Welcome to Germany's Black forest, better known as Schwarzwald :)
Our first stop is in Baden-Baden, one of the largest spa towns in Germany. We first head to the top of Merkur mountain for panoramic views of the valley below where Baden-Baden sits. The views were breathtaking despite the cloudy skies and overcast. Baden-Baden has a long history of treating its guest like royalty. The art of being pampered here dates back to Roman times. Europe's first luxury hotel was established on the banks of the River Oos. More than 600,000 casino visitors a year come to the elite Kurhaus, which claims to be the most beautiful casino in the world! There is a strict dress code requiring suit and tie, which we did not bring this trip. maybe next time. The outside of the building, seen below, is gorgeous in itself. There was a wedding party taking pictures in the lawn lined with colorful flowers.
Baden-Baden being a spa town, has running water all over town. You can hear the bubbling, rushing, or peaceful sounds of water as you wander down the winding streets. Historically, the Trinkhalle which was built between 1839 and 1842, has large Corinthian pillars and 14 murals lining the entrance way. It was a drinking hall but today this building is used as an information tourist center and cafe. As we continue to walk along the narrow streets towards the Festspielhaus we can hear the river water as it rapidly cuts through the city center of town. This is Europe's second largest opera and concert hall, opened in 1998.
As we stroll into Old Town Baden-Baden the streets are lined with shops and restaurants bustling with tourist and locals alike. We walk up the steep hill to the Stiftskirche, which is a collegiate church with a late Gothic crucifix from 1467.
There are two large spas near the Church, Friedrichsbad and Caracalla Therme. The Friedrischsbad is a Roman-Irish bath in historic surrounds offering a combination of thermal baths, steam baths, and massages. If we had more time we would have loved to spend a day here. They have alternating dates for co-ed versus separate male/ female spa days. Underneath the building the 2000 year old bath ruins can be visited twice daily from 1100-1200 and 1500-1600, no pictures can be taken within but the ruins are pretty neat to see such rich history. First picture is right outside the Friedrichsbad, thermal bath, with streaming hot water! Second picture is to the entrance of the ruins, remains of the Roman baths.
Gonneranlage, an art nouveau rose garden laid out in 1952 with multiple variations of roses, fountains, and sculptures it was nice to peacefully walk hand in hand around the park taking in the different smells and colors of the roses. Plus ginormous lavender plants which are my favorite!
Geroldsauer Wasserfall is right outside of Baden-Baden, in a small district city. This waterfall can be heard from miles away as you walk the dirt trail towards the waterfall. The trail is a short loop with a nice restaurant along the way that we stopped at for a beer in the outside garden.
This concludes our day in Baden-Baden, tonight we plan to camp at the Achnersee which is south of Baden-Baden approximately 25 minutes. We reach the campsite and set up before nightfall, then we made a camp fire to grill dinner and of course s'mores while enjoying each others company. The campground was busy but we did feel we had enough space to spend time together just us two. It did on and off rain that evening, but the sky cleared off at night so we could see multiple stars. The lake was small but inviting, many kids were swimming and enjoying the water, despite the lack of sunshine and brisk breeze.
The next morning we were off to our next town in the Black Forest, Baiersbronn. Baiersbronn is a small outdoors town with multiple trails starting from the city center. The information tourist center is a great place to start by getting a map. We decided on the largest 6 km loop, Rund um den Rickenberg, with stops at a lookout observation tower- Rickenturm and restaurant hut- Walderhutte Sattelei. Great panoramic views of the city below at a soaring 706 meters at the highest tower- turm point. Watch out for the wasps and bumble bee nest in the tower, they are everywhere. This was the first time in my life I was ever stung, it burns.. After the dangerous trek up the tower because of the wasps, we did enjoy excellent German food at the Sattelei, with regional specials for the area including Maultaschen, one of my favorite dishes! We sat outdoors and enjoyed the surrounding pine trees in the black forest.
On the way to Triberg, we did drive through the town of Freudenstadt who claims to have the largest Marksplatz in Germany. Although when we arrived, there really is not much to see except a large square surrounded by the typical shops and restaurants. The Evangelische Stadtkirche also right off the city square is seen towering over the city.
As our drive continues we pass through the small town of Alpirsbach, which is home to the Alpirsbacher Klosterbrau (brewery) which brews their famous Black forest beer from the Black forest spring water. We stopped in for a beer, they do have guided tours through the brewery but they are all in German. This is a family brewery and we felt right at home in the tavern, we tried one light and one dark beer from the tap. We were offered schnapps shots from the owner? and when we went to pay for our beers, he said they were on the house! The history of this monastery brewery is that in the 11th Century the reformed monasteries of South-west Germany built this in the Cluniac reform architecture. Still present today is the monastery church of St. Nicholas, the dormitory, the calefactorium (warming house), the cloister (monastery), and the cloister gardens.
Arriving in Triberg that evening, we easily found the place that we were staying and were welcomed in by a friendly German couple. It was raining that night but we still ventured out to the city for dinner at the local German restaurant that the couple suggested called Wirtshaus Alt-Tryberg. Excellent food and they had the regional local beer Furstenberg on tap. After dinner we walked around the quite damp streets of Triberg, which was nice since there were not a lot of tourist out at that time.
The next morning, we set off to explore all that Triberg has to offer! We started with the Triberger Waterfall, most famous and is known as Germany's highest waterfall with water flowing from the Gutach, falls 160 meters down into seven cascades to the valley. Baroque pilgrimage church, Maria in der Tanne, is home to one of the most beautiful baroque alters in the South-west Germany. The World's largest Black Forest clock bearer stands 13 feet/ 4 meters tall is in the courtyard of the hotel.
The House of 1000 Clocks is worth stepping into but is very touristy. There are a lot of variety of cuckoo clocks that cover every wall and all the cuckoos go off at different times...
We of course had to try the original black forest cake, we ordered it go and enjoyed it on the banks of the Titisee Lake. Delicious and you can taste the Kirchewasser, brandy alcohol, that they use to make the cake with.
Eble Uhren-Park is 3km from Triberg city center. You can walk, drive, or take public transportation to the park. There is free parking on site. This amazing place offers you all about the Cuckoo Clocks and is home to the most famous, World's biggest Cuckoo Clock that is still functioning. Every half hour the Cuckoo shows his face and chimes the appropriate number of times for the hour. For example, we were there at 1400 or 2 pm and the Cuckoo chimed twice. The park is a traditional Black Forest clock manufacturer with its own workshop within. Here you can find original, hand crafted clocks in many varieties of shapes and sizes. You can pay 2 Euro to enter within the biggest cuckoo clock to see the mechanics of how the clock functions. The cuckoo although it does appear small is actually 4.6 meters long and weighs 150 kg. The pendulums to balance each other each weight is 100 kg and 8 meters long. This must see is in the Guinness Book of World Records!
Titisee is the largest natural lake in the Black forest, it stretches 2 km, over 1 mile. It is a popular resort destination with plenty of outdoor activities. We camped in Titisee, we both agree this was the best campground we have been to in Germany. The sites were labeled and enough distance between each other that you did not feel like you were on top of each other. We were literally right on the lake, we pitched our tent right on the water and made a camp fire. It was gorgeous and the sunset was stunning. http://www.camping-titisee.de/seite68.html
Calw is another small but amazing town in the Black forest. We arrived in the late afternoon and easily found parking and the tourist information center for a helpful map. We walked around the city and saw all of the sights including the Nikolaus bridge and chapel, Georgenaum, Municipal Church, the Tall One, the birth place of Hermann Hesse, Rathaus (town hall), Salzkasten (salt chest), and the remains of the Medieval town wall with patrol path all in less than two hours. The Nikolaus Bridge and Nikolaus Chapel is Calw's oldest stone bridge across the river Nagold which bears the Gothic chapel of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of high, stormy waters. It was built around 1400 and renovated in 1863, then again in 1926 when a new tower was added to the chapel and two figures to the left and right, a cloth-worker and a rafts-man representing the former most important trades of the town. The Georgenaum was officially opened in May 1871 for public education, today it is home to the well known Aurelius Boys Choir. Municipal Church dates back to 1262. The tall one is the only remaining tower of the medieval town fortifications and was formerly the home of the town watchmen and also served as a prison. The house where Hermann Hesse was born remains in the Market square. The first town hall was built in 1454, after its destruction in 1634 it was rebuilt in 1692. The front of the building has three figures that represent the most important responsibilities of the town council with respect to its citizens- knighthood- protection and justice, planting a tree- deep roots and thriving community, and mother with children- protection to those in need. I really like this representation of the town and hope that one day every one can get back to the basics of what is important. The Salt House was built in 1696 for the storage and trade of salt. The remains of the medieval town wall dates back to 1523 and is the largest piece still intact within Calw.
Our last sight on the map was the Majolica Wall in Bruhl Park. The wall was created to celebrate the importance of the two natural scientists, Josef and Gartner. Both father and son dedicated their lives to botany and influenced Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution as well as Mendel's genetics laws with their ground- breaking research. Across the street we saw the Schonbuch Brauhaus (brewery). We have visited the original brewery in Boblinger with Andrea and Sean already, so we knew it would be a good place to eat and drink.
After we finished, we drove the short 3 km to the Hirsau Schloss ruins. The first monastery dedicated to St. Aurelius was founded in 830 when relics of Aurelius were brought from the Vercelli in Northern Italy to the valley of the river Nagold in the Black Forest. With the Hirshau reform the monastery thrived and grew adding the Abbey of St. Peter and Paul, with what was the largest monastery basilica north of the Alps. Abbott William did not live to the see the completion of this new monastery, however he was able to consecrate the church of St. Peter and Paul in May 1091 a few weeks before his death. In 1556 during the Reformation, the monastery was converted into a Protestant monastery school. today the ruins remain and as you approach the complex the sides of the buildings are tall enough to believe that what remains is intact. The extensive ruins with he soaring Owl Tower still impresses us today.
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