building at Amtstraße No. 16, once the residence and official seat of the Administrator for the Cologne Court of Electors.

Mosel operetta “Zeltinger Himmelreich” is performed outdoors every two years with a cast of roughly 100 local residents.

As their stage they use the medieval marketplace with its fine half-timbered facades. On the nearby Kurfürstenstraße, houses from the 16-19th centuries stand shoulder to shoulder.

And in the middle of it: the “Zeltinger Hof” guesthouse, with rooms spread among its various buildings. The hotel restaurant beckons with regional culinary specialties and well over 100 wines by the glass.