Watchtower WP 4/37* and Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Watchtower WP 4/37*

   Two names appear for this spot, and both belong to the same stretch of frontier that crosses the Wetterau near Butzbach. A watchtower numbered 4/37 stood here in the second century, one in a chain of tall lookouts built just behind the Limes palisade, with a view along the line to the neighbouring towers and out across the forest to the north, the land of the Chatti. Little remains today, a low platform of earth and some fallen stones, perhaps with a marker, but towers like this were the eyes of the Roman army, and their quiet watching was the daily business of the frontier.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 4/37* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 4/37* is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 4/17*.

2. 2. Watchtower WP 4/17*

   The Limes crosses the Wetterau, the fertile plain north of Frankfurt, in a long arc, and Watchtower 4/17 is one small point in it. The Wetterau is loess farmland, rich and flat, with wide fields of wheat and sugar beet, and the Romans valued it as an agricultural region, planting farms and estates beside the frontier. The tower itself, as at most of these sites, is represented today by a low mound or a marker, and a short walk will let you see the line of the frontier running across the fields.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 4/17* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 4/17* comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg.

3. 3. Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg

   If you want to know what a Roman frontier fort actually looked like, this is the place. The Saalburg, on the ridge of the Taunus above Bad Homburg, is the only Limes fort in Germany rebuilt in full: walls, gates, towers, granary and the headquarters building, all standing again on their original foundations. The reconstruction was ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm II around 1900, who liked his Romans grand and imperial, and while archaeologists today debate some details, walking through the main gate is still a jolt.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg. Next is back through Watchtower WP 4/17*.

4. 4. back through Watchtower WP 4/17*

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 4/17* 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 4/17*, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 4/37*.

5. 5. Watchtower WP 4/37*

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 4/37* 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 4/37*. That is the ride.