'' by
Clarkson Stanfield, 1837 The Moselle valley between Metz and Thionville is an industrial area, with
coal mining and
steel manufacturers. The Moselle valley is famous for its scenery and wine. Most well-known is the German
Mosel wine region, while the Luxembourg
winegrowing region is called
Moselle Luxembourgeoise and the French region is called
AOC Moselle. Most notable among the wines produced here are
Riesling,
Elbling,
Müller-Thurgau,
Kerner, and
Auxerrois. The German part of the Moselle is a tourist destination.
Navigation After the Second World War, France pressed to be able to ply the Moselle with larger ships in order to link the industrial regions of
Lorraine. When, in 1955, the population on the Saar voted to belong to West Germany, France demanded as "compensation" an upgrade of the Moselle. On 27 October 1956 they concluded the Moselle Treaty with Germany and Luxembourg for a canalisation of the Moselle and conceded to Germany in return the extension of the
Grand Canal d'Alsace on the
Upper Rhine instead of an extension of the canal via Breisach. In 1958 work began and by 26 May 1964 the Moselle could be officially opened from Metz to Koblenz as a major waterway for shipping with 14
locks. France extended it by 1979 as far as
Neuves-Maisons. With that, of the Moselle have been upgraded with a total of 28 locks. In the years 1992 to 1999 the navigable channel was deepened from to , which enables 1,500-tonne freighters to use the river, a 20% increase in capacity. The channel has a width of , more on the bends. The
Moselle Commission, founded in 1962 with its head office in Trier, is responsible for navigation. The Moselle Shipping Police Act which it has produced is valid in all three participant states from Metz to Koblenz. In 1921 the Moselle (Mo) became a
Reich waterway, from the Rhine in Koblenz up to
Neuves-Maisons, south of Nancy. For smaller ships it is connected to other parts of France through the
Canal de la Meuse and the
Canal de la Marne au Rhin. There are
locks in
Koblenz,
Lehmen,
Müden,
Fankel,
Sankt Aldegund,
Enkirch,
Zeltingen,
Wintrich,
Detzem,
Trier,
Grevenmacher,
Palzem, By 1970 more than 10 million tonnes of goods were being transported on the Moselle, the majority on towed barges. Upstream freight mainly comprised fuel and ores; downstream the main goods were steel products, gravel and rocks. There is an
inland port at
Trier, a
transshipment site in
Zell (Mosel); and there are other ports in
Mertert,
Thionville,
Metz and
Frouard. In addition to freighters there are also pleasure boats for tourists between the very busy wine villages and small towns of the Middle and Lower Moselle. There are also
yachting or sports marinas in the following places:
Koblenz,
Winningen,
Brodenbach,
Burgen,
Löf,
Hatzenport,
Senheim,
Treis,
Traben-Trarbach,
Kues,
Neumagen,
Pölich,
Schweich,
Trier and
Konz. The Moselle is linked near Toul via the
Canal de la Marne au Rhin with
inter alia the
Meuse, the
Saône and the
Rhône. Other canals link the river to the
North Sea and even the
Mediterranean.
Locks and dams (weirs) There is a total of 28
changes of level on the Moselle: • 16 in France near
Neuves-Maisons,
Villey-le-Sec,
Toul,
Fontenoy-sur-Moselle,
Aingeray,
Frouard-Pompey,
Custines,
Blénod-lès-Pont-à-Mousson,
Pagny-sur-Moselle,
Ars-sur-Moselle,
Metz,
Talange,
Richemont,
Thionville,
Kœnigsmacker and
Apach • 2 between Luxembourg and Germany near
Stadtbredimus-
Palzem and
Grevenmacher-
Wellen • 10 in Germany near
Trier,
Detzem,
Wintrich,
Zeltingen,
Enkirch,
St. Aldegund, Fankel,
Müden,
Lehmen and
Koblenz.
Detzem is the highest lock – – and at the upstream reach is the longest on the river; it is the only lock to be built on a canal of some length excavated outside the river bed. With the exception of Detzem, all the structures at each change in level are laid-out side by side; the
lock is by one riverbank, the
weir in the middle and the
hydropower plant on the other bank. Between the lock and weir are a boat slipway and channel and boat lock, while between the weir and the power station is the
fish ladder. The structures have been blended into the landscape through their low-level design; this was achieved by the choice of sector gates for the weir, vertically lowering upper gates and mitred lower lock gates. The water levels and hydropower works are controlled by the Fankel Central Control Station (
Zentralwarte Fankel) of the RWE Power Company at
Fankel.
Tourism Through the Moselle valley run the Moselle Wine Route and the Moselle Cycleway, which may be cycled from
Metz in
France via
Trier to
Koblenz on the
River Rhine, a distance of . Between Koblenz and Trier, large sections run on the
trackbed of the old Moselle Valley Railway, far from the noise and fumes of motor vehicles. Every year on the Sunday after
Pentecost, the of road between
Schweich and
Cochem is also car-free as part of Happy Moselle Day. A number of notable castles and ruins adorn the heights above the Moselle valley and many are visible on a boat trip on the Moselle. In 1910, a hiking trail, the Moselle Ridgeway, was established which runs for on the Eifel side and on the Hunsrück side. Another unusual trail runs from
Ediger-Eller via the
Calmont Trail to
Bremm through the steepest vineyard in Europe. Before the construction of barrages the Moselle was a popular route for
folding kayaks which is why many of the weirs have boat channels. The river is still used today by
canoeists, especially during the annual week-long lock closures when no commercial shipping is permitted. In April 2014 the
Moselle Trail was opened, a path running for from Perl on the
Upper Moselle to
Koblenz. Numerous Moselle Trail "partner trails", the so-called side branches (
Seitensprünge) and "dream paths" (
Traumpfade) enhance the hiking network in the Moselle Valley. in order to improve quality and value, which has led to a more nuanced view of Moselle wine that, a few years before, had been characterised by overproduction, label scandals and cheap offers.
Moselle umbrella brand On 10 November 2006 in
Burg, the Moselle Regional Initiative was founded. The introduction of the Moselle as an
umbrella brand was based on that of the
Eifel region and covers products and services from the areas of agriculture, forestry, tourism, handicrafts and nature.
Moselle slate Moselle slate (
Moselschiefer) is a manufacturing and trade description for
slate from the municipalities of
Mayen,
Polch,
Müllenbach,
Trier and its surrounding area. Today only products from the roofing slate mines of in Mayen and
Margareta in Polch bear the name Moselle Slate. The name is derived from the historical transport route for this slate along the Moselle to the
Lower Rhine.
Railways The following railway lines run or ran along the river: •
Koblenz–Trier railway (
Moselstrecke), between Koblenz and Bullay, and in Trier, mostly on the left (northern) bank •
Pünderich–Traben-Trarbach railway, for its entire length, on the left (northern) bank •
Moselle Railway, between Bullay and Trier, on the right (southern) bank. Closed in the 1960s. •
Trier West Railway, between Ehrang and Igel, on the left (northern) bank •
Thionville–Trier railway (
Obermoselstrecke), for its entire length, on the right (eastern) bank •
CFL line 1a, between Wasserbillig and Grevenmacher, on the left (western) bank. No passenger service remains. •
Metz–Luxembourg railway, between Thionville and Metz, mainly on the left bank • Lérouville–Metz railway, between Metz and Novéant, mainly on the left bank • Frouard–Novéant railway, mainly on the left bank •
Paris–Strasbourg railway, between Frouard and Toul • Blainville-Damelevières–Lure railway, between Bayon and Épinal •
Épinal–Bussang railway, between
Épinal and
Remiremont, on the left bank ==Moselle in literature==