Why this ride
A 176 km round trip from Walldürn - roughly 3 h 14 in the saddle. On the way it passes Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort, Fortlet Lehnenwiesen, Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the and Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Watchtower WP 7/37 and Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 176 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 14
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Watchtower WP 7/37
The Romans liked straight lines, and nowhere more than here. On the edge of Walldürn, in the hilly country between the Odenwald and the Tauber valley, runs the course of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, the frontier wall that marked the edge of the Roman Empire across what is now southern Germany. Watchtower WP 7/37 is one of hundreds of small posts that lined it, each within sight of the next, so that signals could be passed along the frontier. The Limes here famously runs almost dead straight for many kilometres, regardless of hills and valleys, a statement of Roman confidence and surveying skill.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 7/37 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtower WP 7/37 is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort.
2. Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort
The Romans did not much care for the shape of the land when they drew this frontier. Around Osterburken the Upper Germanic Limes stops following valleys and ridges and simply runs in long, stubborn straight lines across the Bauland, the rolling limestone country between the Odenwald and the Jagst. The watchtower sites numbered in this stretch were once timber, then stone, posts spaced so that each could see its neighbours, strung along a palisade and ditch that marked where the province ended and the unconquered north began.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fortlet Lehnenwiesen.
3. Fortlet Lehnenwiesen
Götz von Berlichingen, the knight with the iron hand, was born in Jagsthausen around 1480, and he is remembered for a rude phrase he supposedly shouted at an enemy, made famous by Goethe in his play about the knight. Jagsthausen's castle, where Götz grew up, hosts an open-air theatre festival every summer, and the iron hand, a prosthesis he wore after losing his right hand in battle, is displayed there. A few kilometres away, in the fields near Widdern, the fortlet of Lehnenwiesen was a small Roman post on the Upper Germanic Limes, part of the chain of forts and watchtowers that ran through this landscape.
Read the complete Fortlet Lehnenwiesen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 46 km into the recorded legs you reach Fortlet Lehnenwiesen. Next is Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the.
4. Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the
For about eighty kilometres through northern Württemberg, the Roman frontier runs in a nearly perfectly straight line, ignoring hills, valleys and rivers as if someone had drawn it with a ruler on a map. Surveyors still argue about how the Romans managed it. The stretch with watchtowers 9/14 to 9/32, near Öhringen in the Hohenlohe region, lies along this remarkable line, and Öhringen itself grew from Roman forts, two of them, which guarded the frontier here. The line is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and the Limes trail follows it through fields and forests.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the, about halfway. Next is Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2.
5. Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2
The Jagst is a small, winding river in northern Württemberg, and between Jagsthausen and Möckmühl it runs through a valley of orchards, wooded slopes and half-timbered villages. The Roman frontier ran along this side of the river, and watchtowers 8/44 to 9/2 sit on the high ground above. They belong to the Upper German-Raetian Limes, inscribed by UNESCO in 2005, which here ran in a remarkably straight line for many kilometres, a feat of surveying that still impresses. The Romans needed to hold a rim of high ground and chose a line that ignored the little hills, which is why the old frontier looks like a ruler line across the map.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 sits at 72 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the.
6. back through Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the comes up about 111 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen.
7. back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Fortlet Lehnenwiesen write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 131 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort.
8. back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort, late in the day. Next is Watchtower WP 7/37.
9. Watchtower WP 7/37
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchtower WP 7/37 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 176 km.
Leg by leg
Watchtower WP 7/37 to Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort
Watchtower WP 7/37 → Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort to Fortlet Lehnenwiesen
Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort → Fortlet Lehnenwiesen is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fortlet Lehnenwiesen to Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the
Fortlet Lehnenwiesen → Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the to Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2
Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the → Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 to back through Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the
Watchtowers WP 8/44 to 9/2 → back through Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the to back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen
back through Watchtowers WP 9/14 to 9/32 including the → back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen to back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort
back through Fortlet Lehnenwiesen → back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort to Watchtower WP 7/37
back through Watchtowers WP 8/11 to 8/28 including fort → Watchtower WP 7/37 is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.