Holderbusch is a small piece of woodland above the Odenwald plateau, close to Buchen, where the Romans placed a fortlet on the Odenwald Limes about the middle of the second century. This part of the Upper Germanic frontier was, for much of its length, a simple palisade and ditch, running in an astonishingly straight line across hills and valleys from the Main to the Neckar. A fortlet was a small post, a few dozen soldiers behind a bank and ditch, and from here the watchtowers on each side could be reached on foot within minutes. The ground is marked by gentle swellings in the forest floor and a path with explanatory signs, and the walk takes less than half an hour.
The country around Buchen is called the Bauland, a plateau of farm fields and low woods between the Odenwald and the Tauber valley, with long views and occasional deep stream cuts. Buchen is a neat little town with a half-timbered centre and a regional museum, and Walldürn, a few kilometres further, is a pilgrimage place whose basilica holds a relic known as the Blood Miracle, drawing processions every year in the summer. The festivals of the region are old and devout, with brass bands and flower carpets laid in the streets.
For a motorcyclist, the area is quietly appealing. Roads follow the ridge and then slide down into sheltered valleys, with gentle bends, crests that open sudden views, and long straights where a tractor may be crawling. The surface is mostly decent, and traffic is light outside the main towns. The Neckar valley to the south is livelier, with castles at almost every corner, and the Main to the north offers wine villages and broad river roads.
Buchen has fuel, supermarkets and several cafés, and Walldürn and Seckach can fill in the gaps. The nearest museum devoted to the Limes is at Osterburken, a short drive away, where a good Roman fort bath complex survives in the town. Spring is fresh and green and a little damp, summer is warm, and autumn gives clear, golden days when the beech forest is at its best. In winter, the plateau is cold, with frost on the road in the mornings.