Five years after visiting Shirakawago and Gokayama in mountainous Central Japan, we came across another strikingly similar and yet vastly different farming community halfway around the world.
There is one uncanny and unique similarity -- steep thatched roofs on top of gigantic, multi-storey farmhouses dating from the 18th Century and beyond. We're in a tiny hamlet in central Black Forest known as Gutach im Schwarzwald, where we stayed at a working dairy farm for two nights.
Just like Shirakawago, these villages have developed their unique regional culture from centuries of near isolation from the rest of civilization, several months a year due to heavy snowfall. Prior to the arrival of railway in late 19th Century, the narrow river valley was their only connection to larger towns downstream on the Rhine. Even today the villagers have retained local customs such as the wearing of Bollenhut, the pompom hats which the rest of the Black Forest have adopted as the region's symbol. This tiny village is actually famous within Germany ... it just takes effort to get here.
Gutach im Schwarzwald has no train service -- the Black Forest Railway passes through but no longer stops here. The easiest approach is to get off at Hausach and transfer to local bus #7150, which is usually timed to the train's arrival. Visitors are still greeted by these 200+-year-old farmhouses, though most of the thatched roofs have since been replaced by tiles through the centuries.
This is an excellent base for exploring the heart of the Black Forest. The village itself is picturesque and convenient (there's a Norma supermarket), and public transport is infrequent but quick -- it's a 5 minute bus ride to the Vogtsbauernhof and the Rodelbahn (more on these below), a 20 minute bus ride to the cuckoo-clock makers at Triberg, and 45 minutes of bus-and-train to the spectacular towns of Schiltach or Gengenbach (which would become our next base), not to mention the local cultural hubs of Villingen-Schwenningen and Freiburg im Breisgau further afield. We could have stayed here for four or five days and not get bored.
Finding a guesthouse turned out slightly challenging. We tried emailing several gasthofs and privatzimmers in German without any replies, until we contacted Joklisbauernhof and received a confirmation within a day. This is a family-run dairy farm that has been passed down, from father to son to grandson, since the 1700's. Today it's operated as a working farm/guesthouse by the extremely friendly Martin and Elfriede Moser. Their son Patrick can answer emails in English, and although Elfriede speaks less English than Martin (who speaks quite fluently), we had no trouble communicating through her limited English and my even more limited, single-word German.
The main building itself is a classic Black Forest farmhouses with thick whitewashed walls, crafted wooden balconies and ... dairy cows living in the basement! (Large wooden door at the bottom of the picture.) The herd was all mooing affectionately when Elfriede took us in and showed us her pride and joy, but we didn't know how famous she really is until ...
We saw this huge 6 x 8 feet photo of Elfriede at the local museum! And with her voice speaking out of the audio guide! Apparently Elfriede is considered one of the masters in the art of hand-milking cows, AND one of the region's best bread-makers. The Moser farm has a dedicated baking hut with a historic stone oven, and every Friday Elfriede would reliably churn out more than 100 loaves of handmade artisan bread for her entire village. Faithful customers from neighboring regions would drive for miles just to get here and pick up bread for the week. This is a real working farm ... and one that boasts a living legend!
The main farmhouse is occupied by the Mosers as family living space and for greeting and serving breakfast, while two smaller and newer farmhouses (without the mooing of cattle at night!) serve as guestrooms. The convenience of a kitchen was a definite advantage, but our favorite part was the sweeping panorama from the balcony. You can hardly ask for a more pleasing view of nature and pastoral landscape in the Black Forest -- we even spotted a few deer on the hillside.
Our vaulted bedroom on the top floor was cozy and full of characterful German furniture, as well as the modern convenience of satellite TV and a brand new bathroom. Outside the front door a footpath leads to the closest bus stop (Gutach Bergle) on a 5 minute walk, and to the village centre within 10 minutes.
Breakfast was all included in the room price and came in hearty portions of cold cut meats and cheese, boiled eggs, the Mosers' famous homemade bread and of course, homemade sour cream from Elfriede's hand-milking of the dairy cows in the basement. That's enough energy to last us a good half day of sightseeing.
Gutach is home to one of the best open-air museums we've ever visited, the Vogtsbauernhof and its collection of giant 17th and 18th Century farmhouses from all over the Black Forest. The star attraction is of course the Vogtsbauernhof at its original location, an immaculate specimen of German folk architecture from 400 years back. Seeing this metre-thick thatched roof gave me quite a flashback ...
There is so much resemblance in architecture styles between the Black Forest in Germany and Shirakawago in Central Japan, two historically isolated regions at opposite ends of the world that independently came up with parallel solutions to combat severe weather and the lack of outside assistance. Shown above is a traditional Bauernhof in the Black Forest, and ...
... here is the Gassho-zukuri version from Central Japan. Same steep 60-degree thatched roofs to combat heavy snowfall, robustly-designed multi-storey wooden frames that would last centuries, and most evidently, the same drive for quality and precision. There's a good reason why the world loves German and Japanese engineering.
The exhibits inside were excellent as well -- not just Bollenhut costumes or old furniture pieces, but realistic slices of daily life through the centuries inside these massive farmhouses, some being inhabited as late as the 1970's. It also gave us a greater appreciation for the guesthouse we're staying at ... there's a glazed tile fireplace inside Martin and Elfriede's house that's grander and more impressive than many museum pieces!
The Vogtsbauernhof was in fact my wife's favorite sight in the Black Forest -- 2.5 hours were barely enough for us to merely browse through every farmhouse, and a half day is probably more reasonable if you want to see everything at a leisurely pace. But you'll want to budget for more time than that, as there's an even more exhilarating attraction right next door.
If you're a fan of amusement rides, and even if you're not, you won't want to miss Gutach's Rodelbahn. Guided by steel rails swerving across the steep hillside, these personal rollercoaster carriages scream down the track at speeds that would appear to be suicidal, at least on the first couple of tries. In reality though the top speed is typically around 50 km/h, and is quite safe as the participant has full control of brakes and is strapped in by a harness anyway.
And if you're staying overnight within Gutach like we did, the guesthouses currently offers all overnight visitors a discount card called Gutachtal Card, which grants half-price entrance to the Vogtsbauernhof (a saving of 4 Euros) plus a free ride on the Rodelbahn. Then you can try it for free before deciding on how many rides to purchase.
Restaurants were few as expected in such a tiny village, which was why our guesthouse's kitchen came in handy. We did try two restaurants in town, starting with the landgasthof inside Vogtsbauernhof. The Schweinshaxe here was definitely better than the dry and over-charred version we had a couple days earlier in Cologne, and was reasonably priced, especially for a restaurant inside a museum, at 16.8 Euros for a ginormous 1.5 kg hock that easily fed both of us.
My wife ordered the local version of the ubiquitous Eintopf, which in this case turned out to be a light beef and vegetable stew. Overall it's a reasonably priced eatery for a hearty meal while visiting the Vogtsbauernhof, as the next closest restaurant would be a 30 minute walk (or 2 bus stops) away near the village centre.
Bill for Two Persons
| Eintopf | 7.8 Euros |
| Large Schweinshaxe | 16.8 Euros |
| Malzbier | 2.9 Euros |
| Radler | 3.3 Euros |
| TOTAL before tips | 30.8 Euros (CAD$43.1) |
My best recommendation within the village would be the venerable Gasthof Krone on Hauptstrasse, housed inside a historic building next to the town hall and well-regarded for regional dishes at very reasonable prices. Sadly our stomach room was limited by that 1.5 kg Schweinshaxe from lunch, but what we did order turned out very well.
In particular this Fried Trout with Almond Butter was absolutely delightful -- moist tender flesh, crispy fried skin and topped with a healthy heap of fried almond flakes in butter, served with potatoes and a side of fresh salad, and most amazingly ... for less than 10 Euros! The aroma of the fried almonds was so addictive that I must have licked up every morsel off the bones and fins of this fish. We definitely would have returned for dinner the next night if they're weren't closed on Tuesdays.
Bill for Two Persons
| Zwiebelsuppe | 4.5 Euros |
| Forelle mit Mandelbutter | 9.5 Euros |
| Omelette mit Champignons | 4.5 Euros |
| Ice Cream Smoothie | 4 Euros |
| Alpirsbacher Weizenbier | 3 Euros |
| TOTAL before tips | 25.5 Euros (CAD$35.7) |
The next day we continued to use Gutach as a base for visiting the charming small towns of Schiltach, Wolfach and Triberg, and did our grocery shopping at the neighborhood Norma for a dinner of authentic Black Forest ham and local cheeses. Writing this article now I'm almost forgetting that the weather was terrible for September on these two days (rain in the valley, snow at higher elevations at night), but it didn't matter to us. We had some of our best memories of Germany right here in Gutach and its surrounding towns.
Here I must thank Martin, Elfriede and Patrick for being the gracious hosts they were, showing us around their historic farm, serving up hearty German breakfasts, equipping us with sightseeing maps and train schedules and even offering to drop us off at the station. For any readers considering a vacation in the Black Forest, I absolutely recommend Joklisbauernhof as a friendly, centrally-located base at very affordable prices. Also, public transportation within the entire Black Forest is FREE for all overnight visitors with the KONUS Gästekarte, giving free bus and train rides all the way from Baden-Baden to the French and Swiss borders at Basel. Staying here was a major highlight of our trip, and I love sharing this with fellow travelers looking for a unique vacation in Germany.
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