Fortlet Wingertsberg and Signaltower Wölferheimer Wald

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 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. 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. 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 back through Fortsite and civil settlement of Ober-Flor.

4. 4. 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.

5. 5. 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

   Back at Fortlet Wingertsberg. That is the ride.