Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz and Fortlet Adolfseck

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz

   Some of the gravestones on the sandy rise known in Mainz as the Judensand are close to a thousand years old. The oldest dated stone here goes back to the middle of the eleventh century, which makes this one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Together with sites in Speyer and Worms, Mainz formed the ShUM communities, centres of learning on the Rhine whose scholars shaped Ashkenazi Judaism for centuries, and in 2021 the three were listed together as a World Heritage Site. Mainz was Magenza in Hebrew, home to rabbis whose rulings were followed far beyond the Rhineland.

   Read the complete Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 3/23*.

2. 2. Watchtower WP 3/23*

   On the wooded ridges near Idstein, the Taunus Limes crossed some of its highest and most remote ground, and Watchtower WP 3/23 is one of the many sites along this stretch. The asterisk in the official label suggests a site whose exact location is uncertain or reconstructed from survey work, which is common along the frontier, where many towers survive only as faint mounds in the forest. Still, walking the Limes trail here, with the bank and ditch running through the beech woods, gives a real sense of the Roman border.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 3/23* comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the.

3. 3. Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the

   High in the Taunus hills northwest of Frankfurt, the Upper German Limes runs along the main ridge, and here, between Glashütten and Schmitten, a series of watchtower sites and the remains of a small fort follow the frontier through dense beech and spruce forest. The bank and ditch of the Limes are still clearly visible, winding over the hills like a long scar, and the area is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site. Nearby, on the Kleiner Feldberg, lie the remains of a Roman fort, and a few kilometres east, the Saalburg near Bad Homburg is a fully reconstructed fort with a museum, the best place in Germany to imagine life on the frontier.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 63 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/23.

4. 4. Watchtowers WP 3/23

   Idstein sits in a bowl of the Taunus hills north of Wiesbaden, and its centre is among the best-kept half-timbered towns in Hesse. The Killinger House, a tall timber-framed building with elaborate carving, is the showpiece, and the Witches' Tower, a stone remnant of the old castle, stands above the old town as a reminder of a darker chapter. The Roman Limes passes through the hills just to the north, and Watchtower 3/23 is one of many positions on the ridge, part of the line that ran for about five hundred kilometres across Germany.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/23 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 3/23, about halfway. Next is Fortlet Adolfseck.

5. 5. Fortlet Adolfseck

   The Aar is a small river that winds north from the Taunus towards the Lahn, through a narrow, wooded valley that has served as a route through the hills since ancient times. Where the Roman frontier crossed the valley near Adolfseck, today a district of Bad Schwalbach, the Romans built a fortlet to control the crossing, a small, square fortification with a garrison of a few dozen soldiers. The remains have been excavated and are marked on the ground, and the stretch of frontier nearby is part of the World Heritage frontiers of the Roman Empire. Above the valley, the ruins of a medieval castle, also called Adolfseck, add another layer of history.

   Read the complete Fortlet Adolfseck write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Fortlet Adolfseck sits at 83 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 3/23.

6. 6. back through Watchtowers WP 3/23

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/23 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 3/23 comes up about 151 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the.

7. 7. back through Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 176 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Watchtowers WP 3/45 to 3/52 including the. Next is back through Watchtower WP 3/23*.

8. 8. back through Watchtower WP 3/23*

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Watchtower WP 3/23*, late in the day. Next is Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz.

9. 9. Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz 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 240 km.