Mass tourism begins on the Rhine
During the Napoleonic Wars, the Middle Rhine is already no longer seen as a border, but the romantic subject of German song. After Waterloo, English painters such as Turner and poets such as Lord Byron create legendary impressions of the Rhine in images and words. In May 1827, two steamers travelling between Cologne and Mainz began to carry passengers – by 1850, their numbers already amount to one million. Successive Rhine panoramas show the development of mass tourism in the Rhine Valley. This type of map does not have a fixed point of view but shows a series of landscapes from the perspective of the Rhine passenger ship. Regularly updated and printed in several languages, such panoramas become popular souvenirs.
F. Delkeskamp, Nouveau Panorama du Rhin depuis Mayence jusqu’à Cologne (New Panorama of the Rhine from Mainz to Cologne), Frankfurt a. M. 1837. Coll. S/T U.1c.59, 284 26.5 cm.
