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Return Capercaillie A quite rare bird, not only in the Black Forest A rather shy fellow is the capercaillie, the largest chicken bird found in Europe. It can be recognized by its typical gurgling mating sound as well as by its considerable size. It is native to the Black Forest, as it is generally found at high altitudes. The capercaillie is a so-called resident bird, which means that it remains in one region throughout the year, i.e. it is not a migratory bird. Unfortunately, the capercaillie is on the Red List of endangered animals in Germany. In the Northern Black Forest National Park, however, its population has been stabilized and preserved. This is no wonder, because it is primarily forestry that is changing the forests in such a way that they are unsuitable for the capercaillie. But why is this so? For one thing, the capercaillie needs lots of light, broken-up forest areas. Since it is very heavy, it needs some run-up to get off the ground. Secondly, its diet consists mainly of berries, although in winter, when there is snow, it has to resort to the needles or buds of trees. Unfortunately, forestry increasingly afforests small clearings where the berries can grow, so that the capercaillie no longer finds a suitable habitat. This is not the case in the Northern Black Forest National Park. Established in 2014, the forests here are largely left to their own devices over a total area of 10,062 hectares. This leads to the formation of small clearings, which are beneficial for the capercaillies. These are not only important for the birds, but also allow many plants to grow unhindered. As with many bird species, male and female capercaillie can be clearly distinguished from each other. A rooster can grow up to one meter tall and weigh five kilograms, the hen only about half that. The plumage of the cock is gray to brown and shimmering green on the breast. The hen has brown plumage on the back and wings, interspersed with silver and black stripes. On the underside of the animal the coloring is lighter and goes more into the yellowish. The chicks resemble the hen in appearance. By the way, a capercaillie egg looks almost like a hen's egg. However, it has distinct brown spots. Capercaillies leave clearly visible and typical tracks in the snow, because their feet are built similar to snowshoes and have horn pins that grow sideways to the toes. Thus, the animals have good footing even in the snow. This is especially important because capercaillies cannot fly very well and move primarily on the ground. The courtship display, during which the rooster makes its characteristic gurgling sound, takes place during the spring months. The dance that the rooster performs is complex, consisting of various processes. He has his feathers erected into a fan, similar to a peacock. The roosters also defend their territories against competitors, occasionally even against humans. There are usually four animals per hundred hectares. You can gather interesting information about the capercaillie while hiking on the Wichtelpfad Feldberg. In addition to the capercaillie, the Black Forest is home to the cuckoo and the crossbill. The red kite has also returned to the area. There are gray herons and cormorants, hawks and owls.

Return St. Peter Baroque Church The special thing here is the library. A wooden church was first built in St. Peter by the Benedictines in 1100. The baroque church with its two onion domes, which stands on this site today, dates from 1720 and was designed by Peter Thumb from Vorarlberg. Its interior design includes 55 frescoes by Franz Joseph Spiegler depicting scenes from the life of the Apostle Paul and several sculptures by Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer. The high altar has the peculiarity that its external appearance can be changed. To do this, various motifs are slid onto the altar from a holder that can be rolled off. In this way, the altarpiece can adapt to different occasions within the church year. The former monastery of St. Peter also includes a library, which was also planned by Peter Thumb. The special feature: It has a walk-in gallery on which twelve figures stood at the time. They symbolized the various fields of knowledge for which books were available here. Today, however, six of them no longer exist. By 1806, the library had more than 20,000 books. Among others, a Koberger Bible from 1483 was kept here, as well as a number of manuscripts, some of which dated back to the tenth century. However, the book collections were moved elsewhere in 1806, as the monastery was dissolved in that year. In the meantime, there is a virtual form of the St. Peter's library, which has been maintained by several libraries and archives since 2009. Otherwise, it is worth mentioning about St. Peter that it is located in the Glottertal. This valley is not only quite idyllic, but also very famous since the eighties, because the soap opera "Die Schwarzwaldklinik" was set here. The building that represented the hospital actually exists in the upper part of the valley. It is the so-called "Carlsbau" from 1914, which was then as now in use as a clinic. Worth mentioning is furthermore the mountain Kandel, which rises with a height of 1,242 meters between the Glottertal, the Simonswälder and the Elztal. In the Glottertal, the so-called "Glottertäler Weißherbst" is also pressed, a white wine made from red grapes. In general, the Glottertal has a favorable climate, so that fruit also grows well there.

Return Bibeleskäs It is eaten, what comes on the table. Bibeleskäs is a speciality from the Black Forest. It was prepared by farmers in the past. For this, a rather dry white cheese was mixed with herbs and spices. The ingredients can vary from place to place, but salt and pepper are generally included, along with onions, chives and garlic. Usually, Bibeleskäs is served with potatoes or bread. The term derives from the dry, crumbly consistency of the white cheese. The word "Bibele" in Alemannic dialects means something like "knob". Generally, in the Black Forest, "Bibeleskäs" is also understood to mean "curd cheese" in general. Like all dishes of the peasants, Bibeleskäs is rather simple and cheap to produce. In fact, in earlier times, cooking had to be as economical as possible, since agriculture was only sufficient for subsistence and did not yield profits. Nowadays, however, the Bibeleskäs is very popular among locals as well as tourists. Furthermore, the Black Forest cuisine is known for various soups, including the wedding soup and the pike dumpling soup or the Baden snail soup. The most popular is certainly the "Flädlesuppe", in which strips of pancake dough are pickled and seasoned heartily. But "Spätzle" and "Maultaschen" are also popular here, as are "Schäufele", "Leberle" and "Nierle". Since the Black Forest has a Baden and a Württemberg part, the transitions between traditional Baden and Swabian cuisine are rather fluid here, which is why Spätzle and Maultaschen are almost as popular as in Stuttgart.

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Return Visitor Center Every expedition starts from here. In 2014, the Black Forest National Park was founded. The first and so far only national park in Baden-Württemberg was thus created in two closely spaced areas in the Northern Black Forest. The northern of the two areas belonging to the national park is located around the mountain Hoher Ochsenkopf and covers about 2,400 hectares. The southern part has almost 7,600 hectares and surrounds Ruhestein, a pass at 912 meters above sea level. In the extreme northwest, the park borders directly on the highest mountain in the Northern Black Forest, the Hornisgrinde. The Black Forest National Park is one of the areas in Germany with the highest precipitation, with 180 days of fog. The task of the national park is primarily the preservation of the original nature of this region. In this it can already register clear successes, because above all the population of the capercaillie has stabilized since the establishment of the park. In addition, it fulfills an educational mission. The visitor center at Ruhestein offers a variety of exhibitions and lectures. From there, you can also take part in guided tours through the park. Not only the forests are protected in the national park, but also another type of landscape that is more common in the Black Forest, namely the upland moor. The term does not refer to a particularly high moor, but rather one that slowly curves upward. Similar to the cirque lakes, the upland moors are also a relic of the last ice age. They are areas where pond moss grows, while the subsoil is clayey. This type of soil keeps rainwater from running off, whereupon it is consumed by the moss, which subsequently grows upwards. A national park ranger takes care of the national park as well as guides the visitors. His field of activity is quite diverse. He not only ensures compliance with the measures for the protection of nature, but also supports scientific research by collecting data in the park area, takes care of necessary interventions, the disposal of waste from the park and does a lot of public relations work. The exact job title of the ranger in Germany is "Certified Nature and Landscape Keeper".

Return (Black Forest) farmhouse parlor Only in one room it was really warm. The typical Black Forest farmhouse parlor has a central element, the tiled stove. It provided warmth not only in the parlor, but also in the adjoining kitchen, where the opening for firing was located. Other rooms on the upper floor could be heated through sliding doors in the ceiling. At the outlet of the stove there was a small chamber where meat could be smoked. The oven or the bench around it is called "Kunscht" or "Chust" in Black Forest Alemannic. The word actually agrees with the High German "Kunst" ("art"). What is meant is the so-called "Holzersparungskunst" ("art of saving wood") for using wood-fired stoves, which goes back to Konrad Zwick, who wrote it down in Constance as early as the sixteenth century. The parlor was not only a living area for comfort. Work was also done here. Thus, not only clock-making and other repair work took place here, but also spinning or making all kinds of utensils, such as brooms, rakes, dishes, buckets and more. For these activities the long winter evenings offered themselves, when the agriculture rested. The family altar was also not to be missed in the parlor. This was a corner, usually opposite the stove, in which Christian symbols were collected, on the wall a crucifix, in addition to a figure of Mary and images of saints. Consecrated candles were placed there and lit during prayer. Bible, hymnal and rosary were also found there. Thus, it can be said that the farmhouse parlor was a central place for the whole family and most of their occupations.

Return Hiking In the beautiful landscape this can be really fun. The Black Forest offers many hiking trails that could not be more different. Some are supraregional and cross the low mountain range, others are circular trails within the Black Forest. Worth mentioning are especially the so-called theme trails, on which knowledge is imparted in several stations. The difficulty levels are also different. There are steep mountain tours, but also gentle trails that you can even visit with a stroller. In addition, there are barefoot routes as well as barrier-free paths. Scenic hiking routes are mainly located around the Feldberg as well as in the Wutach Gorge. But also the three "Höhenwege" ("high-altitude trails"), which all start from Pforzheim, are very popular, but with a length of more than 200 kilometers each they are a challenge. The best known of these is the Westweg. It has its end point in Basel and passes almost all the high mountains of the Black Forest on its 285 kilometers. A tribute to the cuckoo clock is the "U(h)rwaldpfad" at Rohrhardsberg. Here, all kinds of cuckoo clocks are hung up in the warm season, providing nesting sites for wildlife. A clock carrier circuit starts in Triberg and goes via Titisee-Neustadt as well as Villingen-Schwenningen on more than 180 kilometers back to Triberg. Apart from hiking, you can also enjoy many other leisure activities in the Black Forest. There are numerous outdoor pools, great adventure pools, summer toboggan runs and golf courses, so fun for the whole family. Inline skaters get their money's worth as well as hang gliders. And of course you can also go horseback riding.

Return lynx You will see this one very rarely here. It looks like a cat, but it is much bigger, the lynx. You can recognize it not only by its cat-like appearance, but especially by its ears, which end in elongated "tufts", its whiskers and its stubby tail. In earlier times, the lynx was native to much of central and northern Europe until it was exterminated by humans. At the end of the twentieth century, a project began to reintroduce the animal to Switzerland. That this was successful is shown by the fact that several specimens migrated from there to the Black Forest and are now native again. This has been reliably proven by evaluations of transmitter data and photo traps since 1998. Lynx are generally very shy. With a body length of up to 1.20 meters and a maximum height of seventy centimeters, they reach the dimensions of a sheepdog. The rather short tail measures a maximum of 25 centimeters. Their weight can be up to 30 kilograms. They are active mainly at night and in the twilight phases. Their territories are of considerable size and can cover several hundred square kilometers, with males, also called cuds, roaming much further than females. Lynx have individually differently colored, dense fur, which usually has sand, red or brown tones as the basic color, and is not infrequently spotted. There is a white patch on the ears, while the tip of the tail is always black. Lynx prey on various animals, hares, rodents, fish, but also roes or even deer. They prefer to sneak up on their prey. Their excellent hearing is an advantage for them. Lynx can hear a mouse from 50 meters away as soon as it moves. The number of lynx in Germany is quite small. It is between one and two hundred specimens. Lynx are endangered by the destruction and fragmentation of their habitat by agriculture and traffic routes. Thus, the lynx is on the Red List of animals threatened with extinction.

Return St. Nikolaus Church Buchenberg Small and modest, but ancient In Buchenberg, a small district of Königsfeld, stands a tiny church that appears very modest from the outside. In fact, however, it is one of the oldest in the Black Forest. The Church of St. Nikolaus has existed there since the eleventh century. To marvel at, there are wall paintings inside, which are very old and date back to the fifteenth century. They were uncovered and restored during extensive renovation work in the fifties. The choir contains a sculpted coat of arms of the von Falkenstein family, which had connections to Buchenberg in the fifteenth century. Over time, the little church has survived several earthquakes and a lightning strike in the tower almost unscathed. There were several plans to enlarge it. However, hardly anything of it was put into practice until the already mentioned rebuilding in the twentieth century. Next to the Church of St. Nikolaus there was a rectory. This was sold in the sixteenth century, after which an inn settled in it. On the subject of churches, the Black Forest has to offer not only such tranquil places as Buchenberg, but also very large, imposing buildings such as the Freiburg Cathedral or the one of St. Blasien with its huge dome. Since the region consists of a Baden and a Swabian part, there were not infrequent points of friction between the Christian denominations from the Thirty Years' War onwards, with individual communities changing their allegiance to one territory several times over the years and thus having to convert to another denomination. Several monasteries also developed early in the Black Forest. Among them, the most important is the monastery of Hirsau, whose prehistory goes back to the ninth century. In the eleventh century it was the largest monastery in the German-speaking area. It was not only the starting point of several other monastery foundations, but also of the "Hirsau Reform", through which already existing monastic communities were renewed. Another peculiarity of the Black Forest is the so-called Longinus Cross. It is a crucifix with a hipped roof, as the local farms have, and with an image of Longinus on a horse. He was popular among the peasants of Baden as a patron saint, which could be a reason for his presence on the crosses, especially since he is usually depicted there in a Baden uniform. But back to Königsfeld: the place is known mainly as a center of the Moravian Brethren community, which was founded in 1727 by Nikolaus Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf. On the territory of Baden-Württemberg, Königsfeld was the first settlement of the Brethren Community at the time of its earliest certification in 1806. Königsfeld also has an Albert Schweitzer Museum in a house named after the famous doctor that he built there. Not far from Buchenberg is the idyllic Glasbach Valley, where a stream of the same name flows. What is interesting about this stream is that it is its most water-rich tributary until it flows into the young Neckar river.

Return Freiburg Cathedral 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.

Return Treetop path Bad Wildbad At eye level with the birds Hiking in the treetops? Yes, you can. On the treetop path in Bad Wildbad in the Northern Black Forest, which has been there since 2014. The total length of the walkable path is 1,250 meters. You move at a height of between four and twenty meters above the ground and therefore have a fascinating view. But that's not all. The treetop path consists not only of the route itself, but also contains a number of intermediate stations, which encourage climbing as well as learning and provide information worth knowing about the flora and fauna of the area. The trail is located on the mountain Sommerberg in a mixed forest at about 750 meters above sea level. Since it has only a very slight incline, it is quite manageable with a stroller. But first you have to climb the mountain. For this you can use the funicular railroad Sommerbergbahn, which was opened back in 1908. It goes from the city to its local mountain, overcoming a gradient of up to 53% on its route. The highlight of the tree top walk comes at the end. What looks like a cup standing on its head is an observation tower. It is mostly made of wood and offers a platform from which you can see as far as the Rhine Valley in the west and the Swabian Alb in the east. If you want to return to the ground, you don't have to walk. There is a tunnel slide with a length of 55 meters, which takes you down much faster. Bad Wildbad is a spa town on the Enz river. It is located in the valley at about 424 meters above sea level, which means that it gets a little less sun than its neighboring towns. The Sommerberg, on the other hand, is not affected by this, hence its name. You can also climb to heights elsewhere in the Black Forest, namely in high ropes courses. You can find them in Schiltach, Höchenschwand, Schramberg or Triberg, for example.

Return Titisee Just jump into the cool water! Lake Titisee is located at 846 meters above sea level in the Bärental valley near Titisee-Neustadt. It is 750 meters wide and about 1.9 kilometers long. At its deepest point, the water level measures 39 meters. A small river flows through it, which is called Seebach at the confluence, but Gutach at the outflow. It is the later river Wutach, which falls into a breathtaking gorge behind Titisee-Neustadt. Lake Titisee was formed naturally, i.e. it was not dammed. It was formed by a moraine of the former Feldberg glacier during the last ice age and is the largest natural lake in the Black Forest. It is known for its excellent water quality. Numerous species of fish can be found in the lake, and you can even see a gray heron on the shores. Moraines, by the way, are deposits of debris and rubble that a glacier pushes along with its movement. In contrast to Schluchsee, you can ice skate on Lake Titisee in winter because the water here freezes. However, the winds in the valley keep it moving in such a way that a longer time is needed before it is safe to walk on. If it is not frozen, a boat trip is a good option. There is a very famous boat rental for that. And of course you can swim or even surf here. On the lake lies the town of Titisee-Neustadt, a spa town that is also widely known for its great importance in winter sports. Its territory extends over an altitude ranging from 780 to 1,197 meters, with the highest elevation being the peak of the mountain Hochfirst. The town has had its present name only since 1971, when the towns of Titisee and Neustadt and a number of smaller surrounding villages were merged to form the new municipality of Titisee-Neustadt. Titisee-Neustadt also includes the district of Waldau, the very Waldau where the Kreutz family built the first balance beam clock in the Black Forest in the seventeenth century. Titisee-Neustadt was also important for the further development of the Waldau clocks. You must have wondered where the unusual name of Lake Titisee comes from. In any case, it has nothing to do with Lake Titicaca. What it means exactly is not clear at all. It could come from a dialect word for "child" or from the name of the Roman commander Titus.