19th Century (c. 1870) Dutch Oil on Canvas Landscape. Depicting the town of Oberwesel on the Rhine, with a road sweeping to the viewer's left, bordered on one side by water and the other by a shady town. Signed lower right.

Overall: 24 1/2 x 41 1/2 in. 

Sight: 23 1/2 x 35 1/2 in.

#3092 . 

Oberwesel is a town on the Middle Rhine River in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Germany. It lies on the Rhine’s west bank and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As in many of the region’s towns, Oberwesel quite possibly had its beginnings as a Celtic settlement, named Vosavia or Volsolvia. The Romans later maintained a horse-changing station with a hostel here. After the Limesfall in the mid 3rd Century AD, Oberwesel became a Frankish royal estate. Throughout the Dark and Early Middle Ages winemaking, fishing, and handicrafts were the primary activities, which led to the building of town walls. In 1220 Emperor Frederick II made Oberwesel a free imperial city, and in 1255 Oberwesel became a member of the Rhenish League of Towns (Rheinischer Städtebund), but in 1309 it fell under the lordship of the Electorate of Trier. In 1689 Oberwesel was virtually destroyed by soldiers of the First French Empire, although certain iconic structures were spared. In 1794 the town was occupied by French Revolutionary troops and in 1802 was annexed by France. After the Congress of Vienna, Oberwesel became, along with the rest of the Rhine’s left bank, Prussian. From November 1970 onward the town was part of the Rhineland-Palatinate, first formed in 1946, and since 1999 has become a prime tourism spot on the border between modern day France and Germany. It was first made famous throughout Europe in the 17th Century, when artists began to flock to the town to paint and etch landscapes capturing the city walls. Particular attention has been paid to the towers, including Hospitalgassenturm (“Hospital Lane Tower”), Steingassenturm (“Stone Lane Tower”), Katzenturm (“Cats’ Tower”) and the most depicted one, Ochsenturm (“Ox’s Tower”), which is crenelated and has an octagonal top tower, making it a rare type of Butterfassturm (“Butter-churn Tower”) and one of the best preserved of its kind in the world.