Mittelfränkischer Jakobsweg

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Nuremberg, St. Jakob on Jakobsplatz / Rothenburg ob der Tauber, St. Jakob
• Length: 99.3 km
• Duration: 4 stages, avg. 24.8 km (Camino Ninja division); the official brochure divides the route into 5 stages
• Elevation: ↗ 1,039 m / ↘ 916 m — 10.5 meters of ascent per kilometer, rolling country without a single real climb
• Highest point: 524 m at km 73.4 between Häslabronn and Colmberg; lowest point 298 m in the Rednitz valley at Stein (km 8.3)
• Stages: 4 — Camino Ninja system; the long second stage can be split at Heilsbronn (S-Bahn)
• Landscape: Nuremberg's urban fringe, Rednitz valley, Middle Franconian hills with forest and field tracks, Rangau, Frankenhöhe, Tauber valley
• Operator: LEADER cooperation of the LAG Landkreis Fürth and LAG Region an der Romantischen Straße with 14 municipalities; waymarking and maintenance: Fränkischer Albverein and Fränkische St. Jakobus-Gesellschaft Würzburg
• Waymarking: white scallop on a blue ground; in Nuremberg and Rothenburg also brass scallops set into the pavement
• Traces of St. James: St. Jakob Nuremberg (given to the Teutonic Order in 1209); St. James churches in Oberweihersbuch (1928), Buttendorf (1414), Weihenzell (1713), Häslabronn (1431 as a pilgrimage church); St. Jakob Rothenburg (1311–1484); Nuremberg Santiago pilgrims Peter Rieter 1428 and Sebald Rieter 1462
• Accommodation: inns and guesthouses in every stage town; the only designated pilgrim hostel: „Herberge im Hofhaus“ in Binzwangen (km 80.5); simple overnight stay by arrangement in the parish hall of Bürglein
• Connecting routes: Oberfränkischer Jakobsweg (Hof–Nuremberg) ends at the starting point; the Oberpfälzer Jakobsweg (Tillyschanz–Stein) joins at km 9.7 in Deutenbach; in Nuremberg the Jakobsweg Nürnberg–Ulm branches off south; from Rothenburg onward on the Jakobsweg Rothenburg–Rottenburg
• Connection to Santiago: via Rothenburg – Rottenburg – Freiburg – Héricourt or via Rothenburg – Ulm – Konstanz to the Swiss and French routes
• Best time: May to October; churches have seasonal opening hours — Heilsbronn Minster is closed in January and February

Overview

This route begins at a St. James church and ends at a St. James church, and both have to do with the same order. On February 20, 1209, Emperor Otto IV gave the small Romanesque chapel on Nuremberg's Jakobsplatz to the Teutonic Order — the first mention of St. Jakob; in Rothenburg the same order began the east choir of the town church St. Jakob in 1311, whose west choir was built across the Klingengasse in 1453–1471, so that at the end you walk beneath the church before you enter it. In between lie 99.3 kilometers of Middle Franconian hill country, 15 churches, a Cistercian abbey with more than twenty Hohenzollerns in its vault, a castle that in 1525 was one of the few in the region not to fall, and a highest point of 524 meters that you hardly notice.

To be honest, this is not a spectacular route but a well-made one: in 1985 the Heilsbronn pastor Paul Geißendörfer hit on the pilgrimage idea, in the early 1990s he documented the old line, and the Fränkischer Albverein marked it with the white scallop on a blue ground — one of the first modern Ways of St. James in Germany. Today all 15 churches hold pilgrim cards to take away, eleven meditation stelae stand along the route, fruit trees carry the sign „Naschobst. Wir teilen gerne!“ (snack fruit, happy to share), and more than 1,000 pilgrims a year reach Rothenburg — three a day, spread over six converging routes. So you will mostly be alone. And you will come and go by train: Nuremberg is an ICE hub, Rothenburg hangs on the branch line from Steinach.

Other Names

Officially this route is called the Mittelfränkischer Jakobsweg — that is the name used by the brochure of the 14 partner municipalities (2nd edition 2023), and it is the name we use too. In guidebooks, on maps and signs you will meet it as Fränkischer Jakobsweg Nürnberg – Rothenburg or simply as Jakobsweg Nürnberg – Rothenburg ob der Tauber; the Fränkische St. Jakobus-Gesellschaft lists it as the eastern section of the route Nuremberg – Rothenburg – Rottenburg. Start and finish are the same for all of them: Jakobsplatz in Nuremberg and St. Jakob in Rothenburg.

Two confusions deserve a sentence: „Fränkischer Jakobsweg“ sometimes denotes the entire network of the Fränkische St. Jakobus-Gesellschaft from Tillyschanz to Rothenburg, not just these 99.3 kilometers. And the Fränkisch-Schwäbischer Jakobsweg is a different route — it comes from Würzburg to Rothenburg and continues to Ulm. The waymarks tell them apart too: your scallop is white, that of the route to Ulm branching off in Nuremberg is yellow.

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

Ideal if you are looking for a first Way of St. James that can be done in four days and still has a real destination: Riemenschneider's Holy Blood Altar of 1500–1505 is world class, and you stand in front of it without queuing. Ideal if you want to arrive and leave by train — Nuremberg main station, S-Bahn to Heilsbronn, regional train from Rothenburg via Steinach. Ideal for church-goers: 15 churches line the route, each with a pilgrim card to take home, plus the crypt of Roßtal from the early 11th century and the minster of Heilsbronn. And ideal if you like walking alone: three pilgrims a day arrive in Rothenburg, on six routes.

To be honest, though, it is not for you if you need mountains: 1,039 meters of ascent over 99.3 kilometers are barely noticeable across four days, and the highest point at 524 meters looks like a farm track. Not for you if you are after Spanish hostel life — along the whole route there is exactly one designated pilgrim hostel, in Binzwangen; otherwise you sleep in inns and guesthouses and pay accordingly. Not for you if you dislike booking ahead: Weihenzell and Colmberg have a handful of beds, no more. And not for you if asphalt bothers you — it runs through the villages, thankfully rarely between them.

Route & Landscape

You start at Jakobsplatz in Nuremberg, in the old artisans' quarter on the edge of the old town, and follow the brass scallops in the pavement westward, through the Rednitz valley — at 298 meters at kilometer 8.3 the lowest point of the route — to Stein, where Faber-Castell has been making pencils since 1761, and Deutenbach, where the bronze pilgrim „Anton“ has stood since 2018 and the Oberpfälzer Jakobsweg flows in from Bohemia. Via Oberweihersbuch with its St. James church of 1928, Unterbüchlein, Sichersdorf and Weitersdorf you reach Roßtal: fields, patches of woodland, village streets; after a good two hours the city is gone. Then Fernabrünst, Wendsdorf, Bürglein with its margravial church of 1725/26 — and Heilsbronn, the Cistercian abbey of 1132, the only small town between start and finish.

After Heilsbronn it empties out. Großhaslach, Reckersdorf, Forst, Weihenzell with its St. James church of 1713, Wernsbach with its St. John's church of 1717 — both by Gabriel de Gabrieli —, Röshof, Buhlsbach, Lehrberg, Unterheßbach, Häslabronn with the pilgrimage church of St. James from 1431. Here the route passes north of Ansbach; the residence town lies a few kilometers to the south, but you never see it. At kilometer 73.4, just past Häslabronn, comes the highest point at 524 meters, then Colmberg beneath its castle. Via Binzwangen, Stettberg with its 14th-century fortified church, the Karrachmühle and Wachsenberg the route drops into the Tauber valley to Rothenburg. Surface: forest, meadow and field tracks, village asphalt; 1,039 meters of ascent, 916 of descent — not a single real climb, just many small ones.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We divide the route into 4 stages averaging 24.8 kilometers — Camino Ninja system; the official brochure divides it into five and splits the second stage at Heilsbronn, which you can copy at any time with the S-Bahn at your back. The kilometers come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to the 99.3 kilometers of our route data. Difficulty: low — hill country, 10.5 meters of ascent per kilometer, no climb of more than 100 meters at a stretch; the challenge is the length of the second stage and the beds in the small villages.

1. Nürnberg – Roßtal (21.5 km) — St. Jakob, Jakobsplatz; Rednitz valley, Stein (km 7.6, Faber-Castell), Deutenbach (km 9.7, pilgrim „Anton“, junction with the Oberpfälzer Jakobsweg), Oberweihersbuch (St. Jakobus 1928), Unterbüchlein, Sichersdorf, Weitersdorf; St. Laurentius with crypt of around 1030.
2. Roßtal – Weihenzell (30.6 km) — Fernabrünst, Wendsdorf, Bürglein (km 30.0), Böllingsdorf; Heilsbronn (km 37.0, minster, Hohenzollern burial place); Großhaslach, Reckersdorf, Forst; St. Jakob Weihenzell (1713). Longest stage, can be split at Heilsbronn (15.5 + 15.1 km).
3. Weihenzell – Colmberg (23.2 km) — Wernsbach, Röshof, Buhlsbach, Lehrberg (Kappl ruin 1430), Unterheßbach, Häslabronn (St. Jakob 1431); highest point 524 m at km 73.4; Colmberg Castle.
4. Colmberg – Rothenburg ob der Tauber (24.0 km) — Binzwangen (Herberge im Hofhaus), Stettberg (fortified church), Karrachmühle, Wachsenberg; entry beneath the west choir of St. Jakob; Holy Blood Altar.

The real test is the second stage: 30.6 kilometers, with Heilsbronn Minster in between, which you will not want to see in ten minutes. If you prefer it calmer, sleep in Heilsbronn and walk the 15 kilometers to Weihenzell the next day — the brochure plans it exactly that way. Water is available in every village and at the St. James fountain in Oberhegenau; shops are not everywhere, so buy your lunch in Roßtal, Heilsbronn and Colmberg. Dogs, bears, vertigo: none. You still need rain gear, because shelters are rare.

A route that passes beneath its destination church

At the end of this route no church stands in the way — it stands above it. When the people of Rothenburg built the west choir of their town church St. Jakob in 1453, the space was too tight; so they set the choir on an arch across the Klingengasse, and by 1471 the Holy Blood Chapel had grown above it. Whoever arrives from the east today literally walks beneath the destination church before entering it. Inside waits what Tilman Riemenschneider carved from limewood in 1500–1505: the Holy Blood Altar with the Last Supper in its shrine and a rock-crystal capsule said to hold three drops of wine from the Last Supper cup. And on the Twelve Apostles Altar of 1466, painted by Friedrich Herlin, you find on the reverse panels the oldest depiction of Rothenburg — and pilgrims with scallop and staff, painted at a time when pilgrims really did pass through here.

That they passed through we know from Nuremberg. The patrician Peter Rieter went on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in 1428 and wrote that he had done so „jn einer gutten Maynung, mein Nachkomen Andacht zu haben, dy heyligen Stett zu besuchen“ — with the good intention that his descendants would have the devotion to visit the holy places. His relative Sebald Rieter the Elder followed in 1462–1463 and closed his account in almost the same words. Both accounts are preserved in the travel book of the Rieter family, compiled by Hans Rieter in 1594 — journeys from 1428 to 1497 to Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago. Whether the two went via Rothenburg the text does not say. That they passed St. Jakob on Nuremberg's Jakobsplatz is certain: the church of the Teutonic Order, given to the order by Emperor Otto IV on February 20, 1209, was their parish church in the artisans' quarter — and to this day the coats of arms of the order's knights hang in it, with year of entry and name. Your route begins right in front of this very door.

To be honest, the gap between 1463 and 1992 is large. What pilgrims passed through Roßtal, Heilsbronn and Colmberg in between was never written down; the Reformation reached Heilsbronn in 1524 and Rothenburg in 1544, and with it pilgrimage here ended for centuries. The route was written down again by the Heilsbronn pastor Paul Geißendörfer, who had the idea in 1985 and documented the old line in the early 1990s; the first guidebooks appeared in 1995 and 1997, and the Fränkischer Albverein put up the scallops. So you are walking a route that was made twice — once by pilgrims, once by a pastor with a map. Both times it ended beneath the same church.

Highlights Along the Way

• St. Jakob, Nuremberg — given to the Teutonic Order by Emperor Otto IV on February 20, 1209, rebuilt in the 14th century; coats of arms of the order's knights of the 14th–16th centuries; in the vestibule the Pilgrim Center St. Jakob, by its own account the first and only one in Bavaria — pilgrim passport, stamp, hostel lists. Your starting point.
• Faber-Castell Castle and Museum Alte Mine, Stein — company founded in 1761, museum since 2006 in the old lead-production rooms; only with online reservation (km 7.6).
• Pilgrim figure „Anton“, Deutenbach — bronze by Theophil Steinbrenner, 2018; here the Oberpfälzer Jakobsweg ends after 183.4 kilometers from Bohemia and flows into yours (km 9.7).
• Crypt of St. Laurentius, Roßtal — hall crypt from the early 11th century (around 1030), one of the best-preserved in Franconia, probably endowed by Countess Irmingart von Hammerstein; built so that pilgrims could venerate relics beneath the high altar without disturbing the service. The village is attested around 954 as „Horsadal“.
• St. John's Church, Bürglein — margravial church of 1725/26, with a church-year path and the „angels' bench“ in the churchyard; simple pilgrim accommodation in the parish hall by arrangement.
• Heilsbronn Minster — Cistercian abbey, founded in 1132 by Bishop Otto I of Bamberg, extinct in 1578 with its last abbot; burial place of the Franconian Hohenzollerns 1297–1625, Germany's second-largest after Berlin Cathedral — more than twenty Hohenzollerns, including three electors of Brandenburg; high altar from the circle of Michael Wolgemut. Closed in January and February.
• St. Mary's, Großhaslach — church by the margravial architect Johann David Steingruber, altarpiece of 1784.
• St. Jakob, Weihenzell — built in 1713 by Gabriel de Gabrieli, the Gothic tower 300 years older; in Wernsbach the St. John's church by the same architect, consecrated in 1717.
• Lehrberger Kappl — choir-tower ruin of St. Jobst on the Kappelberg, endowed in 1430 by Eustachius von Birkenfels, its mass financed in 1443 from a fine of 400 guilders and a hundredweight of wax; by around 1721 „völlig eingegangen“ (completely fallen in) according to church records.
• St. Jakob, Häslabronn — mentioned in 1431 as a pilgrimage church, converted into a margravial church in 1781, altarpiece „Himmlisches Jerusalem“ (Heavenly Jerusalem); just beyond it, at km 73.4, the highest point of the route, 524 m.
• Colmberg Castle — first mentioned in 1269, bought on July 13, 1318, by Burgrave Frederick IV of Nuremberg and Hohenzollern property for 500 years; keep 35 m high, walls up to 6 m thick; in the Peasants' War of 1525 some 200 castles in the region fell — this one did not. In 1946 the Americans returned 1,178 icons and paintings to the Soviet Union from here. Hotel since 1964.
• Fortified church of St. Nicholas, Stettberg — Romanesque-Gothic fortified church of the 14th century with a painted pulpit.
• St. Jakob, Rothenburg — built 1311–1484, consecrated 1485; west choir 1453–1471 above the Klingengasse; Holy Blood Altar by Tilman Riemenschneider (1500–1505), Twelve Apostles Altar by Friedrich Herlin (1466) with the oldest view of the town and depictions of pilgrims; Rieger organ with more than 5,000 pipes; restoration 2005–2011 for around 9 million euros. April–September 10 am–6 pm, January–March and November only 11 am–2 pm.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Most come by train to Nuremberg and walk the quarter of an hour from the main station to Jakobsplatz. Those already on their way arrive on foot — by two routes. The Oberfränkischer Jakobsweg brings you in 180 kilometers from Hof via Bayreuth along the old Via Imperii to Nuremberg, opened on July 25, 2009, in Marktschorgast — it ends at St. Jakob, exactly where this route begins. The Oberpfälzer Jakobsweg comes in 183.4 kilometers from Tillyschanz on the Bohemian border via Schwandorf, Ensdorf, Kastl and Feucht around the south of Nuremberg and meets this route at kilometer 9.7 at the pilgrim figure „Anton“ in Deutenbach; whoever comes from Bohemia thus leaves the Nuremberg church aside — or tacks it on as a morning, the S-Bahn from Stein takes a quarter of an hour.

In Nuremberg the network divides, and you make a decision about direction: west along this route to Rothenburg with the white scallop — or south, likewise from St. Jakob, along the Jakobsweg Nürnberg–Ulm with the yellow one, via Schwabach and Abenberg to Ulm and on along the Oberschwäbischer Jakobsweg to Konstanz, or along the Jakobsweg Nürnberg–Eichstätt into the Altmühl valley. All lead to Santiago; the western one is the shorter way to the Rhine. And if you arrive from the north, you may already be a pilgrim: the Jakobsweg Erfurt–Nürnberg also ends at St. Jakob after 277.6 kilometres — switching onto this route is a single step across the Jakobsplatz.

Continue the pilgrimage?

Yes — Rothenburg is not an end but a crossroads. The official brochure counts six Ways of St. James meeting here, plus the Via Romea following the itinerary of Abbot Albert of Stade from the 13th century. You arrive from the east; south and west it continues:

• Jakobsweg Rothenburg–Rottenburg — 199 kilometers via Schrozberg, Schwäbisch Hall, Murrhardt, Esslingen and Tübingen to the Neckar; from Rottenburg onward on the Jakobsweg Rottenburg – Freiburg – Héricourt into France.
• Jakobsweg Rothenburg–Speyer — 184.6 kilometers on the Hohe Straße westward, via Schöntal Abbey and Bad Wimpfen to the imperial cathedral; from Schöntal optionally the Nordroute through the Odenwald.
• Rothenburg – Ulm — the southern section of the Fränkisch-Schwäbischer Jakobsweg Würzburg – Rothenburg – Ulm of the Fränkische St. Jakobus-Gesellschaft.

Thinking backwards: from Würzburg the Fränkisch-Schwäbischer Jakobsweg comes to Rothenburg, from the northwest the Jakobsweg Odenwald-Main-Tauber. For the long way to Santiago, Rottenburg is the proven connection — via Freiburg, Héricourt and Vézelay or Le Puy to the Camino Francés.

Preparation & Practical Information

Best time: May to October. The churches have seasonal opening hours — Heilsbronn Minster is closed in January and February, St. Jakob in Rothenburg opens from January to March and in November only 11 am–2 pm, from April to September 10 am–6 pm. If you come for the altars, walk in the summer half of the year. Waymarking and navigation: white scallop on a blue ground, maintained by the Fränkischer Albverein; in Nuremberg and Rothenburg brass scallops in the pavement, their rays pointing to Santiago. Report waymarking problems to wege@fraenkischer-albverein.de. The easiest way to plan your stages and accommodation is directly in the Camino Ninja app, where you put your daily distances together and book suitable beds at the same time.

Pilgrim passport: As on all German Ways of St. James, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to stay in hostels and to receive the Compostela at the end. You get it for €6.50 at the Pilgrim Center St. Jakob in Nuremberg, right at the start (bring your ID; Friday 2–6 pm, Saturday 9:30 am–12:30 pm, first Wednesday of the month 2–6 pm) or in advance online from the Fränkische St. Jakobus-Gesellschaft — if you start on a Tuesday, order ahead (as of September 2026). Stamps are available at the Pilgrim Center, in parish offices and inns along the route. Language: German with a Franconian tinge; English everywhere in Nuremberg and Rothenburg.

Accommodation: Book ahead, especially in Weihenzell and Colmberg. Classic pilgrim hostels are the exception — the designated one is the pilgrim and cyclist hostel „Herberge im Hofhaus“ in Binzwangen (km 80.5); the parish hall of Bürglein (km 30.0) offers simple overnight stays by arrangement; in Nuremberg the Pilgrim Center arranges private rooms for a donation and hotels with pilgrim discounts. Otherwise inns and guesthouses; in Rothenburg also the Protestant conference center Wildbad right on the route. Special features of this route: all 15 churches hold pilgrim cards with meditation texts to take away, illustrated by Tabea Siegel; eleven stone stelae with Bible texts on the theme of water stand along the way; and at designated fruit trees you may pick — the sign says „Naschobst. Wir teilen gerne!“.

What the journey will cost you

To be honest, this is an inexpensive route with an expensive ending: Nuremberg and Rothenburg are tourist towns, the villages in between are not. Documented: pilgrim passport €6.50; the official accommodation list for the route quotes (prices as of 2021, since risen) an inn in Roßtal from €35, Heilsbronn €26–44, private rooms in Weihenzell from €25, single room in Lehrberg €47.50, Gutshof Colmberg from €49, castle hotel Colmberg from €65, Herberge im Hofhaus Binzwangen from €38, in Rothenburg from €36 (Wildbad) to €80 (Romantik Hotel Markusturm). For September 2026 reckon realistically with €45–75 per person in a double room and €55–90 in a single, breakfast often included, otherwise €5–10. Food: lunch from the village shop and a hot dinner at the inn €25–35 a day; Museum Alte Mine and the Criminal Museum in Rothenburg at the door (as of September 2026).

Realistic daily budget: frugal with hostel, parish hall and self-catering €45–60, mid-range with inn and dinner €70–100, comfortable with hotels in Nuremberg and Rothenburg €110–150. For the four days reckon roughly €250–400 on the ground; train travel to Nuremberg and back from Rothenburg comes on top — with the Deutschland-Ticket practically included.

Getting Here

To the start (Nuremberg): Nuremberg main station is an ICE hub from Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna; Nuremberg Airport is twelve minutes from the main station by U-Bahn U2. From there it is a quarter of an hour on foot westward to Jakobsplatz — St. Jakob lies on the edge of the old town in the old artisans' quarter, and the brass scallops begin in front of the church door.

Along the way and from the finish (Rothenburg): The S-Bahn S4 Nuremberg – Ansbach stops in Stein, Roßtal and Heilsbronn — handy for splitting the second stage or the route over two weekends; the line has recently been affected repeatedly by construction work and a thinned-out timetable, so check beforehand. Rothenburg ob der Tauber has a station on the branch line from Steinach (b Rothenburg o.d.T.), which lies on the main line Würzburg – Ansbach – Treuchtlingen: regional train to Steinach, change there toward Würzburg or Ansbach/Nuremberg. Weihenzell, Lehrberg and Colmberg are served by the buses of the Ansbach district.

• Rail: bahn.de — Deutsche Bahn, ICE Nuremberg, regional trains Steinach – Rothenburg
• Nuremberg S-Bahn: vgn.de — Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nürnberg, line S4 Nuremberg – Stein – Ansbach
• Pilgrim Center St. Jakob Nuremberg: jakobskirche-nuernberg.de — pilgrim passport, stamp, hostel list
• Operator and brochure: rothenburg.de — Mittelfränkischer Jakobsweg, St. Jakob Rothenburg
• Fränkischer Albverein: fraenkischer-albverein.de — waymarking, report problems