The River Main

When the River Main joins the Rhine just a few kilometres from here, it has covered a distance of 524 km. Just before the confluence, the river passes through the lock at Kostheim, the last and youngest hydro-electric power station along the Main, which produces enough eco-friendly power for about 5000 households. This is one of the busiest locks in Germany.

Historically, fishing played an important role both as a food source and commercially for the people living along the banks of the Main. The river was a major transport route for the Romans. Sail and oars were replaced by the newly invented steam engine at the beginning of the 19^th century. This also put an end to the work of the horse driver, who pulled the boats upstream with his horse and a long towing rope. The towpath followed the opposite bank, close to the river. A similar principle was used by chain boats, which were introduced in 1886. They used a chain that ran along the bottom of the river bed from the confluence to Bamberg. These boats were equipped with an engine powered winch to pull themselves and up to 8 barges along the chain. Because oif the strange noises they made, the chain boats were locally known as “moocows”(”Mookuh”).

River and climate
Many wine-growing regions are sited along large rivers, but does the river have a positive effect on the grapes growing along its banks?  There is no scientific evidence indicating that the climate is milder here or that the reflection of solar radiation may influence vine growth. And a river definitely is not a thermal storage system. Wine needs a slope! This is where solar radiation is high and the frost risk is low. The wines of the Rheingau owe much to the rivers Rhine and Main: they spent millions of years carving deep valleys into the landscape, creating the sun-kissed south facing slopes.

Another important factor is that the cold air produced during the night is not prevented from flowing down the slope.