Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/67 a and Exhibition grounds 1904

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/67 a

   There is no spectacle at this section of the Limes, and that is exactly its character. It lies in the hills of the lower Westerwald, between Hillscheid, Höhr-Grenzhausen and little Simmern, about the point where the Roman frontier crossed from the Rhine side towards the Lahn. The Romans marked it with watchtowers, numbered by archaeologists in a long sequence from the Rhine eastwards, and this is watchtower position 1/67 on the first section of the frontier. Between them ran a palisade and a ditch. Today you meet it as a faint line in the woods, a bump in a field, a reconstruction here and there, and a sign with a map.

   Read the complete Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/67 a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/67 a is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22.

2. 2. Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22

   The Taunus is the low, wooded range north of Frankfurt, and the Romans chose it as the place to draw their line. The Limes crossed the ridge at a height that gave good views over both sides, and watchtowers placed close together made it possible to send signals by fire and smoke from tower to tower. The numbers, such as WP 3/20, are from the survey carried out by German archaeologists at the end of the nineteenth century, and they refer to the third section of the line. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes was listed by UNESCO in 2005.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 comes up about 70 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 131 km into the recorded legs you reach Exhibition grounds 1904. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22.

4. 4. back through Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/20 to 3/22 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 3/20 to 3/22, late in the day. Next is Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/67 a.

5. 5. Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/67 a

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/67 a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Limessection between watchtowers WP 1/67 a. That is the ride.