The Teufelsmühle () is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

south of Loffenau in the Northern Black Forest. It lies between the valleys of the Murg in the west and the Alb in the east. The Alb rises near the eastern flank of the mountain (at the ''Albursprung''), before reaching Bad Herrenalb a few kilometres further north. Over the summit plateau of the Teufelsmühle, which runs in a north-south direction, runs the boundary between the municipalities of Gernsbach in the Murg valley and Loffenau, both of which belong to the

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

county of Rastatt.

Infrastructure

In 1910, the Teufelsmühle Tower was erected on the summit plateau, which stood 10 metres high. In 1952, the observation tower was raised to a height of 16.2 metres. In 1958, a building was added that was eventually expanded into a hiker's inn. Not far from the tower stand the Teufelsmühle mountain inn. Together the building and the guest house of Teufelsmühle form a hamlet in the municipality of Loffenau. It is accessible by motor vehicles on a minor road from Rißwasen. The mountain is a base for walks and

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling (''mountain biking''). Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in r ...

tours. Below the observation tower at a height of is a launch site for the Loffenau Hang Gliding Club (''Drachenflugclub Loffenau'') which it has operated since 1977 and is used by hang gliders and, today, also by paragliders. The landing zone is 550 metres below at Loffenau. On the Teufelsmühle Tower is a plaque with a picture of Hubertus Waldteufel, a local poet, whose real name was Emil Dietz and who lived from 1879 to 1957, ending his days in Bad Herrenalb-Zieflensberg. The Waldteufel Way (''Waldteufelweg'') in Upper Gaistal is named after him.Heinz Volz: ''Die Spur des Waldteufels'', in: ''Badisches Tagblatt'', Lokalausgabe Murgtal dated 7 March 2009

Name

The Teufelsmühle does not get its name (which means "Devil's Mill") from an actual mill, but a popular interpretation of the glacial stone run found here. In the absence of a nearby rock massif and without knowing about the transportation of large boulders by prehistoric glaciers, the existence of large boulders is difficult to explain. So according to legend the scattered boulders were blocks from a former mill built by the devil.

References

External links

*
Description of the hiking trail to the Teufelsmühle
on the official website of Bad Herrenalb
Description of the path to the Teufelsmühle

with zoomable panoramic photograph. {{DEFAULTSORT:Teufelsmuhle Mountains under 1000 metres Mountains and hills of Baden-Württemberg Mountains and hills of the Black Forest Rastatt (district)