AMERICANS FIND OUT GERMAN BLACK FOREST ISN‘T WHAT YOU‘D EXPECT 

We’re still debating about for us, but do you own a Cuckoo Clock or would you like one?? 😃

Hi guys. I live in the Black Forest, in Villingen-Schwenningen, about 20 kilometers from Triberg. If you want to visit a medieval downtown, which isnt touristy at all, visit Villingen downtown, it is sourrounded by a medieval city wall with four city gates, like Freiburg.

"Manufactured instead of handmade" ist funny. Translated from latin manufactured would literally mean handmade. Manus - the Hand, facere - to make.

I have been to the area a couple of times, and enjoyed it every time. Black Forest in Germany, Alsace in France, Basel in Switzerland... all relatively close together and all worth a visit.

Thank you, guys! As a German living in Berlin, I've never been to the Schwarzwald (shame on me!). Those waterfalls looked beautiful. My husband and I should definitely go! Really love all your content! I always learn something new about my own country! THANKS!!! ❤️❤️❤️

This video was very well put together, entertaining and very informative. Exactly what I was looking for, for preparing my trip to Germany. 👍

the Black Forest is really beautiful place. It is nice to be there.. Thanks for sharing. Have a nice Weekend! Greetings from Stuttgart ♥

I just saw your vid now! I felt really.. kind of honored cause I live in the black forest. 😊 Thanks!

The Blackforest is really a beautiful area! The Wutachschlucht was impressing. Like some Place in Tolkiens Middle Earth!

Thanks for making such awesome videos guys! Moving to germany was always something I wanted to do but never thought was possible. But after watching alot of your videos I really think its possible and not as scary or unrealistic i had imagined. So hopefully after college I can move and live my dream!

Love your travel videos... as always you're well prepared, open minded, fair in your critics... and then this excellent and very entertaining edit... well done... again 👍

Required Reading: Wilhelm Hauff - Heart of Stone (a fairy tale set in the Black Forest).

I really liked this video. I want to visit there....someday!

Great video

Great impressions of the Black Forest and, again, good job. As to the Kuckuck-Clocks....more something for the tourists to take home.

There are two (at least) lovely rail lines going through the Black Forest which you could use to get in and out, as well as, visit lovely places in nature. One is the Schwarzwaldbahn from Offenburg to Singen. Between Hornberg and Triberg the tracks go through multiple tunnels and circles. Thus, in this area are also nice spots where you can see a train in the distance disappearing in a mountain and the emerging from the forest at another location. Very model train like. The other one is from Freiburg to Titisee and then via the Dreiseenbahn to Schluchsee. Also a lovely country side with lakes and the you can find the regular train station at the highest elevation in Germany there. Sometimes you can book a trip on a steam train if you are in to such things.

Welcome to my hood guys! I'm very glad to hear you were pleasantly surprised by the black forest and had a good time here. looking forward to your next video! take care and stay safe! p.s. OF COURSE we own a cookoo clock!

I have been to Germany several times and I miss the charm of the small towns and outdoor areas. Last time we were in the Black Forest it was covered in snow. Just like a fairy tale. I love clocks and maps. I gave a gorgeous expensive floor clock (Grandfather clock) to my son that we had when he was a boy. His wife hates the chimes but they can be turned off. Guess you love them or hate them. I hope to get back for Christmas Markets when this mess is behind us.

Freiburg isn‘t really in the Black Forest at all. It is very close to it, but it is in a region called Breisgau, which is partnof the Rhine Valley. Breisgau has the mildest climate in all of Germany and the hottest summers. They grow fruit and types of wine there that wouldn‘t grow in any other German region. The black forrest on the other hand is a steep mountain range with a climate that doesn‘t support many crops. So it used to be a very poor region. People had to try to get by by floating timber down the rivers to cities places outside the mountains on big rafts.

I was there too and this clocks are all made per hand! I was in one of the shops and they explained how they are built.

Nice. Now i want to go there later today for a little hike. Weather should be good.

Great vlog.Nice landscape.good music.keep it up & stay safe.

I'm so happy you like the black forest, you are right it is kind of magical. I'm from Freiburg and I really enjoy seeing my home through your eyes. Regarding the name it's also good to consider that the name 'Black Forest' comes from a time when they did not have streetlights, big paved streets in general, the villages were smaller and travelling through the Black forest could be dangerous. As you said its a deep, thick and dark forest. When you come down into Freiburg from the Black forest you pass through the Höllental (he'll valley) and reach the town Himmelreich (kingdom of heaven) and that's because the Höllental is a deep and narrow Dale and often used by raiders or bandits so when travellers passed it unscathed and the landscape opens up they felt like they reached the heavens xD Can't wait for your video on Freiburg

My first trip to Germany was in 1982 (West Germany back then) and to the Black Forest, on a school trip from Wirral UK. We stayed in Youth Hostels in Feldberg - below the highest point in the area (you can see all the way to the Alps from the summit on a clear day), Menschenswand (visiting a beer festival in nearby St Blasien on a couple of occasions) and finishing in Freiburg. Not been back to the region since, but hope to one day.

I love your documentary of the area. I'm from Washington state and this is free for all: ) Also, Oregon....

Thank you! Wonderful, beautiful, relaxing view from the other side of the world. Makes me want to get on the treadmill and train for Euro travel hopefully in 2021 or 2022. Need to find a job first to save up.

Cuckoo clocks were an export article. There were specialized merchants named "Uhrenträger" (clock porter) who transported the clocks on their backs (in wooden carriers) down the Rhine valley to the Netherlands and then to London. Most cuckoo clocks were produced for the English market, but in the later 19th and early 20th century the fashion came to Germany also. In the 1950s cuckoo clocks were very popular in all of (West) Germany (in the East they had their own items from the Erzgebirge, which is like the Black Forest a traditional glass and clock making country), but that fashion dwindled. Today will find cuckoo clocks only in elder people's households, and they mostly inherited them from their grandparents. But fashions trend to come back, so ...

The name black forest was given by the romans (silva nigra) and refers to the great amount of needle beams in that area. Fir trees are called Tanne/Tannen and for one can immediately the german idiom "der dunkle Tann" to describe dark woods. Also the special thing about black forest ham is that it's smoked with wood from fir trees... 👍 So not only the provenience but as well the recipe is what a smoked ham make it a black forest ham. 😉

I recommend that you two check out Staufen. It is near Freiburg (around 20 km south) in the Marckgräflerland (the wine region of Germany). It has a small castle and a nice really small old town part, where the book "Faust" took place. In one of the restaurants is the burn mark of the devil.

Thanks for bringing Schilbach to my attention. Added it to my list. Curious how you liked Freiburg. If you go again and you visit the west side of the area make a stop at durbach caste near Offenburg. I loved the view from there.

Love it, Beautiful

If you go to Triberg early, the cashiers wont be at the stands and you can enter for free. I was there at 7.30

The word you are searching for is: "Gemutlich!" Thanks for covering Schiltach. I'm planning a trip thru southern Germany and Schiltach/Alpirsbach are high on my list.

Nice place, had been once in Triberg two years ago.

My family lineage goes back to that area. We were Inn keepers. I would definitely love living in Germany!

If you happen to go to Trossingen, there is a harmonica museum (harmonika-museum.de). Harmonicas were built by former clock makers as cuckoo clocks became less popular, or the market became more and more saturated. The most famous company Hohner was ist there and was founded by former clock makers.

It is a little bit sad, that you can't enjoy any german cultural events / beer festivals or something like this, because of the corona Virus. The Germans are not only people who live by rules, they can also make party and have great events.

Interestingly the name of the Black Forest originates from the time of the Roman Empire. In that time there where mostly leaf trees there instead of needle trees. Those leaf trees would have very thick crowns, which would block al the light from above. Therefore it was called the Black Forest, because it was so dark. All the needle trees where actually brought there a lot later by the people, after cutting down the leaf trees, because they needle trees grows faster then leaf trees.

My great grandfather was a Clockmaker in the Black Forest. He was also a "Uhrenträger" a clockcarrier who is wandering around to sell his Clocks.

Beautiful!

So, you were in Freiburg. For some next Times you can go Naumburg and Freyburg, to the Saale-Unstrut-Tal. Its an recomendation to go there. Also is the Geiseltal with its lake (my home region) not far away.

You just reminded me of some thoughts i had during my trip to the southwest of the US (gosh, that's almost 10 years ago now..). Coming from the Austrian mountains, where hiking means walking on paths that are sometimes just that: a path from people walking there, even without gravel or anything - and definitely never paved - it appered strange to me that you americans would have paved hiking trails in your national parcs. Funny to see, that we have the same over here too if you go to touristy places :)

"Black Forest Cake" Schwarzwälder Kirsch(torte). I need a slice as soon as possible. For a while now.

Great👍! Love your German pronunciation of "Triberg", sounds really German now! And congratulations too, you resisted to buying a Kuckucksuhr, hope you did 🙏😊

My Fifth Great grandfather Mathias Fode was born in Schiltach, Germany. Will be going soon , since you said it is not to touristy.

Great video! The nature is amazing! Just like out of a fairy tale book or something. Towns are nice too. I have some more suggestions. The first is the town of Limburg an der Lahn, with the nice cathedral, which was motiv on the 1000 dm mark bill. It has a small, but nice oldtown. Maybe a hour and you have seen all. On certain days you can join a guide who tell you the historiy about lots of oldtownsbuildings for a fee. Doing a walk along the Lahnriver is also nice. Maybe starting from the old Lahndbridge. And the church of Dietkirchen is a nice picturemotiv. Check out when no mess is beeing held, before going inside the cathedral of Limburg. Also small, but nice is the oldtown of Idstein. Maybe 30 minutes for walking around the oldtown. Like an add for a list, if you are on a way to a destination. Famous for the Witchtower, where never a witch was inprisoned. Sadly you can only visit the tower inside on certain days. Most time of a year it is closed for public. If you are in Idstein, check out the Unionskirche. The Kurhaus in Wiesbaden is pretty inside. Rüdesheim am Rhein with the monument. You can walk up or use a sideway lift. Kloster Eberbach is famous for the movie Name of the Rose with Sean Connery. And Kloster Lorsch is nice too. Worms, the church is a litte bit famous and the town of Oppenheim is neat for the underground labyrinth. Koblenz and the Fortres Ehrenbreitstein is also nice. And around Frankfurt am Main, the Großer Feldberg in the Taunusmountians, nice niew to Frankfurt. If you are in Frankfurt, check out the Maintower, if you like it or not. Nice View too. and i like the Palmengarten much. Dont check out the Paulskirche, its poor inside. Dont waste your time with this...shit. East of Frankfurt am Main are the nice towns of Büdingen, Gelnhausen and Seligenstadt. And check out the envrionemt around the castle Trifels. But i dont recommend the castle Trifles itself. There are much better medieval looking casltes in Germany. Have fun!

I love this Black Forest area. I first went to Triberg Falls in Sept 2019. It looks like you both went into a different entrance than my buddies and I did. I don't remember seeing the entrance that you had used. Hmmm, now I am confused lol. I actually made a small video of the Falls. Maybe you can tell me exactly how far off I was from you? I am really curious now lol. The place that we had lunch did not have any Black Forest cake available but the people insisted that that would make one for us. I tried to tell them no that's ok but they insisted anyway. That was the best cake ever lol lol. Those folks were so nice. :). I do have a couple of coo clocks. I also bought one for my daughter and she loves it and it is hanging in her room. I would love to go back to Triberg as well as the surrounding cities for sure. :).

I lived in the Black Forest for 5 years during my time in the RCAF, 1987-92. (Two years in Nonnenweir near Lahr, and three years in Ottersdorf near Rastatt/ Baden Baden). I don't have a cuckoo clock but I do have a grandfather clock that I bought at Neff in Lauterback. You buy your clock straight from the factory where they have a showroom. Not sure if they're still there but they had great prices. House of a Thousand Clocks is just going to rip you off.

So funny we were just in triberg at the waterfall about 2 weeks ago.

Schiltach is such a beautiful town. I wouldn't want to live there because mountains. But to be touristy or to test showers it's really nice. And I actually want to go visit the Triberger Wasserfälle now. I can't remember going there ever (I'm from the outskirts of the Black Forest so that's a gap in my education). I hope you had a lovely time here

If you the next time in black Forrest, you should visit Freudenstadt and the National Park. The Lothar Pfad and some Places roud the Schwarzwald Hochstraße. Nice Video, by the way! In black Forrest is so much to discover. You need a guite!

A segment on European-style camping would be eye-opening. Also

Triberg and Titisee are the two towns which you visit when you do Europe in 7 days. Just rush in with the bus, walk up the waterfalls and back to the bus to the next destination. Germans go to the black forest for long hikings and biking even for some days, skiing in the winter, paraglinding and so on. What you will see if you go further up, all the trees are dying, the firs cannot stand the warming, the storm Lothar has decimated already and now a small bug, the Borkenkäfer is killing all the trees. So you will find not much dense forest is left. However the northern part of the black forest has been declared nature reservation and will be kept as it is to form a new more natural type of forest. Perhaps you can visit one of the open air museums with old black forest farm houses. These huge houses with the big roofs are typical for the black forest.

The Schwarzwarld or Blackforst is called this Way because of its Schwarztannen, they very unique and common for this Area.

You should also visit hansgrohe in Schiltach and Hornberg. It's one of the german Mittelstandunternehmen that's famous around the world. As there are many other important little businesses in the Schwarzwald.

Freiburg im Breisgau is 2020 900 years old. It was founded by the Zähringer in the year 1120.

Ich werde in den nächsten 6 Monaten in diese Gegend umziehen! Ich bin aufgeregt! 😃🤩

Come to Austria and see woods was which are not paved and really hard. The view you get is amazing. ;-)

As usual, you are so polite and positive! Other people might have said that some places there have sold their soul to tourism and should be avoided at all cost; but not you guys ;). On a side note, never ever use cheap, sugary liqueur for your Black Forest gateau. It has to be Kirschwasser.

We might have almost met in Triberg ;)

Schwarzwald is also famous for their Wellness-Hotel

My ancestors are from black forest. Maybe I'll visit one day.

I hope that you tried plenty of Sausage bars in Bavaria and Germany. I believe that the Bratwurst on a roll with sauerkraut and ketchup is supposed to be great with a huge German lager.

I've got to dissapoint you and most of all the tourists coming to the Black Forest. The Black Forest Cuckoo Clock isn't the original Black Forest clock. It was a commercial gag in the beginning of the 20th century. The Original Black Forest's clocks are wooden clocks with a haindpainted shield. Originals are very rare and very expensive. You can see it best if you find some postcards with a picture of a man who sells these clocks and have a lot of them on a kind of frame on his back (just like a backpack)!

The fight for tourists is a hard one, that means you need something special, something big, tall, cute, very little or small. Something unique to bring and keep the people in Germany 🙂 Have you ever been to Furth im Wald near to the Czech border in the Bavarian forest? They have Germany's oldest folk drama called den Drachenstich / the dragon sting and the dragon museum. The Wild garden is fantastic with a lot to discover and some mysterious things. The Adventure World Flederwisch is also nice and bizarre.

As children we had a Cockoo clock in our room. The problem was that it was so loud that we had to stop the pendulum each night. One night the clock started by its own to run. This was the night when the big earthquake happened in Friaul (Italy), which our clock detected in Munich. Since then I understand why Americans esp. from California are so fond of them.

Most people in the Netherlands don’t own a cuckoo clock. You should visit the Krimmler Wasserfälle in Austria.

just realized that that cake has its name from the forest never thought of it

If you happen to pass by Sexau (near Freiburg) on your next vacation, check out Oma Luise's Küche for the best Rahmschnitzel and Spätzle :)

Cross the Rhine and visit the western black forest, die Vogesen. Very beautiful too. I do not know, if the Covid measures allow this since this part is in France :-(

If I ever got a Cuckoo Clock it would be one with a dragon instead of a cuckoo. Or something steampunky. Or both.

I live in Freiburg because of studying. We were in Triberg for a motorbike tour and I was so disappointed because it’s so touristic and seemd like a joke to me.

The thing with the highest waterfalls is indeed confusing. But you got it right. Also the entrance fee is indeed a bit impudent, because you can get in through the top and sides even without an entrance fee. Personally, I find the waterfall in Todtnau and the waterfalls in Allerheiligen (All saints) more beautiful. Schiltach is a very beautiful place. Hope you also went to the beautiful Gengenbach.

There is a very nice Hiking Trail for all of you interested in hiking the black forest . ist the oldest trail in Germany and its callled ,,Westweg,, it covers about 280km from north to south . im starting the trail tmrw (= (= (= it will take me about 10 to 14 days i guess

I studied in the Black Forest, in Furtwangen near Triberg. That town is not beautiful, not interesting (so I finished my study as fast as possible ;-) ). But one of the River Danube spring is there, also the German Clock Museum (Germany's biggest clock collection, about 8,000 clocks, 1,000 of them to see). Other interesting points might be the Linachtalsperre next to Furtwangen and the impressing dome in St. Blasien ("Black Forest Dome”).

Are there still as many squirls at the waterfalls as there were when I went a few years ago?

Guys, if you are really into medieval towns and timber-framed houses, I highly recommend to go visit Einbeck in Lower Saxony. You'll love it. :-)

They even have Sasquatch there. Look on RU-vid for „Almost near death experience in the black forest.“. 3 Canadians had an horrible encounter in the German Black Forest with such creature. Greetings from 🇦🇹🏔⛷🛶🍺🥨👍💪🐺Europe!

The Black Forest Cherrycake has inside Black Forrest Cherrywater a Kind of schnaps

This video makes me think... in my mind hiking is a very german thing (though other europeans hike a lot as well). When i was a kid we would go hiking or taking a long stroll in the nearby woods almost every weekend. Did you already do a comparison video about hiking culture in Germany and the US? If not, there‘s an idea ^^

OMG, you are walking around at places of my childhood. There was no touristy fuss and of course no other language than swabian dialect and very little English back then. Black forest was pitch black and paths were not built and tarmac like for walking in Highheels. Kids had Wandertag twice a year and that really was hiking from nine to twelve, have lunch and hike back. We went to see Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhöfe in Gutach with class. Village life from 400 years ago. Kuckucksuhren and watchmakers were in Triberg and around all the time of course. My grandma had one in the kitchen. She put it on twelve o 'clock for us as the little bird came out twelve times then. We were not allowed to pull the metal cord with the metal weights hanging under the watch. This is the mechanic to keep the watch going. The weights are metal shaped like pinecone and of course we did touch them secretly. Triberg is pronounced like tree - berg, saying try-berg is not right. The German i is always spoken i like in indicate, indigo. The City Freiburg is spoken like fry - burg. Ei is an egg in German and you say something like Eye. Just shorter. Freiburg is very beautiful and close to Schwarzwald on the other end of the forest. Maybe you will show it in the next video. Or you may visit Freudenstadt which is closer. What did you expect in black forest? Trees are green 😉 most in black forest are conifers. We got Waldsterben and that happens in black forest too, unfortunately. So the trees are not as thick and healthy as they should be. Environment damage. There were some big storms within the last twenty years too and did lots of damage. Trees dont grow within a few years. This needs decades to recover. Read about Rübezahl. His face is carved in old pieces of wood. Creepy ghost of black forest to scare kids.

We own a cuckoo clock and it’s from the Black Forest.

Did you have a slice of Schwarzwaelder Kirshtorte? Ok, you guys are legit. Saw that you had it.

8:44 Yeah, that's how physics works. ;)

There's no shampoo in the black forrest?

Manufactured MEANS handmade in latin. Manus = hand, facere = to make/do

i moved into the very southern Part of the Black Forrest clost to the Swiss Border...it is a great Spot to live...

Guys.... we live just like 4mi apart from each other and yet I didn't meet u guys yet. Whyyyyyyyyyy 🧐😂🤨 My adopted Dad lives down in the Black Forest, right on the swiss border, it's called Waldshut-Tiengen. They have a nice old city center there :)

If zou want to see real authentic black forest vibes without tourists go to Oberwolfach, go up to the math research institute and go into the black forest from there. Incrediblz beautiful untouched nature.

German Province of Swabia, Wunderbar!!!💚❤

If it has English menus it is still touristy, believe me. However, not everything touristy is bad. I would suggest not to look for anything you have known before you entered a country but to open up to the thousand little things happening while you’re there and talk to us if you have the chance to meet a resident. Good thing is, you need no car and one should not plan to drive for hours and hours. Just stay somewhere, walk and use public transport.

So are we just gonna ignore the giant smoke plume in the background of the introduction?

We got our cuckoo clock from Oli’s.

Moin, I think the nature of Germany hasn't got anything that couldn't be found in the USA or at Canada. There are a lot of more and much bigger forests and waterfalls than everywhere else in Europe. Even the more and more aride regions of Spain (as a result of an environmental desaster going on there) have "more adult" counterparts in the deserts which can be found in the southern and western parts of the USA. In comparision the Black Forest in Germany is some sort of Disney Land for very careful people to make sure that they do not get lost in a real - eh - natural forest. You have been smart enough to visit the Black Forest in fall, but in the summer it is often too overcrowded to enjoy it as a treasury of nature. More interesting for tourists from other continents could be the museums showing ancient ways of life and the life in the 19th century during the industrialization. This was different from the life american settlers led. There had been reasons why people started to make those cookoo clocks or a lot of other stuff not needed for forestry or farming. And there are reasons why the Black Forest isn't as big as it used to be centuries before. Where has all the wood gone to? LG

I grew up in the Black Forrest and I found it rather depressing and dark. So I chose Hamburg over it.

I am German and I am always confused why there are sooooooo many tourist and xpad videos specifically about the black forrest. Why the hell is it world famous and what for. Their cake and their cookoo clocks maybe, but the forrst is just another forrest like any forrest in central europe. Everytime I get visited for the first time by British or Irish friends all they want to do is to go see the black forrest and I never understood it. Why is it such a big deal? It's just a forrest^^ Maybe it's because I grew up in the "Fränkische Schweiz" and am used to that kind of environment, but it's just nothing special to me^^

So, did we promise too much? And there's enough places and towns to spend a whole month in the area.

Gorgeous place, remember during Covid when everyone acted as if the very was poisonous? Even in the purist places like this.

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