The Ruhestein is a mountain pass () between the Murg valley and the Acher valley in the

Northern Black Forest The Northern Black Forest (german: Nordschwarzwald) refers to the northern third of the Black Forest in Germany or, less commonly today, to the northern half of this mountain region. Geography The Northern Black Forest is bounded in the north b ...

. The border between the old Grand Duchy of Baden and the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which existe ...

ran over the pass, a large sandstone erratic marking the former border. Today it forms the provincial, county and municipal boundary between

Baiersbronn Baiersbronn is a municipality and a village in the district of Freudenstadt in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated in the Black Forest on the Murg river. Nearby is the mountain of Rinkenkopf (759.6 m) with its hillfort, the ...

( county of Freudenstadt) and Seebach (

Ortenaukreis Ortenaukreis ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Ortenaukrais; french: Arrondissement de l'Ortenau) is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the west of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (clockwise from north) Rastatt, Freudenstadt, Rottw ...

). The Ruhestein is a rest area for all those who want to cross the mountain ridge from one valley to the other. Ruhestein lies on the Black Forest High Road, which links

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with Fra ...

and

Freudenstadt Freudenstadt (Swabian: ''Fraidestadt'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is capital of the district Freudenstadt. The closest population centres are Offenburg to the west (approx. 36 km away) and Tübingen to the eas ...

. It is a popular day trip and recreation destination and a well known winter sports resort with ski lifts on the Ruhesteinberg, ski jumps ( Große Ruhesteinschanze) and '' loipes''. The winding road between Baiersbronn-Obertal and the Ruhestein was used once, on 21 July 1946, for a mountain motor race, the Bergrennen Obertal-Ruhestein, during which 3 participants lost their lives.Ruhestein-Bergrennen 1946
/ref> Naturschutzzentrum Ruhestein 2011

Around Ruhestein lies one of the two parts of the

Black Forest National Park The Black Forest National Park (german: Nationalpark Schwarzwald) is a national park in the state of Baden-Württemberg in the southwest of Germany. It has an area of and is located on the main crest of the Northern Black Forest, mainly between ...

which was opened on 1 January 2014. The Ruhestein Nature Conservation Centre at the top of the pass has exhibitions and events about conservation. In addition, the head office of the national park and the Central/North Black Forest Nature Park are based here. The so-called

Lothar Path The Lothar Path (german: Lotharpfad) is a forest experience and educational path in the Schliffkopf Nature Reserve by the Black Forest High Road between Oppenau and Baiersbronn on the B 500 in the Northern Black Forest. The name of the ...

on the

Schliffkopf The Schliffkopf is a mountain in the Northern Black Forest between Baiersbronn, Ottenhöfen and Oppenau. It is . The Schliffkopf lies on the Black Forest High Road in the National Park and is the site of an eponymous four-star "wellness" hote ...

mountain was laid on an area of

windthrow In forestry, windthrow refers to trees uprooted by wind. Breakage of the tree bole (trunk) instead of uprooting is called windsnap. Blowdown refers to both windthrow and windsnap. Causes Windthrow is common in all forested parts of the w ...

following the passage of Hurricane Lothar on 26 December 1999. Visitors are led along an 800-metre-long educational and experience trail, which takes them over steps, bridges and boardwalks through the 10 hectares of devastated forest, and enables them to observe how the forces of nature operate and how such areas recover naturally after storm devastation. West of Ruhestein the only ''

klettersteig A via ferrata (Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations. The term "via ferrata" is used in most countries and languages except n ...

'' in the Northern Black Forest runs up the Karlsruher Grat.

References

Literature

* Frank Eberle, Hubert Huber, Roger Orlik, Martin Walter: ''Ruhestein-Bergrennen 1946. Der Neubeginn des deutschen Motorsports.'' SP-Verlag, Albstadt, 2011, .

Weblinks

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Ruhestein Nature Conservation Centre
Mountain passes of the Black Forest Ski areas and resorts in Germany Freudenstadt (district) Mountain passes of Baden-Württemberg