For about eighty kilometres through northern Württemberg, the Roman frontier runs in a nearly perfectly straight line, ignoring hills, valleys and rivers as if someone had drawn it with a ruler on a map. Surveyors still argue about how the Romans managed it. The stretch with watchtowers 9/14 to 9/32, near Öhringen in the Hohenlohe region, lies along this remarkable line, and Öhringen itself grew from Roman forts, two of them, which guarded the frontier here. The line is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and the Limes trail follows it through fields and forests.
Öhringen is a handsome small town with a collegiate church and a palace of the princes of Hohenlohe, whose family dominated the region for centuries. The Hohenlohe is a land of castles and palaces, with Neuenstein, Langenburg and Waldenburg all within easy reach, perched on hills or above river valleys.
The riding in the Hohenlohe is superb. The Kocher and Jagst valleys, cutting deep into the plateau, have twisting roads along the rivers, past mills, villages and castles, while the plateau above offers open, gently rolling roads through farmland and forests. Surfaces are generally excellent, traffic moderate, and the region is popular with motorcyclists on weekends. The Waldenburg hills, east of Öhringen, give fine views over the plain toward Heilbronn.
Öhringen, about four kilometres away, has fuel, shops and restaurants, and Pfedelbach, nearby, is a small wine town. The Hohenlohe is known for its food: the Schwäbisch-Hällisches pig, a local breed raised in the region, Maultaschen, Swabian filled pasta, and Spätzle with cheese or gravy. The vineyards on the southern slopes produce good red and white wines.
Come in late spring, when the fields are bright with rapeseed, or in autumn, when the vineyards turn and the forests glow. Find a stretch of the Limes on the plateau, look along the line as it runs straight to the horizon, and marvel at the stubborn precision of Roman surveyors.