Is The Black Forest Really Black?

The Black Forest

One of the stops on our Rhine River Cruise offered the opportunity to take an excursion into the Black Forest, which is one of the many places on my bucket list.   First of all, where is the Black Forest?  It is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. We were docked in Kehl, which is about an hour by bus.  Once we reached the countryside area and started into the Black Forest, I could see where the name came from....the origin of the name is because the dense forest of fir and pine actually make it appear very dark.  It sounds sinister and dark, but it is actually very beautiful and the landscape surrounding the forest is beautiful countryside.  It is probably much darker looking in the height of spring and summer when all of the trees are full.

Vogtsbauernhof Farmhouse - 1612

Lots of sheep!

The first unique thing I noticed were the farmhouses.  They have very steep roofs that reach almost to the ground and the living, working spaces and animal stalls are under one roof, which essentially means the animals live under the same roof as the people!  Some of the houses have been updated with more modern amenities and now have detached animal stalls, but it appeared that some still operate the "old way."  We did visit the Vogtsbauernhof, which is an open-air museum where you can see an actual farmhouse that was built in 1612 and still standing!  It was amazing to see the way people lived and worked in these farmhouses during that time.  While we were stopped at the museum, we also got an unexpected treat when a sheep herder and his dog came through right in front of the museum.  There were hundreds of sheep!



House of Black Forest Clocks

Another stop and something to check off my bucket list...a visit to the House of Black Forest Clocks.  We were greeted at the door by Adolf Herr, the owner, who has been making unique clocks his entire life.  After a walkthrough of the House of Clocks, we were able to watch Adolf work on a carving of a clock.  It is amazing all of the workmanship that goes into making cuckoo clocks and we learned about the various types of clocks.  I have always wanted an authentic cuckoo clock made in the Black Forest.  It was so hard to choose from the hundred or so styles...different scenes, some with music, different sizes.  Luckily, they have shipped the clock to me...can't imagine trying to get it home in one piece.  For me, this was probably one of the highlights of the entire trip!

 Of course, we got to top off the visit with a piece of Black Forest Cake made by the family.  The famous chocolate layer cake is named for its signature ingredient, Schwarzwalder kirsch, which is a liquor distilled from the region's cherries.  I am not a huge cherry with chocolate fan, but this cake was amazingly delicious.  Rodney even went back for his own piece after declaring he just wanted "one bite" of mine!  I also came home with a bottle of Schwarzwalder kirsch and the recipe...will keep everyone posted if I ever tackle making the cake.

Between the forest, the countryside, the farmhouse, the clock, and the cake it was definitely an excursion worth taking and one I would do again!