All year round, the World Heritage Guides offer guided tours to the most beautiful places in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. This group discovers the famous vineyards in Assmannshausen.

'Why is the Rhine so beautiful?'

Wolfgang Blum is a certified World Heritage guide on the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Here he explains what he loves the most about this landscape.

Wolfgang Blum in his element; he dives into the unique landscape with all his senses and inspires the participants. – © Wolfgang Blum, Rheintouristik Tal der Loreley

Wolfgang always has his camera with him on his tours to capture the unique impressions. – © Wolfgang Blum, Rheintouristik Tal der Loreley

Wolfgang knows why the Rhine is so beautiful and likes to share this with the participants of his tours. – © Wolfgang Blum, Rheintouristik Tal der Loreley

Wolfgang Blum in his element; he dives into the unique landscape with all his senses and inspires the participants. – © Wolfgang Blum, Rheintouristik Tal der Loreley

Wolfgang Blum is a well-known tourist guide on the Rhine – he is an ambassador for the region’s culture and wine but also a guide for the new spiritual route Rheingauer Klostersteig. His connection with the region dates back to his early years when he would go swimming to an island in the Rhine during summer as a child. His love for the region relates closely to the many writers, thinkers and poets who have been influenced by the Rhine Valley.

Blum has studied the ‘free thinkers’ who met on the Rhine in the 19th century, to share their visions for a better world, including Ferdinand Freiligrath and Heinrich Heine. He likes to stress that ‘today's democratic Germany would not be thinkable without the Rhine region’.

On his tours, Blum tells the story of Johann Friedrich Karl Maximilian Earl of Ostein (1735-1809) who he lovingly calls the “Earl Amor of Ostein”. In 1764 the Earl created the Osteiner landscape park above Rüdesheim, using money from his inheritance. He established the romantic in the Rhine a time the word did not exist.

Blum likes to cite Goethe, who called the countryside “god-praised”, and Nikolaus Vogt who compared it to paradise. According to Blum, this landscape is a gift of god. “Since the UNESCO announced the Upper Middle Rhine Valley a World Heritage site in 2002, everyone else understands it too” says Blum. As a guide of the “Dem Erbe auf der Spur” programme he is fascinated by the countryside. 'There are ruins rising before us, and around the corner there is an enchanted castle lurking in the forest. Deep down is the most important inland waterway which is also the richest in wine and the most romantic river in the world.'

The Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage guides are certified nature and countryside guides that take you to the region’s most delightful spots and hidden gems. The “Dem Erbe auf der Spur” programme introduces visitors to the region’s highlights, through beautiful trails and hidden paths. Discover the exceptional diversity of the region’s nature while sampling the local produce. Follow the traces of this region’s remarkable cultural and historical heritage, while being captivated by the tales and legends of the myth-ridden landscape of the Rhine Valley.