Back Roads Germany (Dk Eyewitness Travel Back Roads)

DRIVE 20: Mountain Roads and Vineyards 213

3 Freudenstadt

Baden-Württemberg; 72250

Built on a high plateau, Freudenstadt

was commissioned by Duke Friedrich I

in 1599. The town’s giant marketplace

is the biggest square in Germany.

The most impos ing buildings here

are the town hall and Stadtkirche,

an oddly L-shaped church designed

to segre gate men and women.

ª Return to the B28, turn left down

Lauterbadstrasse, and then take the

B294 toward Freiburg. In Alpirsbach,

turn right into Alleenstrasse to park

on the Krähenbadstrasse.

2 Schwarzwaldhochstrasse
Baden-Württemberg; 77889
The Schwarzwaldhochstrasse, or Black
Forest High Road (B500), climbs from
Baden-Baden through mea dows and
valleys to the pine-covered hills that
pave the way to Freudenstadt. Various
view points and belve deres along the
route pro vide views to the rolling hills
and vineyards of the upper Rhine
Valley and beyond to the French

Vosges Mountains. Visitors should
allow time for several short hikes
(www.schwarzwaldhochstrasse.eu) includ-
ing the 1-mile (2-km) loop around the
Mummelsee. Continue down the
B500 and then turn right at the road
with signs for Allerheiligen.

The Who’s Who of Baden-Baden

Though still a playground for

the extremely rich, Baden-Baden

had its hey day in the late 19th-

cen tury when the international

elite flocked here to promenade

and recuperate. Visiting luminaries

included statesmen and monarchs

such as Queen Victoria, Kaiser

Wilhelm I and Otto von Bismarck,

composers, such as Pyotr Ilyitsch

Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms,

and novelists such as Leo Tolstoy

and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

EAT AND DRINK

BADEN-BADEN

Café König moderate

This is the place to enjoy afternoon

coffee and cake, in particular the

exquis ite Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte

(black forest cherry gâteau).

Lichtentaler Strasse 12, 76530; 07221

235 73; closed dinner

Kurhaus Bistro moderate

A bistro attached to the Kurhaus, this

restaurant serves dishes such as grilled

mussels on tomato tartar with pine

nuts and arugula, and fried parmesan-

encrusted veal with mushroom ragout.

Kaiserallee 1, 76530; 07221 90 70

Le Jardin de France expensive

An elegant restaurant in a courtyard

off Lichtentaler Strasse, this serves

creative, mod ern French cuisine

using ingre dients such as bok choy

and northern Iberian sau sage.

Lichtentaler Strasse 13, 76530;

07221 300 78 60; open Tue–Sat;

book in advance

AROUND FREUDENSTADT

Schwarzwaldstube expensive

With lovely views and countless

international awards to its name,

the Schwarzwaldstube is always

full of gourmet surprises.

Tonbachstrasse 237, 72270

Baiersbronn (7 miles/11 km north

of Freudenstadt); 07442 49 26 04

where villas sur round the Stiftskirche
Liebfrauen 6. This church’s land-
mark spire sum ma rizes its architec-
tural history, with a Romanesque
square tower forming the base for an
octa gonal Gothic cap that carries
Baroque cupolas. Behind the church,
occasional wisps of steam drifting
over the cobbled street announce
the presence of the Bäderviertel 7
at the base of some stone steps. The

baths quarter was estab lished by the
Romans and its ruins can still be seen
at the Römische Badruinen (open
daily). The ruins lie in the basement of
the spa Friedrichsbad (open daily),
which looks like a minor palace with
its green cop per cupolas and
colonna des. Return to Lichtentaler
Strasse and Augustaplatz to reach
the parking lot.
ª Turn left out of the parking lot,
right on to Lichentaler Strasse, which
becomes Hauptstrasse. Turn right
when this road meets the B500, which
becomes the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse.

Park at the roadside parking lot
at Mummelsee.

A 20-minute hike starts at the Gothic

ruin of the Allerheiligen monastery

and leads to an attractive waterfall.

ª From Allerheiligen, return to the

B500 and continue south, then left on

to the B28. In Freudenstadt, turn left on

to the B462 to reach the parking lot.

Above Fountains in Freudenstadt’s town

center Below left View of wooded hills

and the town of Baden-Baden Below right

Typical landscape, Scharzwalderhochstrasse

Eat and Drink: inexpensive, under €20; moderate, €20–€40; expensive, over €40