Main Cycle Route 03 - Stage Alsfeld - Marburg

Flat and hilly, mainly asphalted, well signposted, in sections, slightly sporty

Difficulty level: rather easy
Trail quality: ★★★☆
Signposting: ★★★★☆

Well signposted, the Hessian long-distance cycle route R 2 leads out of Alsfeld. Along quiet country roads, past the Antriftstausee reservoir, the route then takes you over hilly countryside up to Willingshausen, an important artists' colony co-founded by the younger brother of the Fairy Tale Grimms. He made a name for himself nationally as a painter. In the art gallery and the "Malerstübchen" museum, you can find out more about the life and work of the many artists who lived and worked in Willingshausen.
Roll along a narrow country road to the next stop, Neustadt. In the center of the village is a special tower called the Junker Hansen Tower. It is the only surviving half-timbered round tower in the world.
After a long passage through the forest, the cycle path leads via Stadtallendorf into a wide basin. In the middle is a towering volcanic cone. At the top, you can see the small town of Amöneburg from afar. You have this image in front of you for a long time, as the path heads straight towards it. The current cycle path is called Cycle Route 11 of the Rhine-Main Transport Association. Below Amöneburg, you change to the "Lange Hessen" cycle path. One of the most costly battles between France and Prussia during the Seven Years' War took place nearby at the Brucker Mühle.
In Ebsdorf, a beautiful descent begins on the route of the former Marburg district railroad on a smooth track through a beautiful side valley. In Cappel, this meets the Lahn cycle path. The Marburg Castle is now in view ahead. After a few kilometers, you reach the upper town of Marburg. Not far from the town hall, at Barfüßlerstraße 35, is the house where the Brothers Grimm lived for part of their student days from 1802. They later moved to what is now Wendelgasse 4. The old half-timbered houses in Barfüßlerstraße are home to numerous quaint student pubs and restaurants, which provide a lively atmosphere in the upper town. The Grimm-Dich-Pfad is another point of contact with Marburg's Grimm past.
Fairytale figures and other attractions can be found here, from the Old Botanical Garden to the Landgrave's Palace. The illustrations by Marburg painter Otto Ubbelohde, who first published them in 1907, also contributed to the great popularity of the Grimm children's and house fairy tales. The painter and draughtsman used buildings and landscapes in his immediate surroundings as the motifs for his fairy tale drawings.
The Marburger Hof offers good overnight accommodation for cyclists, and as a bed and bike hotel it also has storage facilities for bikes. If you have technical problems with your bike, you will find a competent specialist workshop just around the corner from the hotel in the courtyard of the post office.