This is the second city in Der Schwarzwald that we’ve visited. This morning we climbed up to the Schlossberg on a large hill bordering the city. The heat (we hope) has finally broken and it was a blissful night and morning, perfect for both sleeping and climbing. The Schloss was an old fortress/castle that was dismantled in the 1700s. The entire city of Freiburg has been passed around between France, Austria, Germany, Spain, and even Sweden. It is also a seat for a Catholic archbishop. They have chronicled parts of their history on these broken pillars near the berg; I think that they are part of something that was destroyed in WWII. You can see the bishop hat with his crosier (I think that’s what it’s called) for when they became affiliated with the church. The last one says “1944 – Destroyed by Bombs.”

After the war, they rebuilt the Altstadt – Old City – on its medieval plan, so the streets are really close together and it provides nice shade on hot days. It also means that the city streets are built surrounding the church.

Here’s some pictures of the church.

Our hike took a little while but it was really lovely in the Schwarzwald–I love saying that word–and we made it up the tower that looks over the city. It’s hard to tell, but it was so high that my feet were sweating in fear. And there was a little platform for just one person on the top that swayed in the wind.

Freiburg is also a college town, so there is a lot of art, jabronis, and hippies. Here’s a silly graffito down by the river.

And a possible cat pun on their newspaper. I’m not sure whether it’s a pun is because I don’t know German well enough. Maybe it says: “In the forest there are meows. Interview with a wild cat expert.” Look at that fierce kitty.