Other names yielded by history are Cuhckeme and Chuckeme in 893, Cochemo in 1051, Chuchumo in 1056, Kuchema in 1130, Cuchemo in 1136, Cocheme in 1144, then Cuchme, and into the 18th century Cochheim or Cocheim.

It was pledged by King Adolf of Nassau in 1294 to the Archbishopric of Trier and remained Electoral-Trier territory until the French occupation began in 1794.

Only after a bridge was built across the Moselle at Cochem in 1927 were the two fishing villages of Cond and Sehl amalgamated with the town in the course of administrative reform in 1932.

Also during the war, the operations staff of the underground subcamp of Zeisig[4] of the Natzweiler concentration camp between the villages of Bruttig and Treis was located here.

The municipal election held on 26 May 2019 yielded the following results:[6] Cochem's mayor is since 2018 Walter Schmitz, and his deputies are Josef Heimes, Wilfried Gerdes and Heinz Bremm.

In connection with this, the state government also enacted a law on 18 February 2009 that deals with, among other things, the transfer of ownership of certain properties from the town to the Verbandsgemeinde.

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate's Directory of Cultural Monuments: Other things worth seeing in Cochem include the Pinnerkreuz, a lookout point overlooking the town which can be reached by chairlift and the former Imperial castle (Reichsburg).

The castle complex long lay in ruins before in 1868 it was bought by the Berlin businessman Louis Fréderic Jacques Ravené for 300 Goldmark and then reconstructed in the Gothic Revival style.

The Pestkapelle St. Rochus, also known as the Peterskapelle seems to have had its groundwork laid in the time when Archbishop Otto von Ziegenhain waived Cochem's customary taxes and levies for ten years on the occasion of the Plague.

Despite heavy weathering, a high relief of a Madonna sitting on clouds, with Child, framed with a Zweipass, can be made out.

The central altar image is a glorification of Mary that sweeps over the representatives of the spiritual (pope, abbots, members of orders, priests) and worldly (emperors, kings, bishops) estates.

Financing for the new chapel was made possible by Pope Alexander VI's and Archbishop of Trier Johann II of Baden's (1456–1503) indulgence privileges.

It bears the inscription "AVE MARIA GRACIA PLENA DOMINUS TECUM MCCCCXXXXI" ("Hail Mary, full of grace – the Lord [is] with thee – 1441").

Found here today is a "Mary under the Cross" from the early 16th century, a gift from Dean Eckert to Saint Martin's.

On an open spot between Cochem and Sehl in the traditional cadastral area known as Im Haag at some crags, the Kapelle Zu den drei Kreuzen ("Chapel at the Three Crosses") offers an impressive view into the Moselle valley.

The building of the first chapel on this spot may well stem, like the Crucifixion group that stands before it, from an endowment made in 1652 in Elector of Trier Karl Casper von der Leyen's time.

In the mid 19th century, the first chapel had fallen into such disrepair that then master builder Joseph Dalmar Senior's advice was sought.

According to the plan conceived by master church builder Emil Steffann (1899–1968), the building was meant to serve as a bridgehead and a counterpoint to the castle over on the other side of the river.

Mighty circular arches expand on the cross's three upper arms from the pews to the altar position before the deep-set apse.

The ornamentation has been consciously reduced to a few very valuable, restored images and figures from the old, and now demolished, parish church, and to conservatively wrought artworks by contemporary artists: foundation stone and keystone in the crypt's barrel vaulting by Jochem Pechau, the tabernacle in the crypt by Klaus Balke, the forged grille by Paul Nagel, the lead glass window in the apse by Jakob Schwarzkopf and the ambo, the eternal flame and the altar candleholder by Christoph Anders.

The bunker's vault held a reserve series of German mark banknotes totaling 15 billion marks during the Cold War, intended to enter circulation in case the Eastern Bloc would try to cripple West German economy by massively counterfeiting the existing DM banknotes.

Above the Imperial castle is found the Lescherlinde, a limetree which, owing to its great age of more than 550 years – it can even be clearly recognized up on the mountain from Cochem railway station – holds the status of Natural Monument.

Not far from Cochem, down the Moselle from the village of Klotten, is found the Dortebachtal Nature Conservation Area, a place well worth a hike for its scenery.

The town of Cochem is characterized by winegrowing and tourism, even if their economic importance has been waning over the past few decades.

The town lies on the Koblenz–Trier line, which between Cochem and Ediger-Eller runs through the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Tunnel, which from its completion in 1877 until 1887 was Germany's longest tunnel at 4.2 km (3 mi).

Located in Cochem are an Amt court, an employment office, a branch office of the Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Koblenz-Mosel ("Koblenz-Moselle Water and Ship Transport Office"), a health unit, the district waterworks, a police station and the water safety police station, a hospital, two seniors' residences, a home for those with mental handicaps (at Ebernach Monastery), a German Red Cross and Wasserwacht rescue station and a well equipped fire brigade.