Fortlet Lehnenwiesen and Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
185 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 47
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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Adelsheim it runs 185 km to Adelsheim; allow about 2 h 47 of riding. On the way it passes Fortlet Holderbusch, Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl, Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb and back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fortlet Lehnenwiesen
Götz von Berlichingen, the knight with the iron hand, was born in Jagsthausen around 1480, and he is remembered for a rude phrase he supposedly shouted at an enemy, made famous by Goethe in his play about the knight. Jagsthausen's castle, where Götz grew up, hosts an open-air theatre festival every summer, and the iron hand, a prosthesis he wore after losing his right hand in battle, is displayed there. A few kilometres away, in the fields near Widdern, the fortlet of Lehnenwiesen was a small Roman post on the Upper Germanic Limes, part of the chain of forts and watchtowers that ran through this landscape.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fortlet Lehnenwiesen is where the day begins. Next is Fortlet Holderbusch.
2. Fortlet Holderbusch
Holderbusch is a small piece of woodland above the Odenwald plateau, close to Buchen, where the Romans placed a fortlet on the Odenwald Limes about the middle of the second century. This part of the Upper Germanic frontier was, for much of its length, a simple palisade and ditch, running in an astonishingly straight line across hills and valleys from the Main to the Neckar. A fortlet was a small post, a few dozen soldiers behind a bank and ditch, and from here the watchtowers on each side could be reached on foot within minutes. The ground is marked by gentle swellings in the forest floor and a path with explanatory signs, and the walk takes less than half an hour.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fortlet Holderbusch comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl.
3. Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl
At Miltenberg, the Roman frontier did something unusual: it stopped being a wall and became a river. North of the town, the Main served as the frontier for some fifty kilometres, guarded by forts and watchtowers along its western bank, and here, where the river bends, the land frontier began again, heading south through the Odenwald. The watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 belong to this stretch, and while most are only traces in fields and forests, they are part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The Romans built forts at Miltenberg, too, and some of their finds are displayed in the town museum.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb.
4. Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb
For one stretch of the Roman frontier in Germany, the soldiers did not need to build a wall at all. Between Großkrotzenburg and Miltenberg, the Main river itself served as the border, the so-called wet Limes, guarded by a chain of forts along its western bank. Niedernberg, a village on the river just below Aschaffenburg, was one of them, with a fort and a civilian settlement beside it. Little survives above ground today; the remains lie beneath fields and houses. But the Main still flows past, broad and slow, and it is easy to picture patrol boats and soldiers watching the far bank. The site is part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes World Heritage listing.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fortlet Lehnenwiesen closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fortlet Lehnenwiesen to Fortlet Holderbusch
Fortlet Lehnenwiesen → Fortlet Holderbusch is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet Holderbusch to Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl
Fortlet Holderbusch → Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl to Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb
Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl → Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb to back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl
Fort site and civil settlement of Niedernb → back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl to back through Fortlet Holderbusch
back through Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl → back through Fortlet Holderbusch is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fortlet Holderbusch to Fortlet Lehnenwiesen
back through Fortlet Holderbusch → Fortlet Lehnenwiesen is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.