Watchtower WP 3/23* and Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. 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* is where the day begins. Next is Exhibition grounds 1904.

2. 2. Exhibition grounds 1904

   In 1899, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse invited a group of young artists and architects to Darmstadt and gave them a hill to build on. The Mathildenhöhe became an artists' colony and a showcase for Jugendstil, the German Art Nouveau, with studios, houses and exhibitions designed as total works of art, down to the cutlery. Behind it lay a simple idea: that art should shape everyday life, from the house to the chair to the wallpaper. The exhibitions of 1901, 1904, 1908 and 1914 drew visitors from all over Europe, and the ensemble was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2021.

   Read the complete Exhibition grounds 1904 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Exhibition grounds 1904 comes up about 63 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl.

3. 3. Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl

   At Miltenberg, the Roman frontier did something unusual: it stopped being a wall and became a river. North of the town, the Main served as the frontier for some fifty kilometres, guarded by forts and watchtowers along its western bank, and here, where the river bends, the land frontier began again, heading south through the Odenwald. The watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 belong to this stretch, and while most are only traces in fields and forests, they are part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The Romans built forts at Miltenberg, too, and some of their finds are displayed in the town museum.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 125 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 7/1 to 7/36 including fortl. Next is back through Exhibition grounds 1904.

4. 4. back through Exhibition grounds 1904

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Exhibition grounds 1904 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Exhibition grounds 1904, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 3/23*.

5. 5. 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 at Watchtower WP 3/23*. That is the ride.