Kronsberg, Julius Echter Berg, and the Kuchenmeister are three well-known vineyards in the Iphofen-Roedelsee area, the most famous perhaps being the Julius Echter Berg, named after a 16th Century Wuerzburg Prince-Bishop. (He served as the ruler of a large area within the Holy Roman Empire in Franconia, which he managed rather well.) It was during his lifetime that the Silvaner vines entered Franconia (the first documented record of it locally being in the Castell archives), and some of its best expressions come from the mineral-rich Gipskeuper soils (components shale, gypsum, anhydrite and rock salt) unique to the area around the Schwanberg, around which the three vineyards lay. This geological component, along with the influence of a continental weather pattern, can result in outstanding white wines some years.
Be prepared is the scout’s motto. And when winter hikers (like me that day) do not heed that advice, there can be unanticipated results, but fortunately friendly help can save the day. It was in the thirties and overcast when I began my drive to this hiking trail. Two hours later, it was below freezing and snowing, definitely not the spring weather I optimistically decided would certainly prevail in March. I decided to start the hike anyway, and arranged to meet a friend for lunch in Handthal, about midway to Breitbach from Gerolzhofen.
To be clear, the Weinsteiger trail itself-its condition, its signage, even its itinerary-was quite good. I intend to return someday to complete the itinerary, and enjoy the sights and adventures on offer along the trail. The issue was my lack of preparation for the weather, which can be colder, due to the elevation and exposure, than other parts of Franconia.
The Franconian Wine Region in Germany has three distinct wine districts: the famous Maindreieck passing Wuerzburg, the Mainviereck, and the Steigerwald. Unlike the first two, the Steigerwald wine district is not located along the Main River. This means that the climate-moderating effects of a river do not apply here. And since here is in south-central Germany, winter weather can last for longer, with spring weather arriving later, and fall weather arriving earlier, than elsewhere in this region.
Trail Type: Long distance; well-maintained and almost exclusively paved, marking on the trail
Length:
Total – 42.5 kilometers/26.4 miles
Segment Covered Here – @19.5 kilometers/ 12 miles*
Convenient to: Kitzingen, Schweinfurt, Germany
Marking:
Square with the word “Weinsteiger” in black on a white background, with a smaller square composed of light and dark green beneath the word. Sometimes seen on directional signs as well.
The Fraenkische Saale, a river flowing from near the Bavaria-Thüringen border to the Main River by Gemuenden am Main, is a jewel. Its quiet, gently flowing waters, offer low-key activities for families and friends along its shores, and on its waters, from hiking and biking to canoeing and rafting. This is an area famed for rest and relaxation, and there are several well-known spa towns along the river. From Bad Koenigshofen near its headwaters to Bad Neustadt, Bad Bocklet and Bad Kissingen, all are on the Fraenkische Saale as it heads to the Main. While the Main River is extremely well-known for its vineyards and wine, the Fraenkische Saale, connecting the wine districts of the Maindreieck and the Mainviereck, doesn’t do too badly either in that regard.
Fraenkische Saale: From the Trail
Part of the attraction for me was the opportunity to cycle along yet another river bicycle trail. Germany seems to excel in developing these trails, and the Fraenkische Saale Radweg (Bike Trail) was just another example of excellence in riverside cycling trails. The other part of the attraction for me was the chance to explore the terroir and the wines in relatively unknown wine corner of Franconia.
Euerdorf: Bridging the River
The Fraenkische Saale Radweg is about 125 kilometers, but the vineyards, Franconia’s and by extension Bavaria’s, concentrate in a short 28-kilometer-long stretch of the river and its side valleys. This made exploring them relatively easy work on a weekend. Hence, I decided to begin at Bad Kissingen, the northern and eastern-most point of my ride, one fine morning.
Bad Kissingen: Riverside Trails
As a spa town, Bad Kissingen has a great variety of dining and lodging options to choose from. In addition, it is a lovely small town, with stately green spaces filled with curving paths along the river. The buildings are classic “German spa” and there is almost always something to attend, be it art exhibits, local festivals, or open-air concerts. I found it an excellent town to stage from, especially as the trail wove through its classic parks and gardens as it passed through town.
Bad Kissingen: Public Gardens
Once out of town, the trail led for a few kilometers through woods, then along fields bordering the river to Euerdorf. It proved a quiet interlude, with just nature for company. South of the Euerdorf the vineyards of Ramsthal begin.
Ramsthal Vineyards
The river really does twist and turn. At Trimberg, there are more vineyards, and a castle ruin came into view. Here I crossed the river first time since leaving Bad Kissingen. But henceforth, the trail was constantly crossing the Fraenkische Saale on a series of well-maintained bridges, providing plenty of opportunities to photograph the picturesque little river. While this left me without a clear sense of where I was after so many river crossings, I was never lost, as the trail was so well marked.
Trimberg Castle
Before I knew it, I rode into Hammelburg, center for viticulture in this area. This town has a history of wine making which goes back centuries, in part due to the old abbeys. The vineyards on the hills loom over the town to the north. To the west lie the final vineyards of this wine-producing area of northern Franconia. They are in the hills above the city districts of Obereschenbach and Untereschenbach , my end destination, which was between the two sets of vineyards. While they are overseen by another picturesque castle ruin, they are not overlooked by lovers of Franconian wine!
The Maindreieck is a triangle of land surrounded on three sides by the Main River. The Main is a tributary to the Rhine. The river makes three dramatic curves close to the heart of Franconia, forming this “peninsula,” this triangle of land surrounded by the river as a paragon of viticulture in south central Germany.
While the riverine wine towns and villages form the most well-defined area of the Maindreieck wine district, i.e., Wuerzburg, Randersacker, Sommerhausen, Volkach, there are two lesser known wine-producing areas in this district. Both of them follow along valleys with smaller rivers, the Wern and the Fraenkische Saale. These two are tributaries entering the Main River at Schweinfurt and Gmuenden am Main respectively.
Bavaria’s northern most vineyards lie along the Fraenkische Saale – a river flowing from close to the Bavaria – Thuringen border to the Main by Gemuenden am Main. In wine speak, that would be from the Maindreieck border to the Mainviereck border in the Franconian Wine Region.
The wines produced along the Fraenkische Saale and its tributaries are the northern-most wine-producing area in Franconian Bavaria. The town of Hammelburg is known as Franconia’s oldest wine town. In 777, Charlemagne, who held a small fortress settlement on this site, donated the site and its lands to the Abbey of Fulda, some 40 miles north. Wine production for the abbey, founded about 30 years earlier, used the south facing, limestone-based slopes, overlooking the Fraenkische Saale, to grow grapes for wine. Over time, grapes also grew in neighboring settlements, and up side valleys. The Abbey built a cellar-palace, which the abbot used as a summer residence. At its height in the 18th century, the cellar stored almost three-quarters of a million liters of wine. Today the complex belongs to the major Franconian cooperative GWF. However, there are also a dozen or so independent wineries. Overall, about 70 local farmers/viticulturists grow grapes for local wine production.
The major Franconian grape varietals grow in this sub-district. Not surprisingly, they are the hardy, cold-resistant varietals. listed below.
Silvaner: This varietal has been grown in the Franconia area since the 17th century, and is one of the more important varietals for this particular area. Many locals prefer it over Riesling. For more information on Silvaner, see Wine Notes: Franconia’s Silvaner here.
Mueller-Thurgau: This hybrid varietal is also known as Rivaner, and produces a light, fruity wine. In Franconia, it is currently more widely planted than Silvaner.
Riesling: Riesling wine is the most planted varietal in Germany, but less so in Franconia. Here, true to form, many Riesling wines take on a mineral flavor determined by the soil.
Bacchus, a Silvaner-Riesling cross with a Mueller Thurgau, has only been around as a wine for about 50 years, and has been especially successful in Franconia.
What I Tasted
2018 Bacchus, Halbtrocken, Q.b.A., Weingut Mueller (Hammelburg): An off-dry white wine with a medium golden gold color; a fruity nose, with citrus and hints of gooseberry, and with gooseberry, apricot, and slight lemon flavors; medium minus acidity, with a smooth finish.
2018 Silvaner, Trocken, Qualitaetswein, Weingut Neder (Ramsthal): A dry white wine with medium plus gold color; a nose of spice and green apple, with spice, green apple, citrus and slight floral flavors; medium acidity with a refreshing tart finish
2017 Silvaner, Hammelburger Heroldsberg, Trocken, Kabinett, Weingut Mueller: A dry white wine with medium lemon-yellow color; a slightly spicy nose, with green apple, spice and slight honey flavors; medium plus acidity with a tart medium length finish.
2017 Silvaner, Hammelburger Heroldsberg, Trocken, Kabinett, Weingut Mueller: A dry white wine with medium gold color; green apple and floral nose, with flavors of the same; medium acidity, with a tart finish.
Trail Type: Long distance bicycle trail (much of it dedicated bicycle trail); well-maintained and diverse surfaces from paved to crushed stone, fairly good marking along the trail.
Length:
Total – circa 127 kilometers/79 miles
My Stage: circa 28 kilometers (See Comments below)
Convenient to: Bad Kissingen, Gmuenden, Franconia, Germany
Marking: Blue background with white letters “Saale”
Sample Signage along the Trail
Trail Description: Fairly flat, with the inclines due to small spurs of more distant ridges, this quiet trail indeed follows mostly along the river, and through some of the riverside towns and villages, which make for great stops along the way.
Trailheads:
All Stages: -Trappstadt-Alsleben // Gmuenden am Main
My Stage: Bad Kissingen, In der Au x Bismarkstr // Diebach, Reuthweg
Parking(My stage only):
Bad Kissingen:
In der Au, dozens of perpendicular parking spaces along the lane; Costs one Euro per day/Four Euros for the week.
Maxstr, Parkplatz Tattersall is a large, improved lot, but costs more per day.
Diebach: Obertor, large unimproved area in a field (by parking sign at the eastern edge of town)
Public Transportation Options:
Rail: DeutscheBahn serves Hammelburg and Bad Kissingen with small stations in most of the towns mentioned in the trail itinerary below.
Bus: HOB Bus lines 8165, 8141
Suggested Stages: Not applicable for my stage
Trail Itinerary-Reference Points: (My stage only – heading downriver)
Bad Kissingen: Bismarkstr, Lindesmuhlpromenade (an alternate path through the park), Oskar von Miller Str, Im Lindes, past water treatment plant, parallel Iringstr; into forest, along the river, cross the Lollbach, parallels B287; Euerdorf: Ringstr, Kissingerstr, Gerbergasse, path along the river, parallel Auraerstr, Ara: Hauptstr, Trimbergerweg; Trimberg: Quellenstr, Hugo-von-Trimberg-Str-Brueckenstr; Elfershausen: Pass Elfershausen-Trimberg train station, August-Ullrich-Str, Marktstr, Langendorfer Str, cross river; Pass under A7, parallel river; Langendorf: Hauptstr, Westheimerstr, cross river; Westheim: Grenzstr, path left to cross river (two times in about 500 meters); Hammelburg: Pass Hammelburg Ost train station, An der Walkmuehle, Kissinger Str, straight at circle, continue, Am Marktplatz, Bahnhofstr, Saaletalstr, then cross tracks and follow parallel path;
Representative Trail Photos:
Sample of Non-Asphalted Trail SurfaceRepresentative Section of Trail and SurfaceSection of Trail in Bad Kissingen
Restrooms(My stage only):
Bad Kissingen: Am Kurgarten, in the Arkadenbau (arcaded building)
Elfershausen: Schlossstr x Marktstr, at the Community Center, in an outbuilding facing the courtyard
Hammelburg: Marktplatz, on the side of the Rathaus
Attractions on or near Trail (My stage only):
Hammelburg:
Kellereischloss: Historic wine cellar, with wines on offer weekly, usually Friday evenings
Museum Herrenmuehle details the history of wine-making in this area, and with its other emphasis on bread-making, from grain to final product. A recent new exhibition combines these two items under the theme: Bread and Wine.
Tasting along the Trail(My stage only):
Hammelburg: Weingut/Hotel/Restaurant Mueller; Weingut Schloss Saaleck, Kellereischloss (see above), right on the trail; several small wineries on the outskirts of town
Ramsthal: A couple of wineries in town. (Ramsthal is about three kilometers from the river trail.)
Bad Kissingen: No wineries, but lots of wine taverns and local wine selections at the many restaurants.
Alternative Options (My stage (and wine-themed) only):
Hiking:
Rundweg Hammelburg 9: A seven-kilometer trail beginning in Hammelburg, passing in about equal parts through vineyards and forest, with beautiful views all around.
Wein und Stein trail, from Euerdorf to Bad Kissingen, a 12 kilometer-long, signposted trail of medium difficulty. See details in regional link below.
Ramsthal: The Ramsthal Weinerlebniswege: Three circuits around the town’s vine-bearing hills, ranging from the three kilometers-long Bacchus Rundweg, to the Schoppen Rundweg at 7.2 kilometers in length.
The trail along the Fraenkische Saale is long, but I focused only on the vineyard part of it: from south of Bad Kissingen to just west of Hammelburg (Stadtteil Untereschenbach).
This trail connects with the Main Radweg, the Main River Bicycle Trail, leading to the Rhine by Mainz, from which point it is possible to follow the Rhine Bicycle Trail. For details on part of each trail, see the Rhine Nutshell here, and the Main Nutshell here.
