Our original ship, the Viking Einar, sailed mostly at night, so we arrived in Breisach at four in the morning. Today’s excursion was to the Black Forest. It was called the Black Forest not because of the sometimes-scary fairytales that seemed to originate there as part of oral traditions, but because the canopy was so thick with tree growth that the sun couldn’t penetrate. The Romans thought it to be so dark it was considered black.
Eventually the area was inhabited and the town we visited, Breitnau, has the oldest surviving church in the high Black Forest, St. Oswalds, built in 1148. It is dedicated to St Oswald of Northumbria, an Anglo-Saxon king of the 7th century. He was the patron saint of crusaders in the Middle Ages.
In 1200, the parish was moved to the more favorably situated “Breite Au”. From then on, it served as a branch church in which regular services were held for the entire Hinterzarten-Breitnau parish until 1798. In winter after that time, when no one used the church for worship, it was used as a makeshift mortuary. The small cemetery around the old church, which was used until 1863, was dug up and the bones can be seen in the charnel house next to the entrance. Charming.
The other attractions in Breitnau were the Glass Blowing and retail glassworks store, the cuckoo clock store, and Black Forest Cake bakery. Local farmers began hand-carving wooden cuckoo clocks during harsh, snowy winters around 1700 to earn extra money, transforming the region into a global capital for clockmaking.
While I enjoyed listening to the live birds when we were in Italy there was no way a clock that noisy was coming home with us.
The life-sized clock was fun to see, though. But tasting the cakes at the bakery, on the other hand, I was definitely up for.
The young woman giving a demonstration of how Black Forest cake is made was delightful. Lovely, funny and knowledgeable, she had her audience laughing and clapping by the end. I won’t give up her schtick in case any readers plan to go on this excursion.
To get to Breitnau from the ship was a long winding ride. Anyone with car sickness should sit in the front seats or use Dramamine.
Upon returning to the ship we enjoyed a welcome toast with Captain Lucien, Hotel Manager Francisco and Program Director Sam along with our Chef. Francisco had arranged for a special dessert for our anniversaries and Liz’s birthday, mango mousse cake! Delicious. After meeting the chef I knew it would be.
Never trust a skinny chef.
The steam/aqueduct photo is a beauty! So glad the Black Forest Cake was as well. (No surprise.)
It’s funny, the cake looks like someone stuck a finger in it. The woman wanted to turn it around for the photo. I said NO. I told her my late godmother stuck her finger in our wedding cake because it was so pretty it didn’t look real, so I know she was with us on the trip!