But not everywhere along the Rhine was so idyllic. For Huan Fu Zhang, who runs the restaurant in the Chinese Ship in Beuel, the rising water level meant work at first. His conventional jetty had long been under water, so he had to build an auxiliary jetty using scaffolding. "It's going fast now, we need maybe an hour and a half for that," he said. So it was almost more complicated to attach the two chains of lights to the metal poles and screw in lamps. "Many people think this is decoration, but it's actually a support, because we have to light the bridge." Nevertheless, some of them were strangers who walked across in the water, like a Korean family. While mother and children went to the restaurant, father stayed ashore. "He just didn't dare," Zhang said.

The city had been preparing all day for the fact that the level might reach the eight-meter mark. The specially established crisis management team coordinated all measures, including the clearing of the Rathenau bank. All cars parked there had to leave as quickly as possible, which is why there was even a radio announcement. Twelve parked cars were towed away by the city, but no one had to fear fines. "The owners do not have to pay for the towing. The cars were towed away to protect them," said Markus Schmitz of the press office. The cars have been parked on a municipal lot, from where they could be picked up. About 40 car owners were lucky: the public order office was able to identify and contact them so that they could drive their cars away themselves.

The civil engineers Jörg Göbel and Marco Spörl also had to work fast below the Old Customs. They have been busy for a few days now renewing the gullies on the carriageway. "We had just opened one when the flood warning came in," said Göbel. If they hadn't closed the gully that leads the rainwater into the sewers in time, the incoming floodwater could have flooded the sewers. For this reason, the gullies along the Rhine are also sealed with special plastic membranes in the event of flooding, as provided for in the city's flood protection plan. At another bank construction site at the height of Hatschiergasse, the planners had also taken precautions: the several meter deep excavation pit is secured with sheet piling so that no water can penetrate through the soil.

No matter where the Rhine overflows its banks: it always attracts flood tourists. Many people in Bonn used the sunny Wednesday for a walk along the river - at least where there was still the opportunity to walk. Because in most places the promenade was already flooded. Even though the water is shallow, it is not recommended to walk on it. "It's purely a matter of safety, there can be currents everywhere that you can't see directly," explained Wilhelm Deitermann, press spokesman for the NRW Environment Agency. In addition, the surface water, which is washed in at many places, would cause more germs to be found in the Rhine. "But it's not dangerous as long as you don't drink it.“

On the Rheinallee in Königswinter, numerous buildings had to be secured against the brown floods with board walls and sandbags. On Wednesday from 11 a.m. the road was closed to traffic from the junction of Clemens-August-Straße. The city railway line 66 stopped the railway traffic to Bad Honnef at 12 noon from the stop Clemens-August-Straße. The Bonn public utility company used buses as a substitute.

In Bad Honnef the footpath of the Rhine promenade between the bridge Am Spitzenbach and Mühlenweg was closed. Later, the Am Steinchen underpass was also closed. The city's public order office, the voluntary fire brigade, the sewage works and the Honnef baths kept in close contact in view of the development of the water levels.

All Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, a janitorial service with several employees in Königswinter was busy using boards and sandbags to seal the façade of the building at Rheinallee 9, which houses the Baynunah Hotel Drachenfels and the Restaurant-Café Rheinpromenade as well as numerous condominiums, against the flood.

"We will prevent the water from entering the underground garages," said employee Kevin Baum. In two other properties for which the company is responsible, the basements were flooded and the water pumped out. Next door, Heinz Kremer, whose wife Heike Ottersbach runs the H&H wine and beer business, followed the flood forecasts on television and kept precise minutes.

"With a water level of 6.70 metres in Oberwinter, we don't have to move the bar and furniture," he said. First 6.90 metres had been announced, then only 6.70 metres. Kremer was therefore in constant contact with a Bad Honnef-based furniture removal company, which can clear the premises completely within two hours. Two years ago in January they even had to do this twice. The highest level in Oberwinter at that time was 7.41 metres.

In Unkel the Rhine promenade was under water. The federal road 42 (B42) was not passable in parts, railway underpasses were full. Among other things, the town entrances to Kasbach and Leubsdorf and the underpass to Burgplatz in Linz were flooded.

Residents reacted calmly to the flooding of the riverside promenades in Remagen, Kripp and Bad Breisig. In Kripp, the Rhine starts to reach for the terrace steps of the Hotel Rhein-Ahr, and the cycle path is completely flooded. "Nothing to get excited about," said a resident in Kripp. She lives opposite the ferry and knows the stream: "If the garages are full, it doesn't matter. The mess won't come until it’s the house’s turn.“ However, the current flood is still a metre away from this. Like many of her neighbours, the nursery school teacher is a "professional" in dealing with the Rhine, knows its beautiful and also less beautiful sides. "If you want to live here, you must know that.“

The peak of the Ahr is already over. With 1.61 metres at the Altenahr gauge, the Ahr only made a brief guest appearance on Tuesday in the car park at the local winegrowers' cooperative. Nothing more. The emergency plan for Rhine flooding has been activated by the town of Niederkassel. "We are preparing for the eight meters predicted for the weekend," said city spokesman Markus Thüren. This includes, for example, setting up barriers on the promenades and closing off parking spaces. In some places, the river Sieg has also been rising. In the Siegaue region, some of the paths were flooded.

The building yard of the city of Sankt Augustin had already closed all paths to Sieg on Tuesday and warned against bypassing the barriers. The city of Siegburg did not see any acute need for action on Wednesday. "The Eitorf water level is being kept under surveillance by the employees of the environmental agency," said Björn Langer, spokesman for the city. The Sieg flood is still relatively small and can be easily bypassed. There was also a tendency for the levels to fall again. Langer: "If something changes in the situation, we will of course react. There is also a tendency for levels to fall. "If the situation changes, the natural reaction is to react."

The ferry Bad Godesberg-Niederdollendorf stopped operation on Wednesday at 13 o'clock. "Because of the rising water level, but also because there is a lot of driftwood on the way," said one employee. The ferry service between Remagen and Erpel as well as Remagen-Kripp and Linz is also suspended. The flooding had risen faster than expected in the night to Wednesday. The passenger ferry "Nixe" had not been running since Tuesday, and on Wednesday the car ferry also had to stop running. "Safe ferry operation is only possible from a water level of 7.15 metres with a falling tendency," said Udo Scholl, managing director of the Rhine ferry Linz-Kripp GmbH. The "Nixe" between Remagen and Erpel can only operate again at a water level of 6.40 metres.

The Rhine ferry between Niederkassel-Mondorf and Bonn-Graurheindorf is also affected by the flooding and is also no longer operating. "We will cease operation from a water level of 6.40 to 6.50 metres (Bonn water level)", said Ingo Schneider-Lux, head of ferry operations at Lux-Werft und Schifffahrt GmbH in Mondorf. Then it would no longer be possible to dock at the flood ramp in Mondorf marina. "We'll see what flotsam comes down the Rhine. And there's a lot coming down right now."

Original text: Nicolas Ottersbach, Günther Schmitt, Hansjürgen Melzer and Hannah Schmitt. Translation: Mareike Graepel