Why this ride
From Jagsthausen it runs 89 km to Jagsthausen; allow about 1 h 27 of riding. The stops in between: Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30, Fort Altheimer Strasse and back through Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau and Fort Altheimer Strasse
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 89 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 27
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau
Jagsthausen is a village of around fifteen hundred people in the Jagst valley of northern Württemberg, and it punches far above its weight in history. The Romans built a fort here on the Upper German-Raetian Limes, with a civilian settlement and a bath house, part of the UNESCO-listed frontier. But the village is better known for a later resident: Götz von Berlichingen, the knight with the iron hand, who was born in the castle here around 1480. He lost his right hand in battle and had a mechanical one made, led peasants in the war of 1525, and became the hero of a play by Goethe that contains a famously rude line that Germans still quote.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau 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 Jagsthau is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30.
2. Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30
Osterburken is the place on the German Limes where you really can see the Romans in the town. The fort here sat on the frontier in the Bauland, a hilly farming district between the Odenwald and the Neckar, and the museum in the town houses the remains of the fort baths and a rare relief of the god Mithras, an eastern cult favoured by soldiers, whose followers met in small, dark temples to share a sacred meal. The watchtowers 8/29 and 8/30 stand out in the fields a short distance away, part of the line that ran straight over the hills.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30 comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort Altheimer Strasse.
3. Fort Altheimer Strasse
Walldürn is a small town on the eastern edge of the Odenwald, where the hills of the forest give way to the open plateau of the Bauland, and the Roman frontier ran right through it. The Upper Germanic Limes followed a straight line here, and the town had a fort and a bathhouse, whose remains have been excavated and partly reconstructed. Fort Altheimer Strasse, named after the road where it was found, was one of the smaller installations along the line, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Fort Altheimer Strasse write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort Altheimer Strasse. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30.
4. back through Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30, late in the day. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau.
5. Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau to Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30
Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau → Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30 is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30 to Fort Altheimer Strasse
Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30 → Fort Altheimer Strasse is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort Altheimer Strasse to back through Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30
Fort Altheimer Strasse → back through Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30 to Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau
back through Watchtowers WP 8/29 to 8/30 → Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.