Why this ride
A 432 km round trip from Maulbronn - roughly 5 h 09 in the saddle. The stops in between: Baden-Baden, Old Jewish Cemetery Worms and back through Baden-Baden. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Pond Roßweiher and Old Jewish Cemetery Worms
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 432 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 09
- 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.
Scenic road chapters
Bertha Benz Memorial Route
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 79 km this is Bertha Benz Memorial Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 79 km
- Named road
- Bertha Benz Memorial Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Pond Roßweiher
Roßweiher simply means horse pond, which sounds humble, but the pond is part of a much grander story. It belongs to the water system created by the Cistercian monks of Maulbronn, a network of lakes and canals that fed the monastery, turned its mill wheels and kept its fish stocks full. The pond lies a little over a kilometre and a half from the abbey, on the edge of the forest, where the ground starts to rise.
Read the complete Pond Roßweiher write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Pond Roßweiher is where the day begins. Next is Baden-Baden.
2. Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is so nice they named it twice, as the old joke goes, though the doubling actually comes from distinguishing it from other places called Baden. Romans soaked in its hot springs, and the remains of their baths lie under the old town, but the town's golden age came in the nineteenth century, when European royalty, aristocrats, writers and gamblers flocked here to take the waters, stroll the avenues and lose fortunes at the casino. Dostoevsky, Turgenev and Brahms all spent time here. Baden-Baden is one of the eleven Great Spa Towns of Europe, listed together by UNESCO in 2021.
Read the complete Baden-Baden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Baden-Baden comes up about 79 km into the recorded legs. Next is Old Jewish Cemetery Worms.
3. Old Jewish Cemetery Worms
The Heiliger Sand in Worms is the oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in Europe, with gravestones going back to the eleventh century. Weathered sandstone slabs lean at angles among the grass and trees, carved with Hebrew inscriptions, some barely legible after nearly a thousand years. Pebbles and small notes lie on many of them, left by visitors as a sign of remembrance, especially on the grave of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg, a great scholar of the thirteenth century who died in captivity. Together with the synagogue and ritual bath of Worms and the Jewish sites of Speyer and Mainz, the cemetery forms the ShUM Sites, listed by UNESCO in 2021, recognising the Rhineland communities that shaped Ashkenazi Jewish culture in the Middle Ages.
Read the complete Old Jewish Cemetery Worms write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 216 km into the recorded legs you reach Old Jewish Cemetery Worms. Next is back through Baden-Baden.
4. back through Baden-Baden
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Baden-Baden write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Baden-Baden, late in the day. Next is Pond Roßweiher.
5. Pond Roßweiher
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Pond Roßweiher write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Pond Roßweiher. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Pond Roßweiher to Baden-Baden
Pond Roßweiher → Baden-Baden is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Baden-Baden to Old Jewish Cemetery Worms
Baden-Baden → Old Jewish Cemetery Worms is 137 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Old Jewish Cemetery Worms to back through Baden-Baden
Old Jewish Cemetery Worms → back through Baden-Baden is 136 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Baden-Baden to Pond Roßweiher
back through Baden-Baden → Pond Roßweiher is 80 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.