Visionary, herbalist, composer, adviser to popes and kings, scholar, theologian, artist, and saint–Hildegard was an early twelfth century nun who spent her life in the villages on both sides of the Rhine River.

We visited a Benedictine abbey in Rüdesheim am Rhein where some of Hildegard’s relics are kept and where the sisters still make products according to her specifications. We also purchased a couple of bottles of wine from their Rheingau vineyard: a 2001 Riesling Spatlese Halbtrocken and a 2005 Spätburgunder Trocken.

Later we made it to Bingen itself at the junction of the Rhine and Nahe Rivers to see the historical museum’s Hildegard exhibit. Bingen–and really the entire region–was several centuries ago a thriving Roman settlement, so the museum also had a complete set of surgical instruments from those times. There was also a memorial plaque to the “Invincible Sun” Mithra from the ruins–the first one I’ve seen in person.

Visionary, herbalist, composer, adviser to popes and kings, scholar, theologian, artist, and saint–Hildegard was an early twelfth century nun who spent her life in the villages on both sides of the Rhine River.

We visited a Benedictine abbey in Rüdesheim am Rhein where some of Hildegard’s relics are kept and where the sisters still make products according to her specifications. We also purchased a couple of bottles of wine from their Rheingau vineyard: a 2001 Riesling Spatlese Halbtrocken and a 2005 Spätburgunder Trocken.

Later we made it to Bingen itself at the junction of the Rhine and Nahe Rivers to see the historical museum’s Hildegard exhibit. Bingen–and really the entire region–was several centuries ago a thriving Roman settlement, so the museum also had a complete set of surgical instruments from those times. There was also a memorial plaque to the “Invincible Sun” Mithra from the ruins–the first one I’ve seen in person.