Kloster Lorsch and Exhibition grounds 1904

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kloster Lorsch

   Lorsch is a quiet town of about thirteen thousand in the Rhine plain, between Worms and Darmstadt, and in the ninth century it was one of the most important places in the Frankish empire. A Benedictine abbey was founded here in 764, and under the patronage of Charlemagne's family it grew rich and learned, with a library that was among the best in Europe. The abbey's scriptorium produced the Lorsch Codex, a record of its lands and gifts, and the Lorsch Pharmacopoeia, a medical manuscript of the eighth century that is among the oldest of its kind, now on UNESCO's Memory of the World register.

   Read the complete Kloster Lorsch write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Kloster Lorsch is where the day begins. Next is Worms Synagogue Compound.

2. 2. Worms Synagogue Compound

   In the Middle Ages, three Rhineland cities, Speyer, Worms and Mainz, were the centres of Jewish learning in northern Europe, and they gave their initials, in Hebrew, to a community known as ShUM. The Jewish communities of these cities developed traditions, laws and customs that influenced Ashkenazi Jewry for centuries, and their monuments were listed together by UNESCO in 2021. In Worms, the synagogue compound includes the synagogue, rebuilt after its destruction by the Nazis in 1938, the women's synagogue, the mikveh, a ritual bath dating from the twelfth century, and the Rashi house, now a Jewish museum, named after the great medieval scholar who studied here.

   Read the complete Worms Synagogue Compound write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Worms Synagogue Compound comes up about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Exhibition grounds 1904.

3. 3. Exhibition grounds 1904

   In 1899, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse invited a group of young artists and architects to Darmstadt and gave them a hill to build on. The Mathildenhöhe became an artists' colony and a showcase for Jugendstil, the German Art Nouveau, with studios, houses and exhibitions designed as total works of art, down to the cutlery. Behind it lay a simple idea: that art should shape everyday life, from the house to the chair to the wallpaper. The exhibitions of 1901, 1904, 1908 and 1914 drew visitors from all over Europe, and the ensemble was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2021.

   Read the complete Exhibition grounds 1904 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 60 km into the recorded legs you reach Exhibition grounds 1904. Next is back through Worms Synagogue Compound.

4. 4. back through Worms Synagogue Compound

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Worms Synagogue Compound write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Worms Synagogue Compound, late in the day. Next is Kloster Lorsch.

5. 5. Kloster Lorsch

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kloster Lorsch write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Kloster Lorsch. That is the ride.