The Black Forest is one of my favorite places in Germany!
The Black Forest, or Schwarzwald in German, is located in the southwest corner of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It covers an area of 12,000 sq. km.
It gets its name for the dense conifers that block out a lot of light.
Here’s why I love it so much:
It offers many easy hiking trails with idyllic scenery. Although if you’re looking for something more challenging there are several hundred km of hiking trails to choose from as well! I haven’t done any of the longer hikes here …yet!
The Black Forest does have a dark side though:
This is a henker site where women who were suspected of witchcraft were routinely beheaded. We came across it while hiking. That’s what I love about hiking here. You just never know what you will find. Minutes before, we had come across a Christmas Market in the nearby town of Calw.
A lot of people living there are Catholic and it’s not uncommon to see huge crosses or statues of the Virgin Mary in pastures.
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We see several crosses every time we go hiking in the Black Forest.
While hiking I’ve frequently come across quaint farmhouses and pastures with either sheep or cows. I see them on almost every hike I have done.
It’s not just the Black Forest itself that I like, but also the half-timber houses that you see in small towns and villages. They look like something out of a Hans Grimm fairy tale.
Germany is one of my favorite places but I have not been to the Black Forest yet. Your beautiful pictures show why this location is on my “must see” list. Thank you for sharing!
Wow, that part of Germany is amazingly beautiful. When we visited it over the Easter period 2010, it had a sprinkling of snow on the trees in the higher part of Black Forest and it was picture postcard material.
Thanks for sharing.
@Steffy – See, the Black Forest is another reason for you to come to Germany, I thought the henker site was creepy, but so interesting.
@The DropOut – Oh no, sorry you didn’t get to see the Black Forest when it was green, it is really beautiful!
@Tracy – The beheading site was a bit unsettling
@Andrew – I’ve been to a few different places, the last photo was taken near Obersimonswald in August. The pictures with the snow are near Calw in December. I just can’t get enough of the Black Forest. You’re so lucky to live in it!
What part of the Schwarzwald were you in? I assume up near Stuttgart and Triberg? The last picture of the valley looks similar to the valley that I live in.
It looks like you had a great time. Are the pictures with snow and without from the same trip?
These pictures look like they are from a movie set, even the be-heading site *shiver*
Just as I imagined, although I have not been there. Not too sure about the henker site – yikes!!