Don’t lose your head.
Hear what I say.

Some might recognize these sentences as the beginning of a song composed by Queen. This time however, it is an actual warning not to lose your head during this ride! Never panic. Stay sane and stay safe!

Don’t be spooked, but there will be several spine-chilling moments throughout this route, where you will have to be attentive to your surroundings. When visiting and passing several sights you might encounter vindictive lovers, lost souls, blinding white women, witches accompanying a devil and even stone-throwing giants... And even when you think you’ve safely reached your destination, you will have to be cautious: Frankenstein himself might be after you!

The route starts at Rheinstein castle. The castle dates back to the early 14th century and was built on a narrow cliff for its strategic location, overseeing the Rhine river. Owned by many noble families, the story goes of a wooing legend with one of those families. Young Gerda lived at the castle and was considered to be the most beautiful girl in the entire region. Her stunning beauty caused a lot of young men to visit the castle and woo the girl’s heart. Young Helmbrecht was successful and soon the couple fell in love. As formalities go, Helmbrecht asked his nephew Gunzelin to ask Gerda’s father to approve their marriage. Gunzelin however, convinced Gerda’s father that he should be the groom. Deeply saddened, Gerda had no other option then to wed Gunzelin.
On the day of the wedding, the bridal procession came up the narrow path along the cliff towards the castle. Suddenly, a group of gadflies attacked Gerda’s horse. The horse went wild and broke from the procession. Gunzelin lost his head and went after her. With all his panic he disregarded the narrow pathway and fell down the cliff. Dead, at the bottom of the cliff, Gerda’s father came to his senses and realized Gerda should marry her one true love: Helmbrecht.
When riding down the narrow path, back to the main street, make sure not to lose your head as well. Stay focused and concentrated!

Once you have reached the main road, you will travel along the Rhine and Nahe briefly to enter the Soonwald-Nahe nature park. The road winds southward through the dense forest, making it a dark and mysterious ride until you reach the village of Argenschwang. Here you will ride past the ruins of Rosenburg. Little is known about this fortress (dating back to the 14th century), except the numerous noble owners it has had. As it is privately owned, you’d better continue with your ride.

Further down the route you will encounter the Nahe river again. This time you will cross the river via the Luitpoldbrücke in Oberhausen an der Nahe. The climate in this area is particularly suitable for the cultivation of grapes. You’ll see countless grape vines on the surrounding hills.

Close to Oberhausen, you can optionally visit the ruins of Burg Montfort. This stronghold was built in 1240 to guard a military road nearby. Throughout the Middle Ages the road became an economically important route, regularly looted by the stronghold’s residents. To stop these robber barons, the castle was destroyed and never rebuilt. Today you can freely wander around the ruins and enjoy the views on top of the lookout tower. Be careful when wandering around the ruins… you might encounter the ghosts of the robber barons.

After approximately 110 kilometers you’ve entered the German Pfalz region and have reached the top of today’s route: the Donnersberg. This mountain is the highest mountain of the Pfalz region, reaching up to a height of 687 meters. You can take a break here, at the Keltenhütte. You can either have a cup of coffee or an early lunch. The restaurant serves simple, hearty, delicious food. After your break, do spend some time on top of this hill, to soak up the mysterious atmosphere. Around 150 b.C. the Celts ruled in this area and built an impressive oppidum (stronghold) on top of the Donnersberg, to protect the area from the Roman empire. When walking through the thick fog in the forest, your imagination could run wild, seeing Celtic ghosts roaming the mountain. Especially when you see a part of the reconstructed oppidum.

After descending from the mountain, you will have to cross the flatlands surrounding the Rhine river. Approximately 40 kilometers further down the route, the road starts to wind again up a hilly forest area between Mannheim and Darmstadt.
Please do pay attention as you are entering the Devil’s hole (Teufelsloch) with the Vierrittertum (4 knights’ tower) dead in the middle. This tower was constructed in 1837 to serve as a venue for local hunting parties. Nowadays you can enter the tower freely and climb up to the top to check whether you can see the devil roaming around. Please also note the 4 knights protecting each corner of the tower. This might provide a false sense of security… their heads are missing! Did the devil have anything to do with this?

Having mounted your trusty steed, quickly continue your travels towards the city of Weinheim. You can either go up the mountain and have a break at Wachenberg castle or relax on one the many terraces on Weinheim’s Market Square. Wachenberg castle will fool your gut feeling. You would expect this castle to be yet again another Middle Age castle, rich of knights’ stories. The opposite is true: it originates from the 19th century and was built as a venue for the student associations from the Universities of Karlsruhe, Hanover, Stuttgart and Zurich. What would the students have been up to in that castle?
Weinheim on the other hand is an open book: full of legends and tales. One of many legends has to do with the Hexenturm (witch tower). You will notice that the tower has no doors… only windows and a balcony. Locals will explain that the balcony was used by witches as an entrance: flying in and out on their brooms!
Story goes that one day a local stonemason was at work in his workshop, next to the tower. All of a sudden he heard female cries and a blinding light coming from the tower. Rushing outside, he noticed women in white dresses, up in the tower… crying to be freed! He rushed outside with a ladder and started climbing up the wall. Halfway through his climb, a black cat crossed between his legs and he fell down the ladder. When looking up, he saw no lights and no women…
So make sure, when you pass the tower, to look carefully and not be blinded by white women!

After Weinheim you will start traveling back north again, towards Frankenstein castle. The winding route will take you across a few hilltops and valleys. Before arriving at the castle, you will visit the Felsenmeer (stone lake); roughly 20 kilometers before the end of today’s route. Here you can visit the local mystery. You can park next to the information center and walk up the hill, to an impressive sight containing a vast “lake” of granite boulders. A giant used to live here in the old days. He got into an argument with another giant living on top of Hohenstein mountain. The fight escalated and soon the giants were throwing large boulders to each other. The giant on top of Hohenstein had more boulders to throw and quickly the giant on the Felsenberg was killed and buried under the large pile of boulders: the Felsenmeer. Please make sure to be cautious when riding in this area: the Hohenstein giant supposedly still is alive and might throw large boulders at passersby!

Once you have safely avoided the flying boulders it is time to reach the end of today’s tour: Frankenstein castle. The castle had a small prison where a famous person was locked up - alchemist, theologian and doctor Johann Konrad Dippel von Frankenstein. The landgraves of Hessen forced him to make gold in the prison. Instead, he secretly created a new person from body parts and blood of virgins. As soon as this person came to life, it struck Frankenstein to the ground and fled into the woods surrounding the castle. The Frankenstein monster still lives in this region and regularly makes people disappear who wander unknowingly through the forest.

Fortunately, it should be safe inside the castle. You can have a look around and close your day with a delicious meal at the castle restaurant.