Somewhere between Walldürn and the hills north of Stuttgart, the Roman surveyors drew a line on the map and simply refused to bend it. For about eighty kilometres, the Upper Germanic Limes runs almost perfectly straight across hill and valley, one of the most remarkable feats of ancient surveying in Europe. The watchtowers WP 8/31 to 8/41 near Osterburken and Adelsheim lie on that straight stretch, and like the rest of the frontier they are part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Most are now low mounds in fields and woods, but here and there you will find a reconstructed tower or a stretch of wall to give you an idea of what it looked like.
Osterburken is the place to understand it all. The town has a Roman museum built around the remains of a military bath house, and the double fort here was one of the main garrisons on this part of the frontier. Among the finds is a large and beautifully carved relief of the god Mithras slaying the bull, a sign of how popular this mystery religion was among Roman soldiers. The fort walls are partly visible on a hill above the town.
The area is called the Bauland, a quiet, rural part of northern Baden-Württemberg, with gently rolling hills, wheat fields and small villages. It is also known for Grünkern, spelt harvested while still green and then smoked and dried, used in soups and patties. The riding is relaxed, with country roads winding through fields and forests, little traffic and good surfaces. The Jagst and Kocher valleys to the east offer more scenic routes, with castles, vineyards and tight bends along the rivers.
Adelsheim and Osterburken, both a few kilometres away, are small towns with fuel, shops and inns. The local food is hearty: Grünkern soup, Schäufele, roast pork shoulder, and Kässpätzle. The wines from the nearby Tauber valley and the Württemberg slopes are worth trying, if you have finished riding for the day. On a clear evening, the light over the fields makes this quiet frontier land surprisingly beautiful.