The most important Romanesque buildings were nearly all built in the immediate vicinity of the Rhine. The river served not only as an important transport route for material goods, but also as a cultural and political link.

On the excursion, the two cultural areas of the Upper and Middle Rhine were examined. The aim was to work out the differences and similarities between the two architectural landscapes in their temporal development. The result was a complete picture of this epoch, almost a thousand years past but still influencing the areas.

In the compact seminar, general Romanesque themes were dealt with before the original buildings were visited during the excursion. The stops included the cathedrals in Speyer, Worms and Mainz, the Eberbach and Maria Laach monasteries and the Romanesque churches in Cologne.