10 reasons to visit the Black Forest

At 1493 meters (4898 ft), the Feldberg is the highest peak in the Black Forest. On its south side, the view stretches from the third-highest peak, the 1414-meter Belchen, over the foothills to the jagged Swiss Alps. At any time of the year, there are moments when the landscape seems magically transformed into a painting.

The Romans called the region in southwestern Germany the Black Forest because they considered it dark and impenetrable. Over the centuries the forest was thinned out. Now cows graze on the flanks of mountains like those in the Münstertal valley. In the southern and northern Black Forest, large natural areas have been left to themselves again.

The people of the Black Forest care about sustainability, so they offer tourists a range of environmentally-friendly mobility options: buses and trains are free of charge or you can test an electric car. The ascent to the observation point over the Schluchsee reservoir is easy with an e-bike. And traditional hiking is as popular as ever.

Black Forest ham is a dry-cured smoked boneless ham with a visible fatty rind. Its distinctive blackish-brown rind develops when it's smoked over wood from local conifers. Cut into wafer-thin slices, it tastes especially good on freshly baked coarse rye bread. "Black Forest Ham" is now a protected designation of origin in the EU.

Black Forest farmsteads have shaped the face of the region for centuries. The Vogtsbauernhof dates from 1612 and is a historically listed building in the open-air museum of the same name near Gutach. Its pitched wooden-shingled and thatched roof with its long overhang is typical. In summer it supplies shade, and in winter it can withstand the wind and accumulated masses of snow.

Whoever invented the cuckoo clock is disputable, though tradition has it that the cuckoo was originally supposed to be a cockerel - but its "cock-a-doodle-do" was too complicated. The biggest specimens, up to 15 meters in height, one with a 150-kilo cuckoo, are in Schonach and Triberg, the Black Forest's two centers of cuckoo clock production.

The traditional spa town of Baden-Baden is considered the gateway to the Black Forest. New buildings like the Museum Frieder Burda provide a modern contrast to its genteel center, with its Kurhaus assembly rooms, casino and parks. Outstanding artworks by painters such as Gerhard Richter are shown here, and opera divas such as Anna Netrebko give concerts in the Festspielhaus.

The residential city of Donaueschingen lies at the point where Europe's second-largest river begins its journey. Discovered by the Roman general Tiberius, the source, between St. John's Church and the palace, is again open to the public after extensive restoration.

The city gets more than 1700 hours of sunshine annually, the most in Germany. The world’s first “solar university” offers an international degree in renewable energy management, and the "Solarsiedlung," a housing estate with 50 energy-autonomous houses, has set standards as a model environmental project. Not only in Germany is Freiburg considered one of the world's greenest cities.

To enjoy such delicacies as a starter of pumpkin garnished with apple blossoms, gourmets come from far and wide to Baiersbronn in the northern Black Forest. It has two chefs with three Michelin stars each and one with two stars. The Hotel Traube-Tonbach has a special reputation with its Schwarzwaldstube restaurant, which star chef Harald Wohlfahrt shaped over many years.