The best cycling routes around Maulbronn

https://www.knittlingen.de/stadt-knittlingen/stadtgeschichte "Monday, June 2nd, I will depart. My heart expanded in all the expectations of what I will see and hear. Never have I felt so well as when, half an hour from here, I rode down the mountain – and below me lay Knittlingen…" (Friedrich Hölderlin in a letter from 1788)https://As "Württemberg's foremost bulwark and border fortress against the Palatinate" Knittlingen was first mentioned in a document in 843, then still as "Cnudelingen". In 1148, the Maulbronn monastery, completed a year earlier, acquired the rights over Knittlingen, where one of the monastery's seven granges also arose. In the following centuries, Knittlingen suffered major destruction multiple times – for example in 1360 by the Count Palatine of the Rhine, in the Thirty Years' War in 1632 by the troops of Imperial General Ernesto Montecuccoli, and in 1692 by the French. Partially devastating fires affected many historical buildings. Great influence on the development of urban life was exerted in 1490 by the idea of the Taxis dynasty (since 1650 Thurn und Taxis) to establish a horse relay post from Dutch Mechelen to Austrian Innsbruck and to open a post station in Knittlingen. From 1806 Knittlingen was part of the Oberamt Maulbronn, and in 1840 the place was officially granted town rights. From 1938 to 1972 Knittlingen belonged to the Vaihingen district, and since its dissolution to the Enzkreis in the administrative district of Karlsruhe. The history of Knittlingen's sub-districts Freudenstein (first mentioned in documents around 1251 as "Frodenstein") and Hohenklingen (first mentioned in writing in 1312) also dates back to the 13th or 14th century. The Waldensian village of Kleinvillars was founded in 1699 by reformed religious refugees from Piedmont. The incorporation of Kleinvillars into the town of Knittlingen took place on February 15, 1972, and the amalgamation of Freudenstein-Hohenklingen on August 9, 1975. Also not to be forgotten are the two Spanish partner municipalities Benaoján and Montejaque, with whom Knittlingen has been friendly connected for over 50 years, and since 2010 there has also been an official partnership. www.knittlingen.de/tourismus-freizeit/radtouren

Just a few kilometers west of Maulbronn Monastery lies the Elfinger Hof estate, one of the monastery's first granges. Together with the neighboring vineyard, it was among the monastery's most important economic holdings. Elfinger Hof encompassed 130 to 150 hectares, and as an estate, it was described as 190 hectares in 1870 by the Maulbronn district office (see Hachenberger 1990). The estate's layout is depicted on the Württemberg cadastral map of 1835. To the west of the estate and north of Elfinger Lake, there was another pond. The updated cadastral map of 1891 shows a garden and a path leading to the drained Elfinger Lake to the south of the estate.

in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Ludwigsburg district, Baden-Württemberg. - in the upper "Hauptstr." / "Hillerplatz" The urban planning of the Hillerplatz was intended to fulfill 2 important tasks: - Completion/replacement of the "Obertorturm" demolished in 1824 and - the connection with the rather heterogeneous buildings around the square to form a cohesive ensemble. - here you can find, among other things, 3 horse sculptures by "Jürgen Goertz" - the well-known sculpture "Turm der grauen Pferde" - approx. 11 m high - made of aluminum - largely ground, but also partly polished, gilded or treated with black paint - 4 horses stacked on top of each other and each halved in size, as an allusion to the Bietigheim Horse Market - the stacked round arch arcades are a homage to the railway viaduct of Bietigheim-Bissingen, built by Karl von Etzel - the relief medallions on the flanks of the horses show female portraits and represent the old continents (Africa, Europe, America and Asia) the other two horse sculptures also come from Jürgen Goertz - made of aluminum - on the pavilion, you can also discover a horse by Jürgen Goertz

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Great place, worth seeing

A beautiful route between Lienzingen and Illingen. It's a great place for hiking and cycling. The route is always sunny, making it a pleasure to ride in any season.