Ansicht von Unckel. / Vue d’Unckel.

Title

Ansicht von Unckel. / Vue d’Unckel.

Description

Beautiful view of the town of Unkel on the Rhine in Rhineland-Palatinate.

c. 1805

Artist

Hoessel

Historical Description

Unkel is a country town in the district of Neuwied in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is known both for its reputation as a red wine town and as the residence of many famous personalities such as Willy Brandt, Stefan Andres, Ferdinand Freiligrath, Leonhard Reinirkens or Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. The name Unkel probably comes from Latin (uncus = bow, hook). Since the Rhine makes a large bend at Unkel, the entire area to the right and left of the Rhine bend was initially called uncus. Later, the adjacent settlements of Unkel and Unkelbach were also called so. In the middle of the 11th century Unkel became the property of the Cologne church. As a result of the Cologne Collegiate Feud, in 1475 various towns on the Rhine united under the leadership of the town of Linz to form the Linz Unity. In 1535, Linz am Rhein, Remagen, Unkel, Erpel, Honnef (now Bad Honnef), Königswinter and many other towns in the area already belonged to it. Unkel received its town fortification in 1553. The Rhine side received the strongest wall, it was protected by the prison tower and the tower of the Fronhof. In 1578 Unkel was listed for the first time as a town of the Electorate of Cologne. In 1583 Unkel was affected by the Cologne War, but survived it without major damage. During the Thirty Years' War Unkel was heavily damaged, especially by a Swedish attack in 1633.