Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim and Fortlet Mainhardt-Herrenwiesen

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim

   Welzheim had not one but two Roman forts, and that alone tells you how seriously the frontier was taken in the Swabian Forest. The larger west fort held a cavalry unit, while the smaller east fort, now an archaeological park on the edge of town, housed an auxiliary infantry detachment. At the east fort the west gate has been rebuilt to its full height, and standing in front of it you get a rare sense of scale that low foundations never give. Around both forts lay the civil settlement, the vicus, with workshops, taverns and homes.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim 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 Welzheim is where the day begins. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard.

2. 2. Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard

   A Roman cohort fort once stood where Murrhardt's streets now run, on the Upper Germanic Limes as it cut south through the forest toward Welzheim, and a civilian settlement of traders, craftsmen and soldiers' families grew up around it. Some remains have been found under the town, and the local museum tells the story. The Romans left, but the site remained attractive, and in the early Middle Ages a monastery was founded here, associated with Saint Walterich, a hermit whose small chapel, the Walterichskapelle, is a jewel of late Romanesque architecture.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard 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 Murrhard comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Building remains south of the watchtower W.

3. 3. Building remains south of the watchtower W

   Mainhardt sits high in the Swabian-Franconian Forest, between Heilbronn and Schwäbisch Hall, on a wooded plateau that the Romans chose for one of the forts guarding their frontier. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes runs through here on its long, ruler-straight stretch heading south towards Welzheim, and along it stood watchtowers every few hundred metres, with small buildings nearby for the soldiers who manned them. The remains south of one of these towers are modest, low foundations in a clearing or under the forest floor, but they are part of the World Heritage frontier that runs for more than five hundred kilometres across Germany. The village has a small Roman museum that explains the fort and its garrison.

   Read the complete Building remains south of the watchtower W write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 37 km into the recorded legs you reach Building remains south of the watchtower W. Next is Watchtowers WP 9/100.

4. 4. Watchtowers WP 9/100

   The Limes in the Swabian-Franconian Forest has a quality that surprises people who expect Roman walls to follow hills: it runs in a dead-straight line, for kilometres at a stretch, regardless of what stands in the way. Near Murrhardt the line dives through woodland and valleys, and the signposted watchtower sites mark points where a timber and later stone tower stood on the frontier, with a ditch and a palisade or bank beside it. The numbering, with its slash, comes from the nineteenth-century surveyors who first mapped the frontier, and archaeologists still use it.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/100 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 9/100, about halfway. Next is Fortlet Mainhardt-Herrenwiesen.

5. 5. Fortlet Mainhardt-Herrenwiesen

   The Swabian-Franconian Forest is a country of ridges and ravines northeast of Stuttgart, and the Mainhardt area lies on its northern edge, where the hills drop to wide clearings of meadow. The Romans pushed their frontier through here in the second century, building a line of watchtowers, small forts and a wooden palisade, and at Mainhardt they placed a larger fort, with smaller fortlets such as the one at Herrenwiesen along the frontier line. A fortlet was a compact post for a handful of soldiers who watched the forest, signalled to the next tower and checked travellers at the border.

   Read the complete Fortlet Mainhardt-Herrenwiesen write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Fortlet Mainhardt-Herrenwiesen sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 9/100.

6. 6. back through Watchtowers WP 9/100

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/100 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 9/100 comes up about 102 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Building remains south of the watchtower W.

7. 7. back through Building remains south of the watchtower W

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Building remains south of the watchtower W write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 124 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Building remains south of the watchtower W. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Murrhard.

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

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

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

9. 9. Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Welzheim 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 162 km.