The Black Forest

During spring break 1988, I went with other students and parents and my German teacher to four German-speaking countries: Austria, West Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. The following is part of a series of travel journal excerpts. Keep in mind: a teenager wrote this.

A view of some of the Black Forest in Germany

The tour bus approached the border leading into Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany. Heinz said, “You’re probably bored with borders.”

We rode the bus a lot today, perhaps making up for all the walking we did yesterday.

The Black Forest (Schwarz Wald) is truly fascinating. Its name was contrived from two things: first, it consists of firs, which tend to look black; furthermore, in the Middle Ages, woods were dangerous. There were lions and tigers and bears (oh my). That is, there were dangerous wild animals; there were also highwaymen and the like.

Here’s the background of the story of Hanzel und Gretel. Germany is famous for its gingerbread (or at least it was) and in Nuremberg there lived an old woman who was famous for the gingerbread she made. The other bakers in town became jealous, for they weren’t making as much money as the old woman was. They vengefully spread rumors that the old woman was a witch. (Of course, in those days, witches were burned at the stake.) Therefore, the old woman flew away to the Black Forest and hid there. Thus came the idea of an…