Germany to Switzerland | 24-25 July 1928

DATE July 24th 1928
PLACE Up the Rhine Germany
Left this morning to go up the Rhine to Wiesbaden [1]. We had a very good day & what we saw was almost indiscribable it was very historic & Beautiful. We saw all the famous Castles & the Lorelei rock [2]. On arriving at Wiesbaden we went to the Hotel Metropole a very nice place (I fell in love with a sweet girl from Georgia. Lucy) Ole Sweetness.

DATE July 25th 1928
PLACE Wiesbaden Germany to Basel Switzerland
We had an uneventful trip from Wiesbaden, Germany to Basel, Switzerland going thru a part of the Black forest except that Marie Duval was knocked on the head by a few suit cases. Arrived at Basel staying at the Hotel Hofer.

Vincent Price Travel Journal 1928 (reproduced courtesy of Peter Fuller)

DID YOU KNOW?
[1] After World War I, Wiesbaden fell under the Allied occupation of the Rhineland and was occupied by the French army in 1918. In 1921, the Wiesbaden Agreement on German reparations to France was signed in the city. In 1925, Wiesbaden became the headquarters of the British Rhine Army until the withdrawal of occupying forces from the Rhineland in 1930.
[2] Steam boats have been cruising past the iconic Lorelei rock on the Rhine since 1826, with the earliest trials dating back to 1816. From 1927, Dutch and German services began operating in co-operation. But in World War II, many of the boats were destroyed. Three large ships survived: Goethe (1913), Rheinland (1926-1981) – pictured here – and Mainz (1929-1980), and continued operating after being rebuilt in the 1950s. For more about Paddle Steamers past and present, check out: paddlesteamers.info.

[sic] Although Vincent misspells words in his journal, we have kept them as he wrote them.

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The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany | 22-23 July 1928

DATE July 22nd 1928
PLACE Holland, Belgium
Today we awoke at 5AM to leave for Belgium & so we road to La Hague & then left for Brussells on the train. We went thru Antwerp & then to Brussells. Took a tour of the city & went out that night with Lucy & R. we were very disgusted with our hotel the Ermitage but got on all right.

This engraving of Cologne Cathedral comes from the Sears-Roebuck Vincent Price Collection of Fine Art (1962-1971). Thanks to Gejo Pohl for allowing me to display this treasured piece from his personal collection. It’s a wonderful link from past to present.

DATE July 23 1928
PLACE Germany
Today we reached Köln, Cologne in the morning & had lunch at the Kölnerhof [1] then went shopping and then to the Cathedral. It is the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen. The knaves are so beautiful that they semm like a dream. I like Germany more than I ever dreamed of it is so beautiful. We caught the train at Cologne & went then thru the Rhine Valley to Koblenze where we stayed at the Reisen Fürstenhof a very good hotel on the Rhine near to Moselle. I had a swell time.

Vincent Price Travel Journal 1928 (reproduced courtesy of Peter Fuller)

EDITOR’S NOTES
[1] This may refer to the Hotel Coellner or the Colner Hofbrau Fruh, which still exists.
[2] At the time of its completion in 1880, Köln Cathedral remained the tallest building in the world for a decade. Read more about its history here.
[3] On October 24 1938, German general Erich von Manstein would use the fashionable Hotel Riesen–Fürstenhof as the headquarters of the 34th Division German army.

[sic] Although Vincent misspells words in his journal, we have kept them as he wrote them.