Top 10 History Museums in Black Forest, Baden-Württemberg

Reviewed By retireeVancouver - Vancouver, Canada

This fantastic open-air museum shows the house styles, the cultural habits, and the way of living in the Black Forest from the start of the 1600s to the end of the 1700s. The collection of farm and craft buildings come from the southern, central, northern regions of the Black Forest. There are about 10 houses to visit and numerous smaller buildings used for special purposes like a communal bakehouse, a blacksmith shop, a distillery, and various sheds for a saw mill and grinding mills. There even was a retirement home for aging parents. The houses are separated, spaciously, on the property with log fences encircling gardens or grassy areas. Visitors follow the pea gravel paths to reach each building. Take the brochure at the ticket office that shows the layout of the buildings on the property. It becomes evident, then, that the houses from south and central BF are clustered together near the Visitor's Center while the northern section with its one building has room for expansion. If time is limited skip that isolated house. The brochure also has general information about the times that certain demonstrations are given - mill, trade and craft demos. There are plenty of information boards on the property - in 4 languages - but an audioguide (4E, English, German, French) is also available at the ticket office. This map of the property can be downloaded from their website prior to visiting. We used about 1 1/2 -2 hours, but visitors should allow about half a day in order to have time to watch the various craft demos and to walk to the one building at the far right edge of the property. We focused on visiting the buildings clustered together in the area of the Visitor's Center. The only thing that this property might improve on is listing the exact location of the demos, especially the crafts; otherwise they have done a fantastic job in preserving and informing visitors about a life style very foreign to me. Admission is 10E. The houses are wood constructions and have thatched roofs that are wider than the frame of the house. The houses vary in size from a small laborer's cottage (still lived in to 1993) to a huge 3-4 level building. The houses didn't have basements. The ground floor was used as a barn for animals, the second level was used for accommodations, and the third level - a loft - for storage. Things stored included farm equipment, carriages. It was also a good area to dry and store herbs and nuts. One house even had its own small grind stone to mill flour from grains. Another used this area as a shoe shop while another used it for basket weaving. Different levels in the house were accessed by stairs, sometimes ladders. If the house had been built into a hillside, an exterior ramp was used to access the loft. That house had been on the property, while the other houses had been brought to the property dismantled, and, then, rebuilt, Each home was furnished according to its time period. Kitchens had home-made wood tables and benches. Ceramic fireplaces warmed the living area, but had no chimneys. Smoke flowed through the house resulting in black walls. Sleigh beds were made up with rustic woven bedding and had a night pot underneath the bed. A baby's crib would be placed in the parent's room, but other children seemed to have separate bedrooms from the parents. Windows were very small openings so that even on a sunny day it was relatively dark inside the rooms. It amazes me that chores like cooking and sewing were done in the dim light. In one house the people must have been literate as there was a very old hymnal, prayer book, and bible on display. Don't miss the modern Black Forest house (1980) at the rear of the property. It is such a contrast in its furnishings to those of centuries ago even though there is a similarity in style. I loved the 2 rooms for teens with beds unmade, computer on the desk, and a sign on the door that said, "Don't disturb". This building had WC and patio tables for refreshments. Every home had an information board on which the layout of the house was drawn, and facts about its original location, date constructed, owners, and the use of the rooms. These signs were in 4 languages. Other information on the boards may be about cultural and inheritance practices. For example, a family would pass the farm onto the youngest child and the elderly parents would be re-located into a house of their own. Such a retirement house was on the property. It had about 3 rooms. The children and parents had a contract which laid out the terms of when and how much the children would give to the parents for their maintenance. If a daughter wasn't married by the age of 25, she was sent to a nunnery. The eldest son had to leave the farm to make his own way - farming with in-laws, the army, priesthood. i enjoyed seeing the gardens and reading the information boards about what was grown. The herb garden was necessary for survival as there were no doctors nearby to provide either diagnoses or medicines. The farmers were self-reliant and grew herbs they knew would relieve colds or improve blood circulation. It was interesting to see which herbs were grown to cure various ailments - all labelled, of course. The trades buildings were grouped together. I could relate easily to this type of work and equipment needed as there is a commonality about blacksmith's shops (had a really big bellows on display), saw mills (crank operated though), grinding mills for making oils (hemp was a popular plant for this use), and an outdoor bake house. I didn't notice many animals about the place, except for a rabbit hutch and chicken pen. There may have been sheep further out in fields at the edge of the property. Children seem to be drawn to animals and the group of school children visiting, I'm sure, had no difficulty finding them. Another highlight of our tour was a baker giving us a demo of putting together a Black Forest cake step by step. After, we went into the cafe to eat a slice of that cake along with coffee - about 8E. The restaurant in the Visitor's center is large enough to handle a crowd. Order from a menu; table service. The gift shop includes literature about the area. Unfortunately, for women on bus tours, there is a long wait for WC in the Visitor's Center as there are just a few stalls (my only complaint). The large parking area is about a 5 minute walk from the Visitor's Center. There are local food stalls selling hot foods, ice cream, BF cake and coffee along that walk (fish and chips 7E, BF cake 4.50E, Coffee 2.80E, sausage in a bun 4E). Note that the BF railway has a stop at this attraction. There is a pedestrian passageway under those tracks to get from the parking lot to the Visitor's center. Scenic River Cruises arranged our excursion to this attraction. It was very worthwhile.