J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

Here Turner records a view of Cochem looking upstream on the Moselle towards the Reichsburg, a ruined medieval castle which overlooks the city from atop a mount. The castle was first mentioned in a document of 1051 and was for many years the established seat of the palatinate counts until the first German King Konrad III declared it an imperial castle.1 It fell into ruin after an occupation by the French King Louis XIV over the course of the Nine Years War and remained in a decaying state until 1868 when it was rebuilt in the Gothic Revival architectural style.2 In the middle distance is the Church of Saint Martin, with its elaborate spire and onion-shaped cupola (see also Tate D20253, D28540; Turner Bequest CCXXI T, CCXCI 2). Half way up the hill to the right is the former Capuchin monastery, founded in the seventeenth century by Elector Lothar von Metternich. The monastery and church are also shown on the folio opposite (Tate D28544; Turner Bequest CCXCI 4). The village of Cond, situated on the opposite bank to Cochem, is depicted in the far left corner.

Technical notes:

The leather loop on the inside front cover has stained the sheet.