Fort Schrenzer and Watchtower WP 3/38*

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fort Schrenzer

   Butzbach sits at the northern edge of the Wetterau, a broad, fertile plain north of Frankfurt, where the Taunus ends and the land opens out into fields of wheat, sugar beet and rapeseed. The Romans prized this land, and their frontier made a long detour around it, swinging east and then south to include the Wetterau within the empire. Near Butzbach, on the Schrenzer hill, they built a small fort, the Kastell Schrenzer, to guard the frontier where it left the Taunus and began its loop around the plain. The fort and the frontier nearby are part of the frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site, and the remains, low earthworks in the woods, can be visited on foot.

   Read the complete Fort Schrenzer write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Fort Schrenzer is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro.

2. 2. Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro

   Großkrotzenburg sits at a turning point of the Roman frontier. Here, on the Main east of Frankfurt, the river border that ran north from Miltenberg came to an end, and the Limes turned away from the water to head north across the Wetterau toward the Taunus. A fort guarded the spot, with a civilian settlement, and parts of its walls and gate can still be traced in the old town, where the fort's outline is marked in the streets. The site belongs to the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and the local museum displays finds from the fort and the vicus.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 3/38*.

3. 3. Watchtower WP 3/38*

   The Taunus is a range of wooded hills north-west of Frankfurt, rising to 878 metres at the Großer Feldberg, and it has long been the city's playground, with forests, spa towns and winding roads. Through these hills ran the Upper Germanic Limes, the Roman frontier that stretched for over five hundred kilometres across Germany, and one of its watchtowers, numbered WP 3/38, stood near the village of Glashütten, close to Waldems and Königstein im Taunus.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/38* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 139 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 3/38*. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro.

4. 4. back through Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Fort site and civil settlement of Grosskro, late in the day. Next is Fort Schrenzer.

5. 5. Fort Schrenzer

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fort Schrenzer write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Fort Schrenzer. That is the ride.