Around Ansbach

The starting point is the main station in Ansbach. Those who want to arrive without a bike can have rental bikes or e-bikes delivered directly to the station. Simply contact More 4 Fun in advance.

There is almost nothing you can't rent at More 4 Fun. Here you will find over 40 German brand bikes from 10 to 28 inches, city bikes, touring bikes, trekking bikes, mountain bikes and even tandems and rickshaws. For the little ones, there are training wheels, trailers and free child seats. You can also rent e-bikes (city, touring, MTB) and three-wheeled LongCos. With their four-wheel drive, the accessible vehicles in the programme cope with more than 40 percent gradients and have a range of 150 km. Maybe you'll come back again and take advantage of the guided tours on offer or make a company outing with the Segway. The best thing is: More 4 Fun offers you a bike and luggage transfer.

The courtyard garden of the Ansbach Residenz is only a stone's throw away from the train station. To reach it, start from there heading north. On your way, you will pass the Residenz on your left, separated from the courtyard garden by a street. Over the centuries, it developed from a medieval moated castle to a Renaissance-style reconstruction to the Rococo and Baroque-influenced Residenz building, which today houses a palace museum and the government of Middle Franconia. The courtyard garden with the orangery is on the right.

Stroll and look: while strolling through the four-row linden avenue!

Once upon a time, as now at the annual Rococo Festival, the historical costumes and high hairdos of the "High Princely Serene Highness" cause a sensation. Margravine Friederike Luise of Brandenburg-Ansbach struts nobly and aristocratically in an opulent green rococo dress, just as she did in the days of the glamorous French rococo.

Historic roses and numerous varieties of medicinal herbs in the Fuchs Garden, laid out on the 500th birthday of the great botanist Leonard Fuchs, once personal physician to Margrave George the Pious. 200 herbs from his famous "New Herb Book" of the 16th century can be marvelled at in the garden symmetrically bordered with box shrubs, completely in the Renaissance style.

The city of Ansbach offers one-hour guided tours "Ansbach Court Garden - a Baroque Jewel".

Culinary tip: At the first junction, turn right to the pavilion with the red columns and walk again along the Rezat to the Orangerie, one of Franconia's historical gems with a café, ice cream specialities and fine regional and international gastronomy in the unique ambience of the Hofgarten.

As cycling is not allowed in the Hofgarten, continue along the north side. You cycle south-east, following a small tree-lined stream, the Fränkische Reza--t, out of the city. At the Eich, turn right, across the Rezat, and pass under the railway tracks into a wooded area. When you meet the Bundesstraße 13, turn left and follow it to Leidendorf. Here you leave the main road and continue through fields to Weidenbach-Triesdorf, where the White Castle awaits you.

The Margraves of Ansbach adorned their summer residence in Weidenbach-Triesdorf with numerous magnificent Baroque and Rococo buildings, including the White Palace. It was built in 1682 by extending the old castle estate and was enlarged several times until 1776. The two-winged complex includes a simple main building with a hipped roof and a stepped tower, a front garden with a fountain, a main garden facing north and an ice cellar in the nearby state forest.

The White Castle served the Margraves of Ansbach as a hunting lodge for the numerous hunting parties in Triesdorf. Today it is all about home economics and nutrition, as the Bavarian State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has housed parts of the State Technical Academy for Agriculture in the castle.

From Triesdorf it is only a stone's throw to Ornbau in the south. The medieval dwarf town was mentioned in documents as early as 838. With its gates, towers and walls, it exudes a lot of historical charm. You head for the Bible Garden. The entrance is in Bischof-Gundekar-Straße.

The Bible Garden nestles against the historic city wall. The original fortifications date back to the 13th century. Still visible today are bastions, gate castles, kennels and walls of rubble and ashlars built in the 15th century.

The Bible Garden, on the other hand, is still young and goes back to the commitment of a group of volunteers. They planted it in 2011 with the support of the city of Ornbau. A variety of plants mentioned in the Bible grow in the garden.

The Bible Garden is accessible at all times. Guided tours are possible on request at the city administration.

From Ornbau you head west. On the next stages you follow the course of the Altmühl, which you cross for the first time behind Oberndorf. It now meanders to your right until you turn north again at Großenried for a short detour to Sommersdorf Castle.

The moated castle in Sommersdorf looks back on a history of more than 600 years. It was built around 1400 for the lords of Sommersdorf. In the following centuries, extensions were added, such as the outworks, upper floors in half-timbered construction and a farmyard. The corner tower was given a hooded roof in 1722 and at the end of the 19th century the old drawbridge was replaced by a stone bridge.

In 1420, the humanist Albrecht von Eyb was born in the moated castle. 130 years later, in 1550, Wolf von Crailsheim zu Neuhaus acquired the castle. The von Crailsheims were one of the most important imperial knightly families in Franconia, and their descendants still live in and look after the moated castle today, which they converted into holiday flats in parts from the 1990s onwards.

Now it's back to Großenried. There you continue your journey following the course of the Altmühl. In Herrieden, the last highlight of today's tour awaits you with the town castle. You will have the opportunity to recover from the exertions of the path you have already covered with a refreshing drink and typical Franconian specialities in the spacious castle beer garden and to strengthen yourself for the last stage. The beer garden is in a quiet and cosy location, surrounded by the castle park and historic walls.

The complex on the north-eastern edge of Herried's old town, also known as Herrieden Castle, looks back on an eventful history in the course of which it was burnt down and rebuilt time and again. With its extensive fortifications, it now forms part of the town wall and the historic town centre.

The first mention of a castle dates back to 1122. At the beginning of the 14th century, Herrieden saw battles between Louis IV and Frederick the Fair. There were fires, destruction, looting. Four decades later, the unfinished new building collapsed in an earthquake. It was not until a century later that the castle was completely rebuilt, only to be destroyed again by fire in the late 15th century. This cycle was repeated twice more: Bishop Gabriel von Eyb rebuilt the castle at the beginning of the 16th century, and the Swedes burned it down in 1633. It was rebuilt and converted into the prince-bishop's brewery, and extensively renovated at the beginning of the 19th century. Around 1877, the main building burned down and was immediately rebuilt and renovated again in 1952. In 1907, the castle keep collapsed.

Since 2009, the town of Herrieden has been the owner of the former prince-bishop's castle, which has also housed a private brewery since 1806. Today, in addition to the main building, extensive retaining walls, remains of the partially buried arched bridge and the gate tower remain.

Back to the starting and finishing point at the railway station in Ansbach, head north through the villages of Hohenber and Dautenwinden. In Elpersdorf turn right and follow the Dombach stream into the centre of Ansbach.