KOBLENZ 
History

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The city of Koblenz was founded (9 B.C.) as "Castrum ad Confluentes" by Drusus.Ad confluentes means "at the confluence". The fertile and strategically important area around Koblenz was already inhabitated during the middle Iron Age (around 9.000 B.C.). Since Roman times, Koblenz as always remained an important traffic crossroads as well as a political centre.

It was prominent in Carolingian times as a residence of the Frankish kings and as a meeting place for churchmen. Koblenz was held by the archbishops of Trier from 1018 to the late 18th cent. In 1794 it was occupied by French troops and in 1798 was annexed by France and made the capital of the Rhine and Moselle department. The city passed to Prussia in 1815.

After World War I it was occupied by Allied troops from 1919 to 1929. Noteworthy buildings in Koblenz include the Church of St. Castor (founded 836; rebuilt c.1200), the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, and an 18th-century castle. A famous statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I was destroyed in World War II and reproduced in 1993 after the German reunification. Part of the state archives of the former West Germany are located in the city.