
The Schwarzwaldhochstraße or ''
Black Forest
The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...
High Road'' is the oldest and one of the best known themed drives in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. It is a part of the
B 500 federal highway and leads over 60 km from
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...
to
Freudenstadt.
Route description
The ''Schwarzwaldhochstraße'' begins in
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...
and rises quickly to the main ridge of the
northern Black Forest, reaching the top at the
Bühlerhöhe. At the top is a luxury hotel, also named "Bühlerhöhe". A small chapel with notable
stained glass
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
windows, known locally as the Adenau Church (''Adenauerkirche''), sits perched on an outcrop on the heights. When the weather is clear, there is a wide view over the
Rhine plain toward the
Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...
.
From the Bühlerhöhe, the Hochstraße runs at an altitude of between 800 and 1,000 metres above sea level past several highland hotels (Plättig, Sand, Hundseck, Unterstmatt, Mummelsee, Ruhestein, Schliffkopf). At one of the several ski areas along the route, on the
Mehliskopf near Sand, is a year-round, all-weather
bob track. Here is also where the road branches off to the
Schwarzenbach Dam and the
Herrenwies Nordic ski centre.
Other ski lifts and restaurants can be found at Hundseck and
Unterstmatt.
Passing below the highest mountain in the northern Black Forest, the 1,164-metre-high
Hornisgrinde, the road reaches the almost circular
Mummelsee, a
cirque
A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...
from the
latest ice age.
The ''Naturschutzzentrum'' (Nature Conservation Centre) at
Ruhestein has information about the
Central and Northern Black Forest Nature Park, one of a series of
nature parks throughout Germany that aim to protect natural and cultural features of an area. The information centre is also responsible for the
Lothar Path, an interpretive trail showing the effects of the 1999 storm
Lothar
Lothar or Lothair is a Danish, Finnish, German, Norwegian, and Swedish masculine given name, while Lotár is a Hungarian masculine given name. Both names are modern forms of the Germanic Chlothar (which is a blended form of ''Hlūdaz'', me ...
. In addition to ski lifts and
cross-country trails, Ruhestein has a
ski jump
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...
.
The road then continues over the
Schliffkopf and
Kniebis ranges, past Zuflucht and the
Alexanderschanze to end in the town of
Freudenstadt.
History
The name ''Schwarzwaldhochstraße'' was first used in 1930 after the completion of the section of road between Hundseck and Untersmatt made access to the
High Black Forest easier. In order to draw the growing number of tourist cars to the highland hotels, the roads in the high valleys were collectively named as a
holiday route. Under the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
, further construction was done for strategic reasons, including finishing the uncompleted stretch between
Ruhestein and
Alexanderschanze through a nature reserve between 1938 and 1941. The entire route from Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt was completed in 1952.
History of the Schwarzwaldhochstraße
/ref>
References
Literature
* Ernst Kafka, Wolfgang Schlund: ''Die Schwarzwaldhochstraße – Geschichte und Geschichten.'' PK-Verlag, Freiamt 2007, ISBN 978-3-9810385-1-4.
* Roland Seiter: ''Erlebnis Schwarzwaldhochstraße … zu Großvaters Zeiten … anhand historischer Ansichtskarten.'' Verlag Regionalkultur, Ubstadt-Weiher 2018, ISBN 978-3-95505-087-0.
See also
* Castle Road, themed route in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg
* Falkenfelsen, or Falcon Rock, in Baden-Württemberg
* German Wine Route, in the Palatinate region
* Romantic Road, a holiday route in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg
External links
Official site - 75 Years of the ''Schwarzwaldhochstraße''
Baiersbronn, a region along the route.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarzwaldhochstrasse
German tourist routes
Roads in Baden-Württemberg
Black Forest
Tourist attractions in Baden-Württemberg
Transport in the Black Forest