There's a saying in Freiburg stated with perhaps a little exaggeration: "There are two kinds of people in this world: People who live in Freiburg, and people who wish they did." After a few days, you may feel the same way. At very least, you may not want to leave.
Quite simply, Freiburg is a joy to visit. The city is relaxed but electric, calm but alive, a small city dressed in smaller-town clothes. It's a German city with an almost Mediterranean climate and certainly the attending ambiance and joie de vivre. France, after all, is just 25 kilometers (15 miles) away. The Austrians also left their cultural fingerprint here, too, thanks to the city's 400 years as part of the Habsburg Empire.
Pride is expressed everywhere is Freiburg. The sidewalks are paved with dark pebbles from the Rhine. In front of each shop, quartz and other stones form mosaics of medieval trade symbols: a boot for a shoe store, a mortar and pestle for an apothecary, a bear in front of the Gasthaus Zum Roten Bären, and an ice cream cone - with three scoops - in front of an ice cream parlor. This is no easy task: Three men are employed full-time and can complete only a few square meters (about a 10-foot-square area) a day. The shops share the costs.
The Minster - the city cathedral - further reveals the townspeople's pride. For more than a century, its upkeep has been supported purely by donations. Scaffolding surrounds it as it has for years and will, perhaps, for eternity, thanks to the fragility of sandstone and extensive filigree. When one section is repaired, another awaits. As a local saying goes, "When the scaffolding comes down, we'll know it's the end of the world." Just a few blocks away, 13 stone masons apply techniques passed along for generations to re-create statues and intricate scrollwork (a wonder to watch).
The Minster's construction spanned four centuries and was supported in great part by local guilds, whose symbols still last in stained glass windows from the 13th to 16th centuries. Don't miss the gargoyles including one that spouts water not from his hideous mouth but rather from his naked bottom. If your legs are sturdy and the weather's good, consider the 330-step climb up the spire for an outstanding view of the Old Town, the Black Forest and the Rhine plain.
Tradition is important in Freiburg. Farmers and craftspeople still come daily (except Sunday) to sell their wares at the cathedral square. On one side, farmers sell local fruit, vegetables, meats, cheeses, sausages and bread, as well as teas and spices. On the other side, craftspeople sell wooden toys, carvings and candles, many of them from the Black Forest. Most of the buyers are not tourists. As they have for centuries, Freiburg's residents come to the marketplace at least once a week - usually Saturday - to do their shopping, even though it may be less convenient or more expensive than going to a supermarket. They know where the goods came from. They know the farmer or craftsperson. And their families have done so for generations.
Shopping is by no means restricted to the market square. Freiburg is a shopper's city as well, with values in department stores along the Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse and high-end buys in boutiques and galleries along the Konviktstrasse and Königstrasse. Young designers round out the mainstream stores with a trendy jewelry and clothing scene. Browsers will love the antique shops in the Insel (Island) District and along the Gerberau.
Water, water everywhere
Visitors to Freiburg will quickly note a unique city feature, the so-called Bächle - or little streams - built nearly 600 years ago as a water supply and to fight fires. Upstream of the city, the Dreisam River was split into multiple channels and follows a meshwork through the Old Town. The water flows downstream and collects on the other side of town, eventually flowing into the Rhine. A team of cleaners scrubs the stones and removes obstructions to ensure a steady flow of clean water.
Today, the Bächle provide a way for tired backpackers to cool their feet, a race course for kids with rubber ducks - and a challenge for inattentive visitors. Local tradition has it that any visitor who stumbles into the water must marry a Freiburger.
The running water gives a sense of life, movement, vitality and change. It also reflects an often-present sense of whimsy, like the alligator head popping out of the water at the corner of Marienstrasse and Gerberau. At the Augustinerplatz, the channels follow a series of gentle curves across slight drops, serving to slow the flow and add visual and aural interest. The Bächle waters can also reflect a sense of renewal, as in the stream emerging from the Star of David statue at the new synagogue. There, the citizens of Freiburg erected a plaque acknowledging their "shame and sorrow" for the Jewish community that was torn from Freiburg during Nazi times.
Architecturally, Freiburg doesn't follow any cookie-cutter image of an old German city. Unlike many towns its size, Freiburg has no castle standing watch from above; the French turned it to rubble nearly 200 years ago. And, with few barely visible exceptions, the defensive wall disappeared long ago, much of it replaced in the 18th century by the ring roads that encircle the Old City. Today, those same boulevards circulate automobile traffic away from the Altstadt, allowing for one of Germany's largest pedestrian zones.
Visitors will not sigh at the sight of clustered half-timber houses; in the late 19th century they were considered old-fashioned, and most were torn down and replaced with Jugendstil (art nouveau buildings). Still, there are enough medieval, renaissance and baroque structures to delight architecture buffs, with the added bonus of more recent styles. Although Freiburg was damaged greatly during World War II, the city was rebuilt following its medieval layout. Builders used similar construction materials and styles, and even the modern structures within the Altstadt blend in beautifully.
With more than 30,000 students in a population of 200,000, there's a youthful spirit in the old city. There's an active pub and club scene, and cafés spread their tables across plazas and sidewalks until early morning (the Universitätstrasse has the liveliest concentration). When plays and concerts let out in the evening, the city gets a second wind. Live music is popular in the Platz, a popular student gathering ground. For music with a beer chaser, there's the Hausbräuerei Feierling. The brewery and restaurant are on one side of the Augustiner Platz and pipes beer under the road to the beer garden across the street.
From the Black Forest to the Rhine
Local residents affectionately refer to Freiburg as the Metropolis of the Black Forest. Technically, geographers will tell you, Freiburg's Old City lies just outside the Black Forest. However, just cross one street on the eastern fringe of town - the Schlossbergring - onto the wooded Schlossberg hill, and you're in the Black Forest.
With a transit pass for the Freiburg region, guests can board streetcars or buses and quickly find themselves in the deepest Black Forest, on the rolling vineyards and farmland of the Breisgau or Markgräflerland regions, and even at the banks of the Upper Rhine. From Freiburg, it's just a few miles to the Breisgau Region and the rolling hills of the Tuniberg and Kaiserstuhl, a region increasingly known as German Tuscany, for its sultry and sunny climate, extensive wine-growing and amiable populace.
A popular day trip within the city limits is the Schauinsland, Freiburg?s 1,284-meter (4,213-foot) "hometown" mountain, where a cable car travels 15 minutes to the summit. The view from the cable car reaches far out over the Rhine plain, past the vineyard hills of the Tuniberg and the Kaiserstuhl (named for its shape like an emperor's throne) toward the gray-silhouette backdrop of the French Vosges mountain range. From the summit, the view extends deep into the Black Forest and south to the Alps.
Hilltops - the worn remnants of long-extinct volcanoes - bear lush vineyard landscapes that alternate with sprawling tobacco farmland and orchards. Red roofs and narrow steeples set off tiny villages at all compass points. Ivy drapes off the ruins of ancient castles.
For a novel ground-level view of the countryside, consider a two-hour journey aboard a small flat-boat in the Taubergiessen Nature Preserve, a remote region often referred to as "Germany's Jungle." During the ride, enjoy a bottle of local wine - parties of just two are welcome, so the romance can be as pleasing as the scenery.
Just across the Rhine, Neuf-Brisach (New Brisach) is an example of both Alsatian charm and historic military architecture. Protected by massive octagonal walls, imposing gates and star-shaped fortifications, Neuf-Brisach was built by King Louis XIV as a fortress town. Today, it's still intact with its central square, church, officers' quarters, barracks and private homes. Despite its proximity to Germany, Neuf-Brisach is fully French in character with delightful French bakeries, Alsatian restaurants and corner bistros.
Winemaking
Thanks to the fertile soil and favorable weather, winemaking has been central to daily life in the region for at least 1,500 years. In September, town markets and produce stands burst with ripe grapes of dozens of varieties as well as plums, pears and apples. Many vintners give tours of their vineyards, wineries and cellars. At the Weingut Felix and Kilian Hunn in Gottenheim, about midway between Freiburg and the Rhine, Kilian Hunn and wife Martina are proud to show off the operation (and their two toddlers), which produces about 70,000 bottles annually. Guests can take a guided stroll through the vineyards and sample five wines - primarily Burgundy and Chardonnay. Like many wineries, the Hunns also operate a "Strausswirtschaft," a seasonal restaurant with wines by the glass and homemade dishes - like pork shoulder simmered in wine, smoked bacon and bread, and fresh potato salad - from the family kitchen.
For a broader sampling of wine, the Alte Wache on Freiburg's Cathedral Square represents more than 30 regional vintners and offers more than 100 wines.
Sekt - German "champagne" - has an extensive tradition in the region. To learn what makes champagne champagne (or sekt sekt), take a guided tour of the extensive cellars and bottling operation at the Geldermann Privatsektkellerei. Two-hour tours, which run six times daily except Sundays and holidays, include a detailed and informative wine tasting.
This article appeared in its original form in Gemütlichkeit Travel Newsletter.
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