Gemünden is a town of some ten thousand people, located 42 kilometers downstream from Würzburg on the Main Valley Bicycle Route. Two smaller rivers, the Sinn and the Fränkische Saale, flow into the Main at Gemünden.
I have cycled through Gemünden three times so far, once along the Main River from Würzburg and the other two times through the Spessart hills and down the Sinn Valley, by way of Jossa, Burgsinn and Reineck.
InterCityExpress (ICE) train on the Nantenbach Curve
Six and a half kilometers downstream from Gemünden is a railway bridge called the Nantenbach Curve, connecting the old Main-Spessart railway line, which has been in use since 1854, to the high-speed north-south ICE line that was inaugurated in 1991.
The InterCity Express train on the bridge has just come from Frankfurt and Aschaffenburg. After crossing the curving bridge, it will continue through several curving tunnels and join the new line from Hannover to Würzburg.
The Nantenbach Curve was opened in May 1994. It cost 410 million Marks at the time (about 210 million Euros) and speeds up the journey from Frankfurt to Würzburg by twelve minutes. The river barge going up the Main River in my photo will also get to Würzburg eventually, following various bends in the river.
Signs on the Main Valley Bicycle Route
These signs near the Nantenbach Curve point upstream to Gemünden and downstream to Lohr, the next town on the Main Valley Bicycle Route.
My photos in this post are from 2004. I revised the text in 2022.
See more posts on the Main Valley Bicycle Route.
So happy to now be following your blog – such wonderful articles. I am enjoying each one. We rode our bikes from Amsterdam to Athens last fall and reading your descriptions as well as the information you provide takes me back to the trip. We are now planning our next bike tour – Amsterdam to La Rochelle – I know we will find a load of information within your site. Suz
Thanks for finding my site. I’m glad you like the bike tours. Unfortunately I am now too old to take any more extended bicycle tours, but I still do a fair amount of urban cycling, especially since cities like Frankfurt and Paris are making big improvements in their cycling infrastructures.
So glad you can still partake in the urban cycling. Have you tried the e-bike yet? On our tour we saw so many people touring on e-bikes – we learned that for many, the e-bike has made touring again possible. One women was able to go touring with her husband – he did not ride an e-bike. But she was able to enjoy the trip and be with him again. Frankfurt was a delight.
Yes, I have sometimes used the e-bikes in Paris, since they now make up about 30% of the Vélib’ bike-sharing system. I still prefer the non-e-bikes for most rides (since most of Paris is quite flat), but the extra help is welcome for uphill rides, or when I am tired at the end of the day.
Such an incredible site to see. And great images.
Capturing the river, the train, the bridge, and the barge in one photo – perfection!
Thanks, Doug. The river and the bridge were there the whole time, but I had to wait patiently for a train and barge to appear.
Congratulations on your 1000th blog post today. I love your posts and everyone of it ist worth reading. Sometimes you make me laugh out loud about some detail you have mentioned. Keep on posting! Rolf
Thanks, Rolf. Great to hear from you. I’m glad you enjoy my posts.