Southern Black Forest
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The Southern Black Forest (german: Südschwarzwald) is the highest part of the
Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
, an area heavily transformed by
ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
glaciation south of a line roughly from
Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...
to
Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar '' Kreis''. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Da ...
. The term
High Black Forest The High Black Forest (german: Hochschwarzwald) is a touristic and geographical region in the south-west of the German federal state Baden-Württemberg, primarily in the Southern Black Forest. History of the name The term ''Hochschwarzwald'' o ...
is not quite identical; that usually includes the highest part of the Central Black Forest, southeast of the Elz valley, as well. The
Southern Black Forest Nature Park The Southern Black Forest Nature Park (german: Naturpark Südschwarzwald) is located in Baden-Württemberg in Germany and covers an area of 394,000 hectares. As of 2018, it is Germany's largest nature park. History The Southern Black Forest Nat ...
(''Naturpark Südschwarzwald'') also takes in this area, extending across the whole of the High Black Forest as well as several peripheral areas.


Characteristics

Unlike the almost parallel mountain ridges and plateaux of 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 ...
and the deeply incised central region, the Southern Black Forest is dominated by a central area of highland, from which most of the large valley emanate. The highest summits of the central highlands are the Feldberg () and the
Herzogenhorn The Herzogenhorn is a mountain, , in the southwest German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies within a nature reserve in the municipality of Bernau im Schwarzwald. Location and surrounding area The Herzogenhorn is the source region for three ...
(). Towering prominently over the Rhine Plain are the
Belchen The Belchen, , or Black Forest Belchen (german: Schwarzwälder Belchen) is the fourth-highest summit of the Black Forest after Feldberg (Black Forest), Feldberg, Seebuck and Herzogenhorn. The municipalities of Münstertal, Black Forest, Münstert ...
(), the Schauinsland () and the Blauen (). Other notable peaks are the Blößling () and the Hochkopf () in the south, and the Hochfirst () in the east. Flowing away from the Feldberg area are the Wiese heading southwest, the
Alb The alb (from the Latin ''albus'', meaning ''white''), one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed and Congregational churches, is an ample white garment coming down to the ank ...
southwards, the Schwarza/
Schlücht Schlücht is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It flows into the Wutach in Waldshut-Tiengen. See also *List of rivers of Baden-Württemberg A list of rivers of Baden-Württemberg, Germany: A * Aal * Aalbach * Aalenbach * Ablach * Ach ...
which follows the terrain descending southeast, the Wutach, still called the ''Seebach'' and ''Gutach'', initially heading east and the headstreams of the
Dreisam The Dreisam ( Celtic: ''*tragisamā'', "the very fast one") is a 29 km long river (48.8 km including its source river Rotbach), and a tributary of the Elz in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The waters of the Dreisam feed the fa ...
dropping steeply northwestwards to the "Black Forest capital" of Freiburg im Breisgau. West of a line from the Höllental valley to the
Wehra Wehra is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It passes through Todtmoos and Wehr and flows into the Rhine downstream of Bad Säckingen. See also *List of rivers of Baden-Württemberg A list of rivers of Baden-Württemberg, Germany: A * Aa ...
Gorge, the relief is characterised by rugged, steep-sided highlands with height differences of between 400 and 1000 metres; to the east is a land of rolling uplands with broad valleys and height differences of between 150 and 400 metres.
Gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...
is the predominant rock with a few
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
intrusions.
Porphyritic Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology to describe igneous rocks with a distinct difference in the size of mineral crystals, with the larger crystals known as phenocrysts. Both extrusive and intrusive rocks can be porphyritic, meaning all ...
matrices occasionally occur in the rock formations. Unlike the Northern Black Forest, the
Bunter sandstone The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the subsurface of large parts of west and central Europe. The Buntsands ...
cover with its plateau-like mountain shapes is thinner and has less influence on the relief. The proportion of forest in the Southern Black Forest is less in comparison with the other two regions.


Landschaft elements

Significant
natural monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, nat ...
s: * Feldberg region with the valley heads of ''
Zastler Loch The Zastler Loch or Zastler Cirque (german: Zastlerkar) on the northern side of the Feldberg summit in the Black Forest is the highest cirque in the German Central Uplands. It forms the head of the Zastler valley, through which the Zastlerbach s ...
'', ''Napf'' ('' Alpiner Pfad'') and ''Feldseekar'' *Seebach valley with the
Feldsee The Feldsee (also ''Feldbergsee'') is a lake in southern Baden-Württemberg at the foot of the Feldberg east of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. It is part of the Southern Black Forest Nature Park. Geology and earth history The Feldsee ...
and
Titisee The Titisee is a lake in the southern Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg. It covers an area of and is an average of deep. It owes its formation to the Feldberg glacier, the moraines of which were formed in the Pleistocene epoch and nowadays for ...
lakes *
Schluchsee The Schluchsee is a reservoir lake in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, southeast of the Titisee in the Black Forest near Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Name In the Alemannic dialects of the region the name of the lake is the ''Schluec ...
and Windgfällweiher lakes, both artificially enlarged * Belchen region and the Nonnenmattweiher * Höllental valley and
Ravenna Gorge The Ravenna Gorge (german: Ravennaschlucht) is a gorge in the Black Forest in southwest Germany. It is a narrow side valley of the Höllental, through which the Ravenna stream flows. A trail also runs through the ravine as part of the Black Fo ...
*
Wutach Gorge The Wutach Gorge (german: Wutachschlucht) is a narrow, steep-sided valley in southern Germany through in the upper reaches of the River Wutach with three gorge-like sections, the lowest of which is also called the ''Wutachflühen''. The gorge cu ...
* Alb Gorge *
Wehra Wehra is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It passes through Todtmoos and Wehr and flows into the Rhine downstream of Bad Säckingen. See also *List of rivers of Baden-Württemberg A list of rivers of Baden-Württemberg, Germany: A * Aa ...
Gorge * Präg Glacial Cirque * various waterfalls *
Raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation (ombrot ...
s like the
Hinterzarten Hinterzarten is a resort village in the Black Forest (German: ''Schwarzwald''), located in the southwest of the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Although Hinterzarten is mostly famous for its ski jumping, it has many other tourist attractions. ...
er Moor, Urseemoor or Scheibenlechtenmoos Significant settlements and
cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regist ...
s: * Roman Bath ruins of ''Aquae villae'' in
Badenweiler Badenweiler (High Alemannic: ''Badewiler'') is a health resort and spa in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, historically in the Markgräflerland. It is 28 kilometers by road and rail from Basel, 10 kilometer ...
*
Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...
, also called the "capital of the Black Forest" * Höllental Railway and
Three Lakes Railway The Three Lakes Railway (German: ''Dreiseenbahn'', or sometimes, ''Drei-Seen-Bahn''.) is a long line in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The line is electrified to the standard 15 kV, 16⅔ Hz system commonly used throughout the German ra ...
*
Abbey of Saint Peter in the Black Forest St Peter's Abbey in the Black Forest or St. Peter's Abbey, Schwarzwald (german: Kloster St. Peter auf dem Schwarzwald) is a former Benedictine monastery in the village of St. Peter im Schwarzwald, in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Bad ...
* St. Trudpert Abbey in the Upper Münster valley * St. Blasien with its
abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...
and
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
* St. Oswald's Chapel in Höllsteig * Bürgeln House in the
Markgräflerland Markgräflerland () is a region in the southwest of Germany, in the south of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, located between the Breisgau in the north and the Black Forest in the east; adjacent to west with France and in the south ...
*
Titisee-Neustadt Titisee-Neustadt () is a municipality in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is made up of the six communities of Neustadt, Langenordnach, Rudenberg, Titisee, Schwärzenbach and Waldau. The town ...
in the Gutach valley (upper course of the Wutach) *
Todtnau Todtnau is a town in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As of 2009 its population was of 4,932. Geography It is situated in the Black Forest, on the river Wiese, 20 km southeast of Freiburg. The municipality counts ...
, Schönau and
Zell im Wiesental Zell im Wiesental is a town in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Black Forest, on the river Wiese, 26 km northeast of Basel, and 32 km south of Freiburg. The town is famous for being the b ...
*
Wutach Valley Railway The Wutach Valley Railway or german: Wutachtalbahn is one of the most unusual and impressive stretches of railway in Germany. It links the town of Waldshut-Tiengen, on the High Rhine Railway (''Hochrheinbahn'') and the border of Baden-Württemberg ...
, also called the ''Sauschwänzlebahn'' ("Sow's Tail Railway")


See also

* Südschwarzwald Cycleway


External links


Southern Black Forest Nature Park
{{Authority control Black Forest