Black Forest

The Black Forest (Schwarzwald)

Baden-Baden was where Napoleon III took the waters, where Brahms and Dostoyevsky came to write, and where Kaiser Wilhelm I maintained a summer residence. The thermal springs that created the town’s reputation were discovered by Roman soldiers from the local garrison around 75 CE, and the Romans named the place Aquae Aureliae. The spa culture here is consequently not a modern wellness invention but a 2,000-year-old practice that Baden-Baden has simply never stopped pursuing. The Friedrichsbad, the historic Roman-Irish thermal bathhouse built in 1877, takes you through a 17-step bathing ritual over three hours in a building ornate enough to feel like a palace. The Caracalla Therme next door is the modern equivalent, more functional, less theatrical, and better for a quick visit.

The Black Forest covers roughly 6,000 square kilometres across Baden-Wurttemberg in southwestern Germany, stretching 160 kilometres from north to south. The northern section is dominated by forested sandstone ridges and spa towns; the southern section rises to 1,493 metres at the Feldberg and gives clear-day views across to the Alps.

Baden-Baden

Baden-Baden is the most elegant gateway to the northern forest and worth two nights regardless of whether you came for the hiking. The Kurgarten and the Lichtentaler Allee, a two-kilometre avenue of trees along the Oos River, were designed in the 19th century and remain the kind of formal park layout that European spa towns perfected. The casino in the Kurhaus building is the oldest in Germany and the model for the casino at Monte Carlo; if you go, the dress code is jacket and tie after 8pm.

The Panorama Trail from Baden-Baden is a premium-certified circular hiking route combining forest paths, castle ruins, and views across the Rhine Valley toward France. The Battertfelsen cliffs above the town are reachable by foot from the centre and give a view that explains why European aristocracy spent summers here for two centuries.

The Forest and the Trails

Over 24,000 kilometres of marked hiking trails cross the Schwarzwald, which makes the forest one of the most systematically walkable landscapes in Germany. The Westweg, a long-distance route from Pforzheim to Basel (285 kilometres), runs the length of the forest along the ridge. The middle sections around the Feldberg and the Belchen summit are the most dramatic; sections further north through the spa towns are gentler.

Triberg, in the central forest, has Germany’s highest accessible waterfall, a seven-stage cascade totalling 163 metres. The town is also the acknowledged centre of cuckoo clock manufacturing; workshops here have been producing clocks since the 17th century, and the House of 1,000 Clocks is more interesting than its name suggests. The mechanical precision involved in the movement, and the hand-carved casings, reward looking at properly.

Food and Drink

Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte (Black Forest cake) was standardised as a recipe in 1934 by Josef Keller, a pastry chef from Bad Godesberg. The formula is chocolate sponge, whipped cream, cherries, and kirsch (cherry brandy). Most versions sold in tourist areas are pallid facsimiles; a good version requires fresh Morello cherries and proper kirsch soaked through the sponge. Finding a good one is worth the effort.

Schwarzwalder Schinken is the dry-cured, cold-smoked ham from the region. The cold-smoking over fir branches gives it a flavour distinct from any other European cured ham, and the protected designation means the name guarantees regional production. Get it from a butcher rather than a tourist shop.

The local Baden wines, produced along the Rhine Valley on the western edge of the forest, are the best in this part of Germany. The Kaiserstuhl volcanic hill produces excellent Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris; the wine cooperative there is open to visitors.

Getting There

EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg serves the southern Black Forest; Frankfurt Airport is the gateway for the northern section, about 90 minutes from Baden-Baden by train. A car is the practical tool for exploring the forest beyond the main towns. The train from Freiburg to Baden-Baden follows the edge of the forest and is a scenic alternative.