Murrhardt civil settlement northern part and Building remains south of Götzingen
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
171 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 11
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.
From Murrhardt it runs 171 km to Murrhardt; allow about 3 h 11 of riding. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68, Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau, Building remains south of Götzingen and back through Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Murrhardt civil settlement northern part
Murrhardt lies in the valley of the Murr, deep in the Swabian-Franconian Forest northeast of Stuttgart, a hilly, densely wooded region of streams, mills and small villages that feels a long way from the industrial heartland just to the west. The Romans built a fort here on the Limes, the frontier that ran through these forests from north to south, and a civil settlement grew up around it. The northern part of that settlement lies under parts of the modern town, and while there is little to see, the town's museum displays Roman finds, and the frontier through these woods is protected by its World Heritage status.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Murrhardt civil settlement northern part is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68.
2. Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68
Between Öhringen and Mainhardt, the Upper German Limes does something a Roman engineer must have been proud of: it runs dead straight for many kilometres, up hill and down dale, ignoring the terrain as if drawn with a ruler on a map. The watchtower sites numbered along this section lie on that line, in the Hohenlohe country of northern Württemberg, between the open farmland around Pfedelbach and the dark wooded hills of the Swabian-Franconian Forest.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau.
3. Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau
Jagsthausen is a village of around fifteen hundred people in the Jagst valley of northern Württemberg, and it punches far above its weight in history. The Romans built a fort here on the Upper German-Raetian Limes, with a civilian settlement and a bath house, part of the UNESCO-listed frontier. But the village is better known for a later resident: Götz von Berlichingen, the knight with the iron hand, who was born in the castle here around 1480. He lost his right hand in battle and had a mechanical one made, led peasants in the war of 1525, and became the hero of a play by Goethe that contains a famously rude line that Germans still quote.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 56 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau. Next is Building remains south of Götzingen.
4. Building remains south of Götzingen
Between the Odenwald and the Tauber country lies the Bauland, a high, open plateau of limestone, cornfields and small villages that most travellers cross without slowing down. Just south of Götzingen, among fields and woodland edges between Buchen and Osterburken, are the remains of a Roman building on the line of the Upper Germanic Limes. It is not a grand ruin, more a footprint in the ground, but it belongs to one of the best documented stretches of the frontier, the section that runs straight as a ruler through this part of northern Baden-Württemberg.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Murrhardt civil settlement northern part closes the day.
Leg by leg
Murrhardt civil settlement northern part to Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68
Murrhardt civil settlement northern part → Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 to Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau
Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 → Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau to Building remains south of Götzingen
Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau → Building remains south of Götzingen is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Building remains south of Götzingen to back through Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau
Building remains south of Götzingen → back through Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau to back through Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68
back through Fort site and civil settlement of Jagsthau → back through Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 to Murrhardt civil settlement northern part
back through Watchtowers WP 9/36 to 9/68 → Murrhardt civil settlement northern part is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.