Proceedings 18 th International Symposium CIPA 2001 
Potsdam (Germany), September 18 - 21, 2001 
DIGITAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE RHINE RIVER VALLEY 
BETWEEN BINGEN AND KOBLENZ 
Wolfgang Boehler and V. Emmel 
i3mainz, Institute for Spatial Information and Surveying Technology 
FH Mainz, University of Applied Sciences, 
Holzstrasse 36, D-55116 Mainz, Germany, 
i3mainz@geoinform.fh-mainz.de 
KEY WORDS: Cultural Heritage, Cultural Landscapes, Landscape Visualization, 3D Modeling, Rhine River. 
ABSTRACT 
For 65 kilometers, between Bingen and Koblenz, the Rhine River flows through a deep valley. This area, called the Upper Middle 
Rhine Valley, contains extraordinary historical evidence of art, history, and the interaction between man and nature. The presence of 
this virtually intact, valuable evidence is the reason why the local authorities have nominated this cultural landscape for inclusion to 
the UNESCO World Heritage List. The nomination will be examined at a session of the World Heritage Committee in Budapest in 
June 2002. UNESCO has encouraged the nominants to supply new forms of spatial presentations of potential sites, and in particular 
geographic information systems. This paper summarises how landscapes can be stored and presented in digital form and shows 
several pilot systems which are of special value for the digital representation of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. 
1. THE UPPER MIDDLE RHINE VALLEY 
1.1 Geology and Valley Dimensions 
This part of the Rhine River Valley was formed in the last ten million years by the river cutting its way through the Rhenish Schist 
Mountains whose formation began about 65 million years ago. 
Between Bingen and Koblenz (Coblence) the river flows through a deep valley, losing 16 m in elevation over the 65 kilometer 
distance (cf. Fig. 1). On average it is 300 to 400 m wide, but the width may reduce to less than 250 m at narrow places. 
Predominantly, the valley bottom is not much wider than the river itself, giving just enough room for a railway line and a road on 
either side. Settlements could only develop at places where the valley bottom is wide enough or where side rivers join the Rhine 
River. 
The flanks of the valley, covered with forest or vineyards, are very steep and slope at an angle up to near 45 degrees at heights up to 
300 meters. 
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Figure 1: The Upper Middle Rhine Valley is located between Bingen and Koblenz