Fort site and civil settlement of Obernbur and Speyer Cathedral

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fort site and civil settlement of Obernbur

   Obernburg stands on the Main, in the bend where the river leaves the Spessart forest and turns north, and for a time in the second century it was the frontier of the Roman world. The Odenwald Limes, the earlier version of the frontier, ran along the hills to the south and reached the river near here, and a fort was built on the bank to guard the crossing. A civil settlement grew beside it, and finds from both are shown in the town's small Roman museum, which stands on the site and has a collection of tombstones, tools and pottery.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Obernbur 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 Obernbur is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Seligens.

2. 2. Fort site and civil settlement of Seligens

   Seligenstadt is one of those Main valley towns where every era has left something on the table. The Romans came first: here the frontier of the Upper German-Raetian Limes ran along the river itself, and a fort with a civilian settlement around it guarded the Main crossing. The fort site lies under the old town, so you are walking over it rather than looking at it, but the logic of the place is obvious when you stand by the water. The river was the border, the road and the supply line all at once.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Seligens 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 Seligens comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt.

3. 3. Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt

   On a low hill above Darmstadt, at the very end of the nineteenth century, the young Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse decided to gather artists and let them build a new way of living. The Mathildenhöhe became an artists' colony from 1899, and its buildings are some of the best Jugendstil, the German Art Nouveau, anywhere. UNESCO listed the ensemble in 2021. Joseph Maria Olbrich designed most of the first generation, including the exhibition hall and the tall Wedding Tower, with its fingers of brick at the top, finished in 1908 as a gift for the Grand Duke's marriage.

   Read the complete Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 70 km into the recorded legs you reach Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt. Next is Ruine Altenmuster.

4. 4. Ruine Altenmuster

   Lorsch Abbey, founded in the eighth century, became one of the most powerful monasteries of the Carolingian empire, with vast estates, a famous library and the patronage of Charlemagne himself. Its first home, however, was not on the site of the later abbey, but a short distance away, on an island in the Weschnitz river, a place known as Altenmünster, the old minster. The ruins of that first foundation, a few low walls in a meadow, are a quiet counterpoint to the abbey's most famous building, the Torhalle, a gatehouse with a façade of red and white stone panels, one of the few surviving examples of Carolingian architecture. The abbey and Altenmünster together have been on the UNESCO list since 1991.

   Read the complete Ruine Altenmuster write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Ruine Altenmuster, about halfway. Next is Speyer Cathedral.

5. 5. Speyer Cathedral

   Some buildings impress you with height, others with mass. Speyer Cathedral does it with both, rising from the left bank of the Rhine with six towers and a long, rhythmic nave of red sandstone. It was begun around 1030 by the emperor Conrad II, the first of the Salian dynasty, and is generally considered the largest surviving Romanesque church in the world. Its crypt, a forest of sturdy columns and striped arches, holds the tombs of several emperors and kings, which tells you how central this town once was to the Holy Roman Empire.

   Read the complete Speyer Cathedral write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Speyer Cathedral sits at 160 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ruine Altenmuster.

6. 6. back through Ruine Altenmuster

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Ruine Altenmuster write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Ruine Altenmuster comes up about 237 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt.

7. 7. back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 269 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Seligens.

8. 8. back through Fort site and civil settlement of Seligens

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Seligens 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 Seligens, late in the day. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Obernbur.

9. 9. Fort site and civil settlement of Obernbur

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

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

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 338 km.