Why this ride
211 km from Echzell to Echzell, about 2 h 53 of riding. It goes by way of Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor, Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald, Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha and Building remains southwest of Saalburg.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Fortlet Wingertsberg and Building remains southwest of Saalburg
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 211 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 53
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha → Building remains southwes
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 18 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 20 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fortlet Wingertsberg
Wingertsberg is a low hill on the western edge of the Vogelsberg, near the small town of Hungen in Hesse, and the Roman fortlet that stood here was one of a series of small outposts along the Wetterau Limes. A fortlet held perhaps a few dozen men, enough to watch the line and signal to the main forts. Little survives above ground, so the interest lies mostly in knowing that the frontier ran here, across fields that are now ploughed in neat rows and crossed by farm tracks and cycle paths.
Read the complete Fortlet Wingertsberg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fortlet Wingertsberg is where the day begins. Next is Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor.
2. Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor
The Wetterau is a broad, fertile basin north of Frankfurt, a land of rich loess soils, wheat fields, orchards and old villages, and the Romans wanted it badly. Their frontier, the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, bulged out here to take in the whole basin, looping around it in a wide arc. At Ober-Florstadt stood a fort with a civilian settlement beside it, where soldiers' families, traders and craftsmen lived. Today little is visible, but the site is part of the World Heritage frontier, and information boards help to picture the scene.
Read the complete Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald.
3. Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald
The Roman frontier in Germany, the Limes, ran for over five hundred kilometres from the Rhine to the Danube, a line of palisades, ditches, walls, watchtowers and forts that marked the edge of the empire. In the Wetterau, north of Frankfurt, the Limes swung east in a great bulge to enclose this fertile plain, which the Romans valued for its farmland. In the woods near Wölfersheim stood a signal tower, one of the many small posts along the line, and today its remains are part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2005 as part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
Read the complete Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 61 km into the recorded legs you reach Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha.
4. Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
Elvis Presley spent his military service in Friedberg, a few kilometres from here, from 1958 to 1960, and lived in a rented house in the spa town of Bad Nauheim, where fans still leave messages on the wall outside and a square in the town bears his name. But nearly two thousand years earlier, other soldiers served in this region. The Roman frontier of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, a World Heritage site, ran along the edge of the Taunus hills here, and at Langenhain, near Ober-Mörlen, the Romans built a fort with a civil settlement beside it, where traders, craftsmen and the families of soldiers lived. Today, the site is mostly fields and meadows, with information boards to help you imagine the walls, gates and buildings that once stood here.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha 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 Langenha, about halfway. Next is Building remains southwest of Saalburg.
5. Building remains southwest of Saalburg
If you want to know what a Roman fort on the German frontier really looked like, the Saalburg is the place, and these building remains lie in the forest just southwest of it, part of the civilian and military landscape that grew up around the fort. The Saalburg itself was rebuilt at the beginning of the twentieth century on the orders of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was fascinated by Roman history and keen to present the German empire as the heir of Rome. The walls, gates, headquarters building and granaries were reconstructed on the original foundations, based on the archaeology of the time, and today the fort houses a museum full of finds from the frontier, along with workshops, a Roman garden and regular events with reenactors.
Read the complete Building remains southwest of Saalburg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Building remains southwest of Saalburg sits at 72 km, about halfway. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha.
6. back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha 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 Langenha comes up about 137 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald.
7. back through Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 164 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald. Next is back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor.
8. back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor, late in the day. Next is Fortlet Wingertsberg.
9. Fortlet Wingertsberg
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fortlet Wingertsberg 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 211 km.
Leg by leg
Fortlet Wingertsberg to Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor
Fortlet Wingertsberg → Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor to Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald
Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor → Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald to Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald → Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha to Building remains southwest of Saalburg
Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha → Building remains southwest of Saalburg is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Building remains southwest of Saalburg to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha
Building remains southwest of Saalburg → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha to back through Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Langenha → back through Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald to back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor
back through Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald → back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor to Fortlet Wingertsberg
back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor → Fortlet Wingertsberg is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.