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Blockhouse turret on the Maginot line near Marckolsheim (Stage 10)

As a result, the river is peppered with military hardware from Roman fortifications, through medieval castles, fortified military towns and integrated defensive lines to concrete anti-tank defences, each passing into history as the technological progress of warfare made them redundant. Riverside settlements still show the scars of battle, particularly from the Second World War, where intensive bombing was followed by destructive land warfare. This is particularly evident in relation to the bridges. In the mid-19th century, the Prussian military authorities controlling the Rhineland resisted the construction of railway bridges as a potential danger of invasion. Before and during the First World War German forces constructed a series of mighty bridges to support the war in France, only to destroy them in 1944–45 in an attempt to prevent Allied invasion of Germany.

The legendary Rhine

The oldest tales of the Rhine are derived from the Nibelungenlied, a 13th-century poem by an unknown German author. It centred on the bloodthirsty affairs of court in Worms and featured Siegfried, Brunhilde and a hoard of gold that caused much strife and was eventually buried in the Rhine to prevent further trouble. Siegfried went on to feature in many other legends. Composer Richard Wagner (1813–83) used this tale for the basis of Das Rheingold and subsequent works making up ‘The Ring of the Nibelung’ opera cycle.