It is considered one of the most dangerous sections of the river to navigate due to its tight curves and rocky bottom. It's easy to imagine why this area of the Rhine River lends to myths anyway. 'These are the sorts of connotations that obviously move people they stay in people's minds, and all the more so because there is an actual place people can visit,' she told DW. In her work for the Institute for Historical Regional Studies, which is affiliated with the Mainz-based Johannes Gutenberg University (about an hour's drive from the Loreley), she studied and wrote about the Loreley saga for the institute's website. History and archaeology student Katrin Kober Image: Privat

'This is the sort of femme fatale figure: One that is somewhat exaggerated and exploited and lends a sexual connotation to a story,' she told DW. Yet 24-year-old history and archaeology student Katrin Kober has a refreshing take on the lure of the Loreley: It is her sex appeal. The Lorelei's appeal has been portrayed in different sculptures at the UNESCO World Heritage site, such as this one by Natasha Alexandrowna Image: Rolf Kosecki/picture alliance Loreley with sex appeal Many Germans have a general idea of who that figure was - as part of their school reading - as immortalized in the famous 1824 poem 'The Lorelei' by Düsseldorf-born writer Heinrich Heine. She is a seated female figure combing her hair, whose beauty and singing were said to have enraptured and distracted shipmen from navigation, causing them to crash on the rocks. That pull, however, may have more to do with the sagas surrounding the site and its so-called siren, the Loreley, who allegedly lured sailors to their death. Part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage site, it is considered by some to be the epitome of Rhine romanticism and draws tourists from around the world. The stuff of legend, the Lorelei, or 'Loreley' is actually just a steep 132-meter-high (433-foot-high) slate rock atop the right bank of the Rhine River at Sankt Goarshausen in western Germany.īut it is also so much more.

Alison bechdel musical