The distinctive Loreley Cliff, the Middle Rhine’s famous landmark, towers 125 metres above the river. According to the legend, Loreley used to sit here, combing her long blonde hair, and sending smitten sailors to their doom.

Loreley and Loreley Visitor Centre

At the centre of this World Heritage valley, at kilometre 555 of the Rhine, visitors will find Loreley Rock, near St. Goarshausen. The true heart of the region, this is also the location of the Loreley Visitor Centre and the central port of call for guests along the Middle Rhine Valley. Serenaded by countless poets and photographed by millions of tourists, this striking rocky outcrop is one of the must-see attractions on the Middle Rhine.

The Loreley Visitor Centre was built in 2000 and now attracts visitors, tourists, and guests from all over the world. – © Harald Hartusch / Loreley-Touristik e.V.

The name Loreley first appeared in the romantic ballad by Clemens Brentano in 1801. At that point, she was not yet a witch but a pretty woman disappointed by love, and bore the name Lore Ley, from the village of Bacharach. Spurned by her lover, she wanted to die. Men were fascinated by her beauty, and even the bishop could not ignore her grace and charm. He sent her into a convent, but the journey was interrupted by the cliff.

She wanted to look once again at her beloved castle and her lover, but believed that she saw him fleeing. In desperation and despair, she jumped into the river. Brentano wrote several variations on the same theme and in his Rhine myths and fairy tales. Loreley appeard as the sad Frau Lurley, sitting on a cliff and combing her long, blond hair.

The fact that Loreley is so well known today has less to do with Brentano than the German author Heinrich Heine and his story “I Don’t Know What it Meaneth” from 1813. The ballad was put to music by Friedrich Silcher and became the most famous song of the Rhine.

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Loreley and Loreley Visitor Centre

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From March to October:
daily from 10:00 to 17:00