Coblenz
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Coblenz. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
or Koblenz, a city of Prussia. It is situated on a point of land formed by the junction of the Moselle and the Rhine. Coblenz is still a walled city. It is fortified by outposts. Ehrenbreitstein on the east bank of the Rhine is the most strongly fortified place in Germany. The city is well supplied with bridges. A stone bridge of fourteen arches erected in 1344 crosses the Moselle. There are three bridges across the Rhine; the Rhenish bridge, an iron structure of three arches; a railway bridge, a brick structure, also of three arches; and the famous Bridge of Boats, the latter being a level bridge of pontoon construction. The situation of Coblenz is picturesque beyond description, but the town itself is prosy enough. If we except the church St. Castor consecrated in 1208, a Romanesque basilica with four towers, there are no buildings of national reputation. There are many points of minor interest, however. The writing table of Frederick the Great, and many articles formerly belonging to the electors of Treves, the royal family of Baden, are shown in the Electoral Hall. A fountain erected by a French prefect bears the inscription, in French, of course, "The year 1812, memorable for the campaign against the Russians." The Russian general, St. Priest, added the ironical words, "Seen and approved by us. The Russian governor of the village of Coblenz, January 1, 1814." Coblenz is headquarters for the wines of the Moselle and the Rhine. A magnificent park and a boulevard extend along the Rhine above the city. The old palace of the elector of Treves, is now a summer residence of the emperor and his family. The population for 1905 was 53,897. See Ehrenbreitstein
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
GERMANY CONSULATE AT MUKDEN COCOANUTS COOLIES AND SEDAN CHAIR COOLIE AND JINRIKISHA GARDEN OF THE GODS, COLORADO ROADS NEAR DENVER Opposite page 84 HARVARD YALE PRINCETON OXFORD CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Opposite page 164
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's wrote in 1910 that "Coblenz is still a walled city" and that Ehrenbreitstein was "the most strongly fortified place in Germany," it was describing a Prussian garrison town; the Treaty of Versailles required the fortifications to be dismantled, and from 1919 to 1923 the city was the headquarters of the American army of occupation. Aiton's Bridge of Boats is long gone, replaced by fixed road bridges. In November 1944 Allied bombing destroyed the great majority of the old town, including damage to the twelfth-century church of St. Castor, which was afterwards restored; the Deutsches Eck monument at the Moselle-Rhine point lost its equestrian statue of Wilhelm I in 1945, and a copy was set up in 1993. The city now spells its name Koblenz, has roughly twice the 53,897 inhabitants recorded for 1905, and sits at the heart of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002; Ehrenbreitstein is a visitor attraction served by a cable car built for the 2011 federal garden show.
Written for this edition, 2026.