The best road cycling routes around Erlenstegener Forst

Ideal by bike. Overall little-trafficked road.

Not heavily trafficked road through the forest.

Bike paths in Germany, what a joy. Back in France, I miss them.

In the meantime, there are some very deep potholes.... So be careful, especially when you are in a group. Otherwise, it remains a super nice side route.

Church of the Assumption of Mary The church was originally dedicated to the Visitation of Mary and is now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. The nave is stylistically dated to the late 13th century. The chancel likely dates from the first half of the 14th century. The elongated, plastered hall church, with a slightly recessed chancel, measures 54 meters in length and features stepped buttresses at the chancel. A gabled tower with a pointed spire on the west side is open at the bottom. The church is a single-nave structure with a large nuns' gallery and, below it, the burial vault (known as a crypt) for the founding families of Sulzbürg and Wolfstein. The design is simple, with high, bare walls and no paintings or sculptures to minimize distractions from prayer. By the mid-14th century, the church's clear tripartite division was complete: the nuns' church in the west, the lay church in the center, and the priests' church in the east. The nuns' primary duties consisted of choral prayer and work. It can therefore be assumed that the church and the monastic living quarters were the first buildings completed. Until the Reformation, almost all deceased members of the founding family were buried here, and the nuns prayed daily for their souls. Several gravestones from this period still exist. The nuns' choir stalls on the gallery have been preserved and are therefore unique in all of Europe. The Baroque altars that adorn the church were acquired around 1720 after all the paintings and altars were burned during the Reformation. The high altar was crafted by a carpenter named Ulrich Schäfer from Neumarkt; the sculptor of the figures is unknown. The altarpiece, "The Visitation of Mary," is by the Landshut painter Wolf Simon Groß. In the right side altarpiece, dating from the late 17th century, the Three Wise Men pay homage to the Christ Child, above which is a statue of the Archangel Michael with a flaming sword and scales. In the left side altar stands a statue of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child at the center, flanked by the apostles Peter and Paul. Above, a guardian angel holds his hand over a child. On the north wall of the nave is a dynamic, life-size group of figures dating from 1762, depicting the crucifix with John Nepomuk, accompanied by a putto and an angel. Source: Excerpts from www.wikipedia.de / https://www.pfarrei-seligenporten.de

Seligenporten Monastery The monastery, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, was founded in 1242 by Gottfried the Elder of Sulzbürg and his wife Adelheid of Hohenfels as a nunnery. In 1247, the monastery, then called "Felix Porta" ("fortunate/blessed gate"), was incorporated into the Cistercian Order through the mediation of the Archbishop of Mainz, and this was confirmed in 1249 by Bishop Heinrich of Eichstätt. In 1299, King Albrecht granted the monastery lower jurisdiction. The monastery was endowed by donations from the citizens of Sulzbürg and later from Wolfstein, as well as from the local nobility, and also served as the burial place for the Wolfstein family. Over the course of its more than 300 years, the Cistercian nunnery had further founders and patrons. Around 1500, the monastery's holdings comprised 350 properties with 650 subjects in over 20 villages, who were liable for taxes. It held the patronage rights for seven parishes and two chaplaincies. In the second half of the 15th century, the Electors of the Palatinate began to bring the Upper Palatinate monasteries under their rule. These monasteries, all heavily indebted and in dire financial straits, were powerless to resist. In 1550, Anna von Kuedorf, the last abbess of the Cistercian convent of Seligenporten, was forced to accept the Protestant church order of the Palatine Elector Ottheinrich. With her death in 1576, Seligenporten, the last abbey in the Palatinate, finally passed into the possession of the sovereign. After the annexation of the Upper Palatinate by Elector Maximilian of Bavaria, it was recatholicized, and the monastery was re-established in 1625. In 1671, the monastery was transferred to the Salesian convent in Amberg. In the course of secularization in 1803, the buildings and properties passed into private hands. Today, the former monastery church is the parish church of Seligenporten. Most of the buildings were demolished. The remaining monastery buildings were taken over in 1930/31 by the expelled Cistercians of Sittich Abbey, belonging to the Mehrerau Congregation. The community of monks, now established in Seligenporten, numbered 16 members in 1963, but was dissolved again in 1967. The former abbey church was restored between 1976 and 1979. In 2003, the former brewhouse of the old monastery brewery was renovated, and a new microbrewery was established. Source: Excerpts from www.wikipedia.de

A superbly developed cycle path for covering distance.

I actually saw the tobacco there last year while hiking. I think it's great that it's still being grown here, even though I'd like to see smoking banned (empty packs everywhere on the street, in the ditch, cigarette butts flying around everywhere – what a shame)!