As we based ourselves at a dairy farm in Gutach, we used the opportunity to explore the Black Forest's historic and unique little towns. In one day we visited the charming Schiltach, Wolfach and Triberg, taking advantage of FREE public transportation (see KONUS Gästekarte) for overnight visitors. We started in the mid-morning, taking the trusty Bus #7150 and the Kinzigtal Railway towards Schiltach.
Schiltach has long been heralded as one of the most visually stunning locales in the Black Forest, a medieval townscape nationally protected as a cultural heritage and a stop on the Fachwerkstraße, or German Timber-Frame Road. This was definitely among our favorite places in the Black Forest, along with Gengenbach and Gutach im Schwarzwald.
Meandering through the old town from all directions are beautiful cobblestone paths lined with half-timber houses dating as far back as the 16th Century, with all paths leading to an impressive town hall from the age of the Renaissance. And unlike the popular tourist destinations on the major rail corridors along the Rhine and the Neckar, much of the medieval quarter remains relatively untouched by modern tourism and many houses still serve as residences to the original families.
Schiltach had seen its golden age as a logistical hub for shipping valuable Black Forest timber down the Rhine to the Netherlands, until the arrival of railways brought about its decline ... and effectively conserved its townscape in the 1800's. Today it's a minor station on a minor rail line, remote enough to be hidden from mass tourism yet easily accessible for those who prefer a more intimate and romantic small town atmosphere.
The most impressive sight in town is an amusingly sloped town square, built on a hillside overlooked by a ruined castle from the 13th Century. To this date it remains the heart and soul of this tightly-knit community -- the entire town still congregates here for festivals and events, the most famous being a candlelit religious procession on New Year's Eve. On this day the Markt was mostly empty, and we probably saw less than 10 visitors in town the entire morning.
We arrived at around 10:45 and spent much of our time strolling along the picturesque riverbank and exploring the town's medieval cobblestone streets. We also visited a few museums in town, starting with a stop at the Museum am Markt. The exhibits on town history were nice, but my favorite part was ...
... this beautiful view of the Markt from the museum's top floor! The museum staff, and the townsfolk in general, were extremely friendly -- one of them even gave us a beautifully printed picture book (not a brochure!) as a present for us to take back to Canada.
Also worthy of a visit was the Schüttesage-Museum, a tribute to the town's medieval industries of lumber-rafting and leather tanning. Still standing guard at the confluence of the town's two rivers is the old waterwheel, powered by rapids at this narrowest point of the Kinzig river. Tradition still runs strong to this date and local tanneries such as Trautwein has kept Schiltach at the forefront of leather fashion in Germany. 1200 Euros for a jacket was a little steep for me though, but I did pick up a quality windbreaker at the Trautwein store, just in time for the inclement weather over the next two days.
There's one more reason why we loved Schiltach so much -- we had two of our favorite pieces of cake, anywhere in the world, at this remote little town in the Black Forest.
Quietly sitting under the shadow of Schiltach's 16th Century town hall, Konditorei Kaffeebohne is impossible to miss for any visitor passing through the Markt. Arriving before noon we weren't sure whether we wanted a proper lunch or just desserts, but that was all settled once we got to the cake display. We would have a proper lunch of nothing but desserts, starting with ... what else ... the famed Black Forest Cake, or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.
And it was one of the best cakes I've ever had. Unlike the bastardized versions of Black Forest Cakes sold elsewhere in the world, this was the perfect balance of the softest cream, the lightest cake and most importantly, the most generous infusion with genuine Black Forest cherry liquor. We tried Kirschtorte at other Black Forest towns but none came remotely close to this magical piece of cake here. I would go back to Schiltach given the chance, just for this Kirschtorte alone.
To be honest we half-expected miracles out of the traditional Black Forest Cake -- we're in the Black Forest after all. But what really surprised us was the heavenly creaminess of this Frankfurter Kranz, enveloped in crushed roasted hazelnuts and brittle nuts, and made absolutely melt-in-the-mouth smooth with generous layers of delectable buttercream. If you're wondering how good this was ... my wife actually loved this even more than the Kirschtorte.
Having full confidence now in the skillful hands of the Konditor in house, we returned to the cake display and ordered yet another piece, this one a delicately light cake of white chocolate mousse. I probably could have had another piece (or two), and I don't know how my wife found the discipline to stop. This little cafe was definitely my favorite eatery in the Black Forest ... if I don't count the once-a-year pig roast at the medieval festival at Gernsbach.
And last but not least, served with these wonderful cakes was a gorgeous view of one of the Black Forest's most enchanting medieval town squares. We stayed until early afternoon before we finally said goodbye to lovely Schiltach, and took the train to our next stop of Wolfach.
Bill for Two Persons
| Black Forest Cake | 2.7 Euros |
| Frankfurter Kranz | 2.7 Euros |
| White Chocolate Cheesecake | 2.7 Euros |
| Radler | 2.5 Euros |
| Black Currant Juice | 1.9 Euros |
| TOTAL before tips | 12.5 Euros (CAD$17.5) |
Yet another characterful town along the Kinzig Valley, Wolfach is only marginally better-known than Schiltach due to its former glory as one of Germany's top resorts in the late 1800's. Today's visitors come mostly for its 17th Century castle (Schloss Wolfach) and a glass-blowing museum (Dorotheenhütte). We planned to visit neither, though our hostess at the our farm stay recommended the Dorotheenhütte as a worthy attraction. In my opinion though, there are no better attraction nearby than the Vogtsbauernhof, and the medieval townscapes of Schiltach and Gengenbach.
For us Wolfach was simply the most sensible stop between Schiltach and our latter destination of Triberg, as this was where trains from Schiltach made a stop and Bus #7150 to Triberg picked up. Having just a little over an hour, we looked around the exterior of Schloss Wolfach then spent most of our time exploring the shops on the aptly named Marktstrasse.
We finished our quick stop with a stroll along the scenic riverfront, then hurried back to the train station to catch Bus #7150. Little did we know that the bus actually has a stop on Marktstrasse and we could have spent another 10 minutes in the shops. A 30 minute bus ride would take us straight to the centre of Triberg, which was way more convenient than taking the train to Triberg Station then walking 10 minutes uphill.
And finally we've arrived -- Triberg, the clock capital of Germany, and the most famous of Black Forest's collection of whimsical little towns. The spectacular Black Forest Railway runs through the lower town, and one of Germany's tallest waterfalls is just a 15 minute walk from the town square. But these all pale in comparison to the one genuinely German fascination no visitor would miss ...
Cuckoo Clocks! These handcrafted mechanical wonders are synonymous with the Black Forest and arguably Germany in general, as demonstrated by Chancellor Merkel's choice of them as diplomatic gifts to visiting foreign leaders. At the centre of this whole industry is the town of Triberg, featuring a whole street of clock merchants from kitschy souvenir shops to master clock makers.
Some of the most impressive samples can be found at the Schwarzwaldmuseum, a rambling but fascinating collection of all things Black Forest from 200-year-old clock mechanisms to 19th Century barrel organs to retired equipment from the old Black Forest Railway. And if you intend on purchasing a genuine Black Forest Cuckoo Clock for the living room (and I was somewhat tempted myself), we compared several shops and found Oli's Schnitzstube across from the museum to feature the best hand-carved quality.
This large wall-mounted clock in the middle would cost a cool 1498 Euros, though smaller and simpler models can be had for less than 200 ... plus another 60 Euros or so for overseas shipping. We ended up not finding anything we absolutely can't leave without, and took the last bus at 18:15 back to our farm stay in Gutach. This would be our last night in Gutach as we would be moving onward to yet another Black Forest town, the incredibly photogenic Gengenbach, the next morning.
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