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Not only the largest church, but also the largest city in the Black Forest: Freiburg

 

Even though Freiburg officially carries the suffix "im Breisgau" in its city name, it is the major city most closely associated with the Black Forest, also its largest city. In fact, in its eastern environs, the mountain slopes rise steeply and one can see the forested peaks towering all around the city. Freiburg's local mountain, the Schauinsland, rises particularly clearly at 1,287 meters. Its peak can be reached from Freiburg by cable car.

 

Freiburg was founded around 1120 by the Zähringers under Berthold II. As a result, like many other Zähringer towns, it has also acquired an oval shape. The old town has been preserved in large parts to the present day, although two of the former four city gates are missing.

 

One of the landmarks of the city is the cathedral. It was built between 1200 and 1513 and has the second highest tower in the Black Forest. It is 116 meters high. It is surpassed only by a 246-meter elevator test tower in Rottweil. The cathedral tower has a viewing platform at a height of seventy meters. It was completed around 1330 and has remained largely undamaged since then. During construction, iron anchors embedded in lead were inserted in the tower's spire to connect the individual parts, which contributed to its high stability. Since then, the Minster tower has served as a model for other church towers in the neo-Gothic style.

 

The oldest work of art within the Freiburg Cathedral is a cross made of oak wood, dating from around 1200, with a height of 2.63 meters and a width of 1.45 meters. It is decorated with several silver palettes and has been placed in the chancel since 2009.

 

Also, one of the total nineteen bells of the cathedral dates from the thirteenth century, more precisely from 1258, and bears the name Hosanna. It is interesting that in the period from 1843 to 2008 it was struck only by itself. There was a musical reason for this: compared to all the other bells, the Hosanna was out of tune by a quarter tone, so ringing it together would have been dissonant. Only since 2008, when a renovation of the entire belfry including a redistribution of the bells was completed, has the Hosanna been able to ring together again.

 

Freiburg has another special feature that is not very common elsewhere: Its Bächle ("brooklets"). Throughout the old town, narrow watercourses can be found along the edges of the streets, with water flowing in them from the Dreisam river. The Bächle are very old, already mentioned in documents around 1220. They are artificial canals with a total length of 16 kilometers, which in the past served to supply water to the inhabitants as well as to the fields. It is assumed that they were created because the groundwater in the city area was very deep and therefore there were only a few wells. Today, the streams serve more for the pleasant cityscape. Sometimes, however, they cause displeasure when tourists accidentally step into them and get their feet wet. But the good thing is that a legend proclaims: Whoever unintentionally steps into a Bächle while visiting Freiburg will soon marry a Freiburg citizen. Well, if that's not a reason to come to Freiburg …

 

The city has a relatively warm climate. However, a special mountain wind ensures that it cools down quickly in the evenings in the city center, the so-called "Höllentäler", which takes its name from the Höllental. However, its air comes mainly from the Dreisamtal. On days with high-pressure weather, it starts about an hour after sunset and brings gushes of cool air from the valley slopes into the city.

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