Watchtower WP 4/39* and Building remains southwest of Saalburg

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Watchtower WP 4/39*

   The Wetterau is one of the richest farming plains in Germany, a broad, fertile basin north of Frankfurt where loess soil lies deep over old river gravel, and wheat and sugar beet grow in enormous fields. At its edge the Taunus hills rise to the south and west, and the Roman Limes ran along their northern slope, taking in the whole plain as a deliberately protected frontier region. Watchtower 4/39 stands in this open country near Butzbach, and the number marks one of the many posts that kept watch over fields that were, even then, valuable enough to defend.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 4/39* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 4/39* is where the day begins. Next is Fortlet Eichkopf.

2. 2. Fortlet Eichkopf

   Deep in the forest on the eastern slopes of the Taunus, near Ober-Mörlen, the Romans built a small fortlet known today as Eichkopf, after the wooded hill on which it stands. It was one of the many minor installations along the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, the frontier that separated the Roman Empire from the free Germanic tribes, and it housed a small detachment of soldiers who patrolled the line and manned the nearby watchtowers. The outline of the fortlet is still visible as a low rampart and ditch among the trees, and nearby, the line of the frontier itself, with its bank and ditch, can be traced through the forest. It is part of the World Heritage site of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire.

   Read the complete Fortlet Eichkopf write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Fortlet Eichkopf comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Building remains southwest of Saalburg.

3. 3. Building remains southwest of Saalburg

   If you want to know what a Roman fort on the German frontier really looked like, the Saalburg is the place, and these building remains lie in the forest just southwest of it, part of the civilian and military landscape that grew up around the fort. The Saalburg itself was rebuilt at the beginning of the twentieth century on the orders of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who was fascinated by Roman history and keen to present the German empire as the heir of Rome. The walls, gates, headquarters building and granaries were reconstructed on the original foundations, based on the archaeology of the time, and today the fort houses a museum full of finds from the frontier, along with workshops, a Roman garden and regular events with reenactors.

   Read the complete Building remains southwest of Saalburg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Building remains southwest of Saalburg. Next is back through Fortlet Eichkopf.

4. 4. back through Fortlet Eichkopf

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fortlet Eichkopf write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Fortlet Eichkopf, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 4/39*.

5. 5. Watchtower WP 4/39*

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 4/39* 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 4/39*. That is the ride.