I'm standing here at the Ravenna Bridge
which is the only heatable railway bridge in Germany.
Because of this, it can withstand ice and snow in winter.
Dense evergreen forests,
over 6,000 km of natural landscapes and picturesque villages.
Welcome to the Black Forest of Germany!
Or as they say in German: "Willkommen im Schwarzwald!"
Our first stop in the Black Forest is the town of Freiburg.
Which is famous for its cuckoo clocks and Germany’s highest waterfall.
In fact, the whole region of Black Forest is actually famous for cuckoo clocks.
So it's not a surprise that the world’s largest cuckoo clock
and the world’s smallest cuckoo clock are both found in this area.
So here we are at the world’s largest cuckoo clock.
It’s not the one behind me.
It’s on the other side of the building. But the one behind me has a cuckoo’s call.
If I put a €1 coin, we can actually see and hear the cuckoo’s call.
And the lady behind me, as you can see, is wearing a traditional and very unique headdress.
Let’s try the cuckoo's call!
Press it!
Oh, it’s happening!
And now we’re gonna have look at the waterfalls.
We can also feed the squirrels here in the waterfall area. Let's see if we find some!
I can already see it!
We should always maintain social distance here.
It's lucky for us, that it's very easy to do.
Because there’s no one here.
By the way, this costs around 6 Euros entrance.
I'm waiting for the squirrels to come.
There's the sign.
Unfortunately, this time, we didn't find any squirrels.
So now we've reached the famous 360° curve.
This cross sign signifies it.
And this is a very famous and quite dangerous 360° curve in Höllental called Kreuzfelsenkurve.
Make sure to slow down and drive carefully!
Here you can see the so called 'Hirschsprung' gorge, the spot where — according to a legend —
a stag leapt over the Höllental.
The distance seems way too wide now to jump across,
but apparently it used to be much more narrow before road construction.
This is greener than the other area.
In 300 meters turn left!
Right next to the Black Forest, we have the sunniest city in Germany:
The city of Freiburg.
Specifically as we say it: Freiburg im Breisgau.
It’s a historic jewel with a medieval city center,
green environment and attractive Gothic buildings.
And it's also a very, very bike-friendly city.
At the moment the rules here say that you’re supposed to wear a mask
whenever you're walking through the crowded inner-city area.
So:
Let's explore the city!
Right in the center of the city, we have a gorgeous 800-year-old cathedral called the Freiburg Münster.
It has more than 91 gargoyles, the statues which stick out from the walls.
And 19 bells.
Luckily, it survived the bombings from both the World Wars.
So we can enjoy its beauty even today.
And right next to it there is a very interesting building here:
It's called the historic Merchant's Hall.
And it looks like it's something straight out from a fairytale.
One of the most interesting and unique things about the Freiburg city
are these small water channels which run alongside the streets here.
In the olden times, they were used to feed animals and fight fires.
Nowadays, they're used to cool down the city in the summer.
Compared to the other cities in the world, where such channels of water
are often used as sewers and gutters here it is forbidden to use them as sewers.
Actually, these are called "Bächle".
And according to the locals, if you accidentally step into one of those,
you will marry a person from Freiburg.
So: be careful!
Be careful!
They even have little boats for it.
You may have had a Black Forest cake.
It's a popular traditional sponge cake made with cream, cherries and chocolate.
We weren’t allowed to eat it inside the restaurant
as you can only take food to go at the moment.
It is actually unknown if it originates from this area,
But the cherries on top sure remind of the traditional Black Forest headdresses.
If you're up for a little challenge, try ordering the Black Forest cake in German.
It's called "Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte".
There's actually a piece of Black Forest right here inside Freiburg.
It's called "Schlossberg Freiburg".
We are right here.
And it is a 20-minute walk to reach the Schlossberg tower
which is a viewpoint for the whole city.
There used to be a castle up here in the Schlossberg hill,
but it was destroyed in the 1740s.
That's where the name of this hill comes from.
But it offers fabulous views over the whole Freiburg city — 360°!
Hope you got a brief nice overview of all the things in the Black Forest area.
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See you next time!