Freiburg

Freiburg is the largest city in the southern Black Forest. About 237,000 people live here. Freiburg is best known for its university, founded in 1457, and its football club, FC Freiburg. The city’s tallest and best-known building is Freiburg Minster, whose tower rises to a height of 116 metres. The name “Münster” comes from the Latin word “monasteria”, meaning monastery. The church therefore originally belonged to a monastery. Today it is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. The church tower is sometimes called “the most beautiful tower in Christendom”. The church contains numerous works of art, including a three-metre-high cross with a figure of Christ. It is considered the Minster’s oldest work of art and was carved from oak more than 800 years ago. Two brass markers are set into the ground beneath the bell tower. The larger one is directly below the tip of the tower. An object dropped straight down from the top of the tower should land on the smaller marker. As it falls, the Earth continues to rotate, so the object would land exactly 1.84 cm away from the larger marker. Besides the Minster, there are other historic buildings in the city centre, such as the Historic Merchants’ Hall, three city gates, the Old Town Hall, the Colombischlössle and St Martin’s Church. You need to be fit to get around Freiburg on foot, as the difference in elevation within the city limits is more than 1,000 metres. It’s uphill and downhill all the time. One of Freiburg’s special features is its “Bächle” — narrow, man-made water channels that run through the old town. In the past, they supplied people and animals with water brought from springs and the nearby Dreisam River. The Bächle were also used to irrigate the gardens and fields outside the city. Schauinsland Mountain is about 10 kilometres from the city centre and is known as the city’s local mountain. Germany’s longest cable car takes you from the valley to the summit. The route is 3.6 kilometres long and climbs 746 metres. The mountain is 1,284 metres high, and on a clear day you can see far across the Rhine Plain and into France. Mining continued on Schauinsland until 1956. Lead, zinc and silver were mined there. Today, the mountain is home to a mining museum that tells the story of the industry.