Bingen is located where the Nahe flows into the Rhine, opposite the Rheingau Mountains. A good 25,000 people live in the town, which has been shaped by wine-growing for centuries. In the town center there is a lively, modern pedestrian zone with numerous shops and restaurants. Famous throughout the world are: the Bingen Mouse Tower and the nun and mystic Hildegard von Bingen. Klopp Castle secured the customs barrier on the Rhine on behalf of the Electors of Mainz. After numerous destructions, the neo-Gothic main building that can be seen today was built in the 19th century and has been the seat of the Bingen city administration ever since. The 37 m high keep is open during the day in the summer months and offers a magnificent view of the Rhine Valley. The origins of St. Martin’s Church lie well before 793, when it was first mentioned in documents. The church that can be seen today began construction in 1403 with a nave and a choir that was consecrated in 1416. Side aisles and baroque new buildings followed with additional chapel additions in the 19th century by the Freiburg cathedral master builder. Since the state garden show, the riverside promenade in Bingen has been expanded to include a number of attractive gardens with parks, playgrounds and restaurants. The old crane, built in 1487, can also be found there and was a lucrative source of income until the 19th century. The almost 25-meter-high Bingen Mouse Tower was built at the beginning of the 14th century. It served to secure the Rhine toll and later as a signal tower for the boatmen. Hardly any other historical figure promotes Bingen as persistently as Hildegard von Bingen, whose traces and evidence of history can be found throughout the Middle Rhine region. In 1150 she founded a monastery on the Rupertsberg near Bingen. Inventory from the Eibingen monastery, which was later settled by St. Hildegard, can be seen in the Rochus Chapel, a pilgrimage church on the Bingen Rochusberg. The three-aisled late Gothic church with an external choir was rebuilt in 1895 after being destroyed several times. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.