Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort and Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort

   Kaiser Wilhelm II took a personal interest in the Roman frontier, and at the beginning of the twentieth century, he ordered the complete reconstruction of the Saalburg, a Roman fort on the crest of the Taunus near Bad Homburg. The result, with its walls, gates and buildings rebuilt on the original foundations, is the most complete reconstruction of a Roman fort in Germany and houses a museum of Roman life on the frontier. A few kilometres north-east, near Rosbach vor der Höhe, the ruins of the Kapersburg fort lie in the forest, and the watchtowers numbered WP 4/1 to 4/19a, on the section of the Limes running from the Taunus ridge toward the Wetterau, are part of the UNESCO listing of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a 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 4/1 to 4/19a including fort is where the day begins. Next is Fort Schrenzer.

2. 2. Fort Schrenzer

   Butzbach sits at the northern edge of the Wetterau, a broad, fertile plain north of Frankfurt, where the Taunus ends and the land opens out into fields of wheat, sugar beet and rapeseed. The Romans prized this land, and their frontier made a long detour around it, swinging east and then south to include the Wetterau within the empire. Near Butzbach, on the Schrenzer hill, they built a small fort, the Kastell Schrenzer, to guard the frontier where it left the Taunus and began its loop around the plain. The fort and the frontier nearby are part of the frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site, and the remains, low earthworks in the woods, can be visited on foot.

   Read the complete Fort Schrenzer write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Fort Schrenzer comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57.

3. 3. Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57

   The Wetterau is the broad, fertile plain north of Frankfurt, between the Taunus and the Vogelsberg, and the Romans considered it so valuable that they bent their frontier around it to include it in the empire. The Limes ran along the northern edge of the plain, and the watchtowers numbered WP 4/53 to 4/57, near the town of Lich, stood on this section, part of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes listed by UNESCO in 2005. Like most watchtowers, they survive only as mounds or traces in the fields and forest, but the line of the frontier can be followed on foot or by bicycle.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 36 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtowers WP 4/53 to 4/57. Next is back through Fort Schrenzer.

4. 4. back through Fort Schrenzer

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fort Schrenzer write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Fort Schrenzer, late in the day. Next is Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort.

5. 5. Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Watchtowers WP 4/1 to 4/19a including fort. That is the ride.