A wonderful mixture of wild and romantic landscapes, woods, meadows, vineyards, hills, mountains, lakes, waterfalls and thermal springs, it is scattered throughout with ancient wide roofed farmhouses, castles, palaces, baroque churches and monasteries.And it is also famous for traditional wood carving and Cuckoo Clocks. The carved wooden pendulum driven clock that, using small bellows and pipes, marks time by imitating the sound of a cuckoo and striking a gong.
No date is known as to when the tradition of ‘cuckoo clock making’ began, although a 1629 description exists of one belonging to a Prince Elector and another, with illustrations, in a 1650 musical handbook and, although it is often said the first cuckoo clocks came from Switzerland which is just across the border, it was in the Black Forest that from the 18th century a cuckoo clock industry was established and developed.
With winters that were long and snowbound and a plentiful supply of trees, initially even the clock’s works were made from wood, the making and carving of Cuckoo Clocks became a profitable way for farmers, and others whose work depended on the seasons, to use the winter months.
In the spring the completed clocks would be sold from a rack mounted on the back of a member of the family, or a clock peddler, who known as Uhrentraeger ‘clock carrier’ would wear the traditional smock and hat still worn by some guides in the Black Forest, and travel around selling them door to door.
Originally a clock maker needed a week for every clock, by 1780 teams of two were already able to produce ten clocks a week, and by the mid 19th century three people, two craftsmen and an apprentice, could make 18 clocks in the same time, a form of mass production had developed in an industry that by 1808 had grown to involve almost 700 clock makers and 600 clock sellers.
Germany is criss-crossed with theme routes, from The Romantic Road to sign posts of the life of Pope Benedict XVI, and one of them is the Deutsche Uhrenstrasse, the circular 320 kilometer German Clock Road which starts and ends in the city of Villingen-Schwenningen, exploring and highlighting the Black Forest clock making traditions and history with its workshops, museums, clock face painting studios and the worlds largest Cuckoo Clock.
It is a journey through the world of clocks but as it travels through medieval villages and beautiful areas of the central and southern Black Forest, as well as the eastern edge of the mountain range in the Baar area, it is also one of the most scenic of Germany’s routes.
One feature is the clear water of lake Titisee, believed to be named after the Roman emperor Titus and formed by the glacier from the Feldberg, a 1493 meter peak and part of the region’s low mountain range. The largest natural lake in the Black Forest, a hundred years ago it was a settlement of just a few farm houses, now a health resort it joins the region’s long established thermal springs that have been valued and enjoyed since Roman times, and the centre for health cures and spa treatments for centuries.
A small river flows from the ‘Titisee’ as the ‘Gutach’ and joins another forming the ‘Wutach’, which foams as it travels through a gorge in an area kept as a nature preserve since 1928. A beautiful thirteen kilometer long trail passes plants and animals that died out long ago elsewhere but are still to be found here. 1200 rare species are protected, with everything from mosses and ferns to more than one hundred different kinds of birds, 500 species of butterflies and 1,000 different beetles.
While the picturesque old town of Triberg not only has spectacular
waterfalls, which make a memorable background to the annual Advent Christmas market, it is also possible to observe the work of the only remaining clockmaker who continues to produce an entire clock himself, from the clockwork to the making and carving of the brown stained case.Old customs are still alive in the whole of the Black Forest region, including the traditional costumes from the clock making area, with its Bollenhut, a hat decorated with large red pompoms, which have become a symbol of the Black Forest and part of the tourist industry but are also worn on Sundays, Christian holidays and special occasions.
There are 14,000 Kirschwasser distilleries, the majority artisanal, making the sour cherry liquor which for centuries has been one of the district’s specialty fruit schnapps. Also originally made from wild cherries is the famous German confection Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte, Black Forest Gateau, the glorious, if it is made correctly, layered combination of chocolate, cherries and cream.
While amongst all the other regional specialties is the incomparable genuine Black Forest Ham, Schwarzwaelder Schinken. Spiced and cured as it was in the days when salting or smoking meat was the only known way to preserve it to last throughout the winter, and fitting perfectly to the traditional rye breads baked in wood fired ovens.
The Black Forest and the Deutsche Uhrenstrasse, the German Clock Route, are filled with tradition, history, scenery, thermal springs and old fashioned inns, and are a feast for not only for the mind, eyes and health but also the appetite.
Germany (Eyewitness Travel Guides): The Eyewitness Travel Guide for Germany is absolutely the best travel book available for anyone who wants to visit the country, either from the comfort of their armchair or in person. It has stunning illustrations together with easy to read descriptions, and is my personal favorite.
Black Forest Farm house from 1900, typical of those still to be found, Library of Congress, Watercolour depicting 18th century home based Cuckoo Clock Makers, one of Triberg’s waterfalls, all courtesy de.Wikipedia
