The 65km-stretch of the Mid­dle Rhine Val­ley, with its cas­tles, his­toric towns and vine­yards, graph­i­cal­ly illus­trates the long his­to­ry of human involve­ment with a dra­mat­ic and var­ied nat­ur­al land­scape. It is inti­mate­ly asso­ci­at­ed with his­to­ry and leg­end and for cen­turies has exer­cised a pow­er­ful influ­ence on writ­ers, artists and com­posers.