Storchenhorst Trommetsheim Kirche, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland Dem Storch auf der Spur, Foto: Hub, Lizenz: TV Fränkisches Seenland Storchenrundblick, Foto: Hub, Lizenz: TV Fränkisches Seenland Am Ufer der Altmühl, Foto: Schaller, Lizenz: TV Fränkisches Seenland Stadtansicht vom Storchenradweg, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland Foto: Bartlomiej Banaszak, Lizenz: Deutsche Bahn AG Foto: pixabay Färberturm Gunzenhausen , Foto: Hub, Lizenz: TV Fränkisches Seenland Kirche St. Michael, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland Storchenhorst Trommetsheim, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland Markgrafenkirche Pfarrhaus mit Storch, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland
Destination

Master bike bar in the Franconian Lake District

On an expedition to explore the storks. This cycle tour takes you along the Altmühl past many nests in the Franconian Lake District and lets you learn more about the white stork. Let's go!

Start
Gunzenhausen
Duration
6 h
Distance
34 km
Key facts of the tour
There are many myths about the white stork. In many places it is considered a lucky charm, and in many a village its arrival is celebrated every year. After fewer and fewer storks nested in Germany until the 1980s, the population has been increasing again in recent years. A quarter of all the world's storks spend the summer in Poland, but the middle valley of the Altmühl is also popular with the big birds. A dozen pairs of storks breed here with great regularity.

This accessible cycle tour takes you past many nests in the Franconian Lake District. On the way, you will learn all kinds of interesting facts about the white stork and important protection measures for the Bird of the Year 1984 and 1994.
A bike tour for explorers, families and nature lovers.

Arrive relaxed and use rental bikes from the local rental companies. The capacity for taking bicycles on trains is limited and taking your own bike on the train cannot be guaranteed, depending on the capacity.

Start and end station

Start station
Gunzenhausen
6 tour steps
34 km / 6 Stunden
End station
Gunzenhausen

Our tip: Please make sure to check your train connection and the expected capacity before you start your journey.

Schedule

Tour starts on Gunzenhausen

Direction

If you need technical assistance, you can head for these repair stations on the route:

- Zweirad-Center Gruber, Weißenburger Str. 49, 91710 Gunzenhausen, workshop tel. 09831 884790-12 or bike rental tel. 0170 6729965
- Werner's Sport Shop, Ansbacher Str. 50, 91710 Gunzenhausen, 098317706

DB bicycle service station Gunzenhausen

There are 186 bicycle parking spaces in the immediate vicinity of the station.

Bahnhofsplatz 3
91710
Gunzenhausen

Foto: Bartlomiej Banaszak, Lizenz: Deutsche Bahn AG

Direction

Take a look at the city map in one of the information showcases on the right at the station forecourt. This way you can familiarise yourself with the route of the first stage through the old town centre, which is well worth seeing.

From Gunzenhausen station, the route first leads to Bahnhofstraße. Keep to the left there.

At the second set of traffic lights, the path leads across Gerberstraße to the right and then in bends directly across the town hall square and market square.

Then turn left onto the promenade and towards the first stork's nest of the tour.

If you did not come with your own bike, you have the option of renting one in town. Then it is recommended to walk the good kilometre to the first stork's nest.

From there it is only 200 metres to the bicycle rental Zweirad-Center Gruber on Weißenburger Straße.

By the way, at the cycle path signpost at the town hall you have the opportunity to get an overview of the entire route of the cycle path.

Zweirad Gruber GmbH

Radsport Gruber rents out bicycles, e-bikes, rickshaws and accessories directly at the Altmühlsee in Seestraße - whether for a sporting ambition or for a leisurely outing.

Weißenburger-Str. 49
91710
Gunzenhausen

Phone: 01706729965
Email Address: info@radsport-gruber.de
01.04. - 30.09.
Monday: 10:00am - 05:30pm
Tuesday: 10:00am - 05:30pm
Wednesday: 10:00am - 05:30pm
Thursday: 10:00am - 05:30pm
Friday: 10:00am - 05:30pm
Saturday: 10:00am - 05:30pm
Sunday: 10:00am - 05:30pm
Foto: pixabay

Direction

You drive back a bit, via the short path Zur Altmühl you reach the promenade.

Stork eyrie on the old malthouse in Gunzenhausen

The old malthouse stands on the promenade above the Altmühl. The first stork nest in Gunzenhausen is perched high on the chimney of the former malthouse. An information board explains details of the life of Master Adebar. With a bit of luck, you can even take a look inside the stork's nest. A webcam transmits its images directly to the nearby restaurant "Zum Storchennest".

Färberturm Gunzenhausen , Foto: Hub, Lizenz: TV Fränkisches Seenland

Direction

From the Storchenhorst on the former malt house, follow the "Meister Radelbar" cycle path in a southerly direction until you leave Gunzenhausen.

At the roundabout, go straight ahead towards Weißenburg and after about 700 metres turn left onto the cycle path to Oberasbach.

There you turn right at a small lake. The road to Oberasbach goes up about 50 metres, but is relatively straight ahead. In Oberasbach, turn right towards Unterasbach until you reach the church of St. Michael.

Church of St. Michael near Oberasbach

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Michael stands as a landmark exposed above the village of Unterasbach on a hill on the Michelsbuck. From here there is a wide view over the valley of the Altmühl.

A legend explains the unusual location of the church, which is remote from the village. Supposedly, the church was to be built in the village at that time. But what was built during the day always appeared on the heights overnight. At God's beckoning, the church was finally built at the top, so the legend goes.

Unterasbach 100
91710
Gunzenhausen

Phone: 09834 266
Kirche St. Michael, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland
Blick ins Altmühltal - Kirche St. Michael, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland

Direction

Well, how many storks have you seen circling so far? Keep your eyes open, because while the trail is going downhill, you will have a beautiful view of the Franconian Lake District.

At the church of St. Michael, follow the signs in an easterly direction. From Dornhausen you will be drawn south like storks at the end of summer.

The route continues through open fields to Gundelsheim. There, not only the unusual art nouveau church of St. Bartholomew invites you to take a short break. The storks on the roof of a private house at the Theilenhofen turn-off are also worth a detour.

Continue on the local connection road to Alesheim. From Alesheim, follow the "Meister Radelbar" cycle path.

On well gravelled field paths through the scenic, wide plain of the Altmühl, you head towards Trommetsheim.

Shortly before the village, you will meet up with the local connecting road again and follow it into the village. In the centre of the village next to the Raiffeisen bank, the Trommetsheim storks are waiting for you on the chimney of the former dairy.

Stork eyrie in Trommetsheim

Trommetsheim has been home to storks for a long time. Their nest in the centre of the village has a long tradition. For decades, the former dairy chimney has been adorned with a stork host. And so the birds are certainly grateful to the citizens of the village who were able to prevent the threatened demolition of the chimney years ago and preserve the long-term nesting site.

Hauptstraße/Ecke Kirchstraße
91793
Alesheim 

Storchenhorst Trommetsheim, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland
Storchenhorst Trommetsheim, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland
Storchenhorst Trommetsheim, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland

Direction

If you can tear yourself away from the stork eyrie in Trommetsheim, look for the sign from the "Meister Radelbar" cycle path (MR3), which you want to follow. Continue to the right in the direction of the church square.

Now the path leads you about 1 km out of Trommetsheim and for a good six kilometres on field paths and partly on the Tauber-Altmühl cycle path to Windsfeld.

Here the Meister Radelbar cycle path crosses the Altmühl with the Roman road, then (only after) about 700 m on the Tauber-Altmühl cycle path, but this does not end in Windsfeld, instead we follow it to Gunzenhausen.

Once in Windsfeld, ride straight into the village to pay a little visit to the eyrie on the roof of the "Schwarzer Adler" restaurant.

Shortly after the church, turn left and head out of the village again.

After a few 100 metres, cross the state road and ride parallel to the railway tracks to Aha, partly on the Tauber-Altmühl cycle path again. Once there, head for the Margrave's Church.

Margrave Church of the Holy Cross

The Margrave Church of the Holy Cross in Aha is a hall church built in 1721 by Carl Friedrich von Zocha according to plans by Gabriel de Gabrieli in the so-called Margrave style. The three-storey church tower by Johann David Steingruber is crowned by a domed helmet with a spire. Its basement is the only remnant of the previous building.

Aha 167
91710
Gunzenhausen 

Markgrafenkirche Pfarrhaus mit Storch, Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland
Markgrafenkirche Zum hl. Kreuz (Ausschnitt), Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland
Markgrafenkirche Zum hl. Kreuz (Ausschnitt), Foto: TV Fränkisches Seenland

Tour ends on Gunzenhausen

Direction

Have you discovered it yet? Right next door on the vicarage is another stork's nest. For you, the route finally turns left after the church and takes you along the Tauber-Altmühl cycle path back to Gunzenhausen and the starting point.

Have you actually counted? How many storks did you meet today on your tour of the Franconian Lake District and how many nests did you see?

Tour map

Start/Ende

Gunzenhausen

Bahnhofsplatz 3

91710 Gunzenhausen

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