Watchtower WP 1/64 and Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Watchtower WP 1/64

   Höhr-Grenzhausen smells of clay and fire. The town, in the Westerwald hills north east of Koblenz, is the heart of the Kannenbäckerland, the jug-bakers' land, where potters have been making salt-glazed stoneware for centuries, with its characteristic grey body and cobalt blue decoration. Westerwald stoneware jugs, mugs and pots were exported across Europe and beyond, and the craft is still alive today, with workshops, a ceramics museum and a college for ceramic design. The Roman frontier ran right past the town, and the site of watchtower WP 1/64, near Höhr-Grenzhausen, is one of the many traces of the Upper German Limes, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/64 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 1/64 is where the day begins. Next is Bad Ems.

2. 2. Bad Ems

   The most consequential telegram in German history was sent from a spa town on the Lahn. In July 1870, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was taking the waters at Bad Ems when the French ambassador came to ask him to promise that no Hohenzollern prince would ever take the Spanish throne. The king refused politely, and sent a report to Bismarck in Berlin, who edited the text to make it sound like a snub, and published it. The Ems Dispatch, as it is known, helped to provoke France to declare war, and the Franco-Prussian War led to the creation of the German Empire in 1871.

   Read the complete Bad Ems write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Bad Ems comes up about 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22.

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

   A few kilometres west of Miehlen, the Limes crosses the Einrich, a high, open plateau of fields and meadows between the Rhine and the Lahn, and the stretch with watchtowers 2/20 to 2/22, near Singhofen and Holzhausen an der Haide, is one of the quietest parts of the whole frontier. Nearby, the fort of Holzhausen is one of the best-preserved Roman forts on the Limes, with its stone walls, gates and corner towers clearly visible in the forest, a rare sight on a frontier where most remains have vanished into the fields. The whole line is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 39 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 2/20 to 2/22. Next is back through Bad Ems.

4. 4. back through Bad Ems

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Bad Ems write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Bad Ems, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 1/64.

5. 5. Watchtower WP 1/64

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/64 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Watchtower WP 1/64. That is the ride.