It is situated towards the end of the Neuwied basin on the left bank of the Rhine between the former tiny fishing village of Fornich in the north and the mouth of the small river Nette in the southeast, just 13 miles (21 km) north of Koblenz, with its five external town districts: Kell, Miesenheim, Eich, Namedy, and Bad Tönisstein.

Crane hill)  and the Engwetter (Narrow weather) on the right bank near the wine village Leutesdorf (external town district of Bad Hönningen).

It belongs to the Moselle Franconian language subgroup and considerably differs from High German, e.g. the Rhine river is named "Rhein" [ˈʁaɪn] in High German (pronounced similar to English "Rhine" except for the "r"), but "Rhäin" [ˈʁɛːɪn] in the dialect; except for the "r", it sounds similar to English "rain" with a stretched "a".

The coat of arms of Andernach known since 1344 (the colours appeared first in 1483) shows a black cross on a white escutcheon (shield) charged with a pair of X-shapedly arranged red keys.

The seal inscription says: MATER DEI PATRONA CIVIUM ANDERNACENSIUM – Mother of God, patron saint of the Andernachian citizens.

Founded by the Romans as Antunnacum in 12 BC on the site of an old Celtic settlement probably called Antunnuac, Andernach is one of the oldest towns in Germany which as such held its "Bimillenary feast" in 1988.

der "Alte Krahnen"), a 16th-century stony land based treadwheel tower crane 29 feet (8.8 m) in diameter and 31 feet (9.4 m) high situated outside the town downstream close to the river bank of the old harbour where it replaced an even older 14th century wooden floating treadwheel crane.

"Pfarrkirche Maria Himmelfahrt", "Liebfrauenkirche", or "Mariendom") is the oldest historical attraction in Andernach, some of which date back to the 11th century.

210 feet (64 m)) cold-water geyser, driven by carbon dioxide with force generated in a fashion similar to that in a shaken bottle of table water.

It is located a little less than half a mile downstream from the "Crane" in the Nature Reserve of "Namedyer Werth" (MHG for "island of Namedy") now a peninsula.

On 3 August 1287 Archbishop Siegfried II of Westerburg issued a protection decree for the town Jews from the local Burghers.

The Dutch folk song "T'Andernaken" (In Andernach) was very popular all over western Europe in the 15th/16th century and set to music by numerous composers of the period such as Obrecht, Brumel, King Henry VIII, Agricola, Hofhaimer, Senfl.

The famous Abbey of Maria Laach is 12 miles (19 km) west of the town in the southern Fore-Eifel (Ger.

Today it is managed by their grandsons' widow, Princess Heide of Hohenzollern, housing concerts, theatre plays, art exhibitions, dinners and other events.

During World War II, a transit camp for the Nazi Euthanasia Action T4 victims was active in town.

The institute in Andernach sent mentally ill patients and disabled people to the Hadamar Euthanasia Centre, where victims were murdered.