The best traffic-free bike rides around Kelsterbach

It's always nice to let your gaze wander over the vineyards.

The industrial site is the so-called Phrix-Werke (cellulose and paper mill). This factory turned the rather rural and small Okriftel into an industrial location with over 1,000 jobs in this plant alone. Founded in 1884/1885, the founders - the Offenheimer family - had to emigrate to the USA during the Third Reich. In 1970, the plant was closed (after being transferred back to the founding family, sold (among others to BASF)). Parts of this complex are listed as historical monuments and have been converted into condominiums, lofts, and shops for several years.

The path on the (northern) bank of the Main estuary is already beautiful, but those who like it a bit nicer will find the detour to the Mainspitze (southern bank) even better.

Historical Age: The bridge was built around 1877 (twelve years after the harbor opened) and is today considered one of the oldest still preserved swing bridges in all of Germany. For this reason, the steel truss construction is an important cultural monument under strict heritage protection. Technical Dimensions & Function: The structure has a length of 37.50 meters, a width of 4.50 meters, and weighs around 54 tons. The original mechanical rotation mechanism ensured for decades that the bridge could be swung to the side at any water level to allow larger ships to pass into the harbor basin. Modernization: After the historical rotation mechanism was irreparably damaged and jammed in 1996, the bridge was fundamentally reconstructed in 2009. The historical appearance of the top chords was preserved, while the outdated mechanics were replaced by a state-of-the-art hydraulic rotation system. Location & Significance: It connects the Stresemann-Ufer (Old Town side near the Hyatt Hotel) directly with the Victor-Hugo-Ufer on the upstream mole. Today, it serves exclusively as an important, highly frequented connection for pedestrians and cyclists and is an integral part of recreational routes such as the popular Mainzer Drei-Brücken-Weg.

With a total length of around 1,233 kilometers, the Rhine is one of the longest, most historically significant, and economically important rivers in Europe. The river originates in the Swiss Alps, where it is formed from the two headwaters, the Vorder- and Hinterrhein. After flowing through Lake Constance, it plunges down at the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen and then, as the High Rhine, forms the border between Switzerland and Germany. Further on, as the Upper Rhine, it flows through the Upper Rhine Plain past major cities such as Karlsruhe and Ludwigshafen, as well as directly past the region of Mainz and Wiesbaden. In this area, the river makes a sharp turn west at the so-called "Rhine Knee" (Rheinknie) before reaching the spectacular Middle Rhine. This section between Bingen and Koblenz – known as the Upper Middle Rhine Valley (Obere Mittelrheintal) – has been protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002 due to its density of castles, historic vineyards, and the legend of the Loreley rock. Via the Lower Rhine (Niederrhein) and the metropolitan regions of Cologne and Düsseldorf, the Rhine finally continues into the Netherlands. There it divides into a widely branched delta and finally flows into the North Sea near Rotterdam. As an international waterway, the Rhine is the logistical backbone of Western Europe. It connects major industrial centers and seaports directly with the hinterland, and is used annually by tens of thousands of cargo ships for the transport of coal, ores, containers, and chemical goods. In addition to its industrial function, the Rhine Valley serves as a lifeline for tourism, as a rich source of energy through hydropower plants, and as a valuable natural and recreational area for millions of people.

The historic lime kilns in Flörsheim am Main form a significant industrial monument that vividly illustrates the pre-industrial working world of Hesse. Located on the country road towards Hochheim, the facility marks a place with centuries of tradition: while the roots of lime extraction here could date back to Roman times, the distinctive circular structures preserved today originate from the 18th century. For generations, the kilns were fired by family businesses in hard shift work to produce quicklime for the region's construction industry. Operations were only finally ceased in 1921. After the facility was left to decay for a long time, it was extensively excavated and preserved by Regionalpark RheinMain GmbH at the end of the 1990s. Today, the kilns are a popular destination for hikers and cyclists on the Regionalpark-Rundroute and serve as a publicly accessible testament to regional economic history.

It's always lovely to look out over vineyards.

The Okriftel cellulose factory was founded in 1884/85. After its "Aryanization" in 1938, the Offenheimer family fled to the USA. In 1949, the factory was returned to the family and subsequently sold to Phrix-Werke. By 1951, the expanded production employed over 1,000 workers. BASF took over the plant in 1967. It closed three years later. Today, parts of the factory are used as workshops, offices, and artists' studios. The architect Georg Metzendorf designed the villa, the former administration building on Kirchgrabenstraße, which is a listed historical monument. In May 2008, a production hall and the acid tower along Rheinstraße were demolished to make way for a new supermarket. In the coming years, the site of the former factory is slated for development – primarily residential, but also commercial units – with the aim of preserving as many of the existing buildings as possible.