We thought we would go and see what other nearby towns and villages were like so we travelled to Furtwanger on the bus.  We took our Visitor Card with us and didn’t have to pay any bus-fare.

View from the bus

View from the bus

View of a typical Black Forest house taken from the bus

The weather was still cloudy and very cool that morning so after a brief wander through the town we found a café and had a hot drink (or in Elinor’s case, an apple juice) and yet more cake.

Richard’s cake

Elinor’s cake

My cake

We admired this beautiful vintage coffee machine

Fortified by our meal we sallied out again and found that the weather had improved and the sun was coming out.  We discovered a little more of the town.

The Town Hall

A Guest house and hotel with an ornate sign outside

The sign

Furtwanger : the bus station is just beyond the banners

An attractive house.

The town river

The following day we thought we would visit another village on the bus but before doing so we would look at a couple of places in Triberg.  The Black Forest Museum was very interesting and was situated in the old Trade Hall.

There were musical instruments ….

An orchestrion

..and another orchestrion!

There were displays of Black Forest Costumes….

….and lots of clocks!

There was even a rather old and dangerous-looking bob-sleigh!

There were exhibits from the local straw-braiding industry and the local glass industry.  A large room was full of information about the Black Forest Railway constructed in the 19th century which has two innovative terminal loops with 39 tunnels that overcame the altitude differences – there is nearly 600 metres difference in height between a couple of the towns.  There was a diorama made in the 1950s that shows this double loop in great detail.

Diorama of the Black Forest Railways many tunnels

There were reconstructions of workshops and rooms in houses with authentic furniture and tools.

A beautiful bed!

We had a wonderful time in the museum!

We then visited the Pilgrimage Church of Maria in der Tanne (Mary in the Forest).  Many years ago, so legend has it, a girl was cured of an eye disease when she bathed it in the spring water nearby.  The following year a man was cured of leprosy by washing in the spring water.  He was grateful and placed a figure of the Virgin Mary in a niche in a fir tree.  The place was forgotten about for about a hundred years until three soldiers rediscovered it after having heard some beautiful singing and followed the sound to the fir tree.  The spring and fir tree became a place of pilgrimage and the church was built in the 18th century.

Maria in der Tanne

The nave leading up to the enormous and ornate altar

The altar

The pulpit

A detail of the ceiling decoration

Looking back down the Nave towards the gallery and the organ

We then caught the bus to Schonwald, a pretty village where we had hoped to have some lunch.  Unfortunately, we got there too late.  We had some coffee and a short walk instead.

View from the bus

View from the bus

This has symbols of all the trades on it.

We returned to Triberg and to our hotel for a rest before our evening meal.

Thanks for visiting!