Why this ride
From Speyer it runs 295 km to Speyer; allow about 3 h 58 of riding. It goes by way of Hochenacker Pond, Baden-Baden and back through Hochenacker Pond. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Speyer Jewry-Court and Baden-Baden
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 295 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 58
- 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 69 km this is Bertha Benz Memorial Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 69 km
- Named road
- Bertha Benz Memorial Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Speyer Jewry-Court
Speyer is known for its cathedral, a huge Romanesque church where several medieval emperors are buried, but a few hundred metres away lies a quieter site that matters just as much. The Judenhof, the Jewry Court, was the centre of the medieval Jewish community, and it contains the ruins of a synagogue from the early twelfth century and a mikveh, a ritual bath, that is generally regarded as the oldest in Europe. The mikveh is reached by steep steps down into a cool, vaulted chamber where groundwater still collects. It is a remarkable place, and the stone is beautifully worked.
Read the complete Speyer Jewry-Court write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Speyer Jewry-Court is where the day begins. Next is Hochenacker Pond.
2. Hochenacker Pond
Hermann Hesse ran away from Maulbronn after seven months. He was fourteen, a pupil at the Protestant seminary housed in the old monastery, and one day in 1892 he walked out and was found a day later in a field, cold and hungry. He later turned the experience into his novel Beneath the Wheel, and the monastery has not forgotten. The seminary buildings are still a school, and the cloister is among the best-preserved medieval monasteries in Germany, listed by UNESCO since 1993. Johannes Kepler and the poet Friedrich Hölderlin also studied here, which tells you the standard.
Read the complete Hochenacker Pond write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hochenacker Pond comes up about 69 km into the recorded legs. Next is Baden-Baden.
3. 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
about 148 km into the recorded legs you reach Baden-Baden. Next is back through Hochenacker Pond.
4. back through Hochenacker Pond
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hochenacker Pond write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hochenacker Pond, late in the day. Next is Speyer Jewry-Court.
5. Speyer Jewry-Court
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Speyer Jewry-Court write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Speyer Jewry-Court. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Speyer Jewry-Court to Hochenacker Pond
Speyer Jewry-Court → Hochenacker Pond is 69 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hochenacker Pond to Baden-Baden
Hochenacker Pond → Baden-Baden is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Baden-Baden to back through Hochenacker Pond
Baden-Baden → back through Hochenacker Pond is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Hochenacker Pond to Speyer Jewry-Court
back through Hochenacker Pond → Speyer Jewry-Court is 66 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.