Bingen
[key], city, Rhineland-Palatinate, W Germany, where the Nahe River enters
the Rhine. A busy river port, railroad junction, and tourist center, Bingen
is also noted for its wine and tobacco manufactures. Dating from pre-Roman
times, Bingen was fortified (1st cent. b.c.) by Drusus. In 983 it
came under the rule of the archbishops of Mainz. Near Bingen, on a rock in
the Rhine, is the famous Mäuseturm [Ger.,=mice tower], where,
according to legend, Archbishop Hatto I of Mainz was devoured (913) by mice
for wronging his subjects.
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