Villa Schmidt. Mansion built in 1914 on the foundations of the Kehl fortress constructed by Vauban in 1683. It was the home of the Schmidt family who owned a cellulose processing plant in Kehl. Between 1945 and 1992 Villa Schmidt housed the headquarters of the French military administration. Adaptive reuse as a restaurant and events centre. 12. DSC_0888
After returning form Strasbourg, there was time to explore the Rhine waterfront of Kehl. Baedeker described Kehl thus: Kehl (460 ft.), a small Baden town (3000 inhab.), was erected by the French as a of Strassburg in 1688. Wars have taken their toll on Kehl. A number of monuments line Rheinpromenade, the Rhine Promenade, the riverbank park. Begegnung peace and reconciliation between France and Germany. Another French resistance fighters killed in 1944. Four cenotaphs, the Denkmler fr Flutopfer, memorialize those drowned in Rhine floods in the line of duty. A stone marks the Jakobsweg, The Way of St. James. This was a pilgrimage route through Germany that led ultimately to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. In the park is a Biblical Garden. Each of the 17 stele made of red sandstone from the Vosges tells a Biblical story. One side of the path is Old Testament and the other side is New Testament. The runs above the Rhine Promenade. It looks like a nice residential neighborhood. At the far end of the street is the Villa Schmidt built in 1914 on the site of an old fortification. It is a restaurant today.
Statue de la faneuse (The hay gatherer), sculpture by Albert Schultz. The original statue was installed in 1906, the present recasting in 2004. Rheinterrassen - Jardin des Deux Rives, Kehl am Rhein. DSC_0887
was German Night on board Viking Sigrun. A hearty German dinner was served, preceded by Bavarian pretzels and cured meat appetizers. (Perhaps a Charcuterie Board would be the au courant term for the latter.) After dinner a tour of the galley was held.
