Schwäbisch Gmünd sits in the Rems valley below the Swabian Jura, at the foot of the hill where the Staufer dynasty built their castle, and the Roman frontier ran through the same country. The Upper Germanic Limes crosses the Rems valley near here, and at Freimühle a small fortlet was set on the slope above the river to watch the line, a modest square of earth bank that archaeologists have traced and the town has marked. It is a quiet and easily missed spot, but a nice reminder that the Romans knew a good viewpoint.
Gmünd itself is a pretty town, one of the oldest in Swabia, with a market square, a lively old centre and the Holy Cross Minster, an early example of the hall church style in which aisles and nave rise to the same height, designed by the Parler family of builders who went on to work in Prague. The town was a free imperial city for centuries and is still known for its jewellery and silverware. Just beyond, the Hohenstaufen mountain rises out of the plain like a loaf of bread, and the castle that once crowned it has long been ruined. The Staufer emperors, including Frederick Barbarossa, came from this family.
Mutlangen, a few kilometres from here, has a different claim to history. In the 1980s it hosted American Pershing missiles, and the gates of the base became a focus of peaceful demonstrations that drew thousands of people, including a number of prominent writers and politicians. It is a reminder that the Cold War was fought here too.
The riding around Gmünd is a pleasure. The Rems valley road is easy and open, and the roads up onto the Swabian Jura are tight, steep and full of tight bends through beech woods, with views over the Remstal vineyards. Weekends bring many other motorcyclists, and the local police keep watch on the hairpins, so ride accordingly. The surface is generally good, but frost can linger on shaded bends in the shoulder seasons.
Schwäbisch Gmünd has all the services of a town of sixty thousand: fuel, supermarkets, cafés and restaurants serving Spätzle and Maultaschen. Waldstetten and Mutlangen have petrol as well. Come in spring, when the orchards flower, or in early autumn, when the light on the Hohenstaufen is gold.