Like a ship made out of stone with its prow facing upriver, the old fortress, built in the 14th century, stands in the middle of the mighty river Rhine. For hundreds of years it served as a toll castle. Woe betide any skipper who could not afford the toll. Old bones and instruments of torture give an idea of the sorts of punishments meted out here. Nowadays a major tourist attraction, the tiny town of Kaub with its castle in the middle of the river left its mark on world history when Field Marshall Blücher crossed the Rhine here with the allied armies on New Year’s Eve 1813/1814. The fortress served as a toll castle until the late 19th century. Afterwards it served as a signalling station for shipping. Since the 1960s, the fortress has been in the possession of the land Rhineland-Palatinate. Rhenish sandstone was used for the model.
Dimensions: H: 1.52 m, L: 2.05 m W: 1.07 m
Weight without base: 550 kg
Materials: reinforced steel, Rhenish sandstone
Time taken: 6 months
Model maker: Friedrich Jerina (1982)