1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rudesheim

RÜDESHEIM, a town of Germany in the Prussian Rhine province on the right bank of the Rhine, 19 m. S.W. of Wiesbaden by the main line from Frankfort-on-Main to Cologne. Pop. (1905) 4773. Its situation, at the lower end of the famous vineyard district of the Rheingau, opposite Bingen and just above the romantic gorge of the Rhine, renders it a popular tourist centre. Behind the town rises the majestic Niederwald (985 ft.), on the crest of which stands the national monument, “Germania,” commemorating the war of 1870–71. Rüdesheim has some interesting towers. The Brömserburg, or Niederburg, a massive structure built in the 13th century, formerly belonging to the archbishops of Mainz; the Boosenburg, or Oberburg, which was rebuilt in 1868, with the exception of the keep; the Adlerturm, a relic of the fortifications of the town; and the Vorderburg, the remains of an old castle. The Gothic church of St James has some interesting paintings and monuments, and there is also a Protestant church. The town has electrical works, but its industries are mainly concerned with the preparation of wine, the best kinds being Rudesheimer Berg, Hinterhaus and Rottland.

See J. P. Schmelzeis, Rüdesheim im Rheingau (Rüdesheim, 1881); and Heiderlinden, Rüdesheim und seine Umgebung (Rüdesheim, 1888).