Schwarzwald

Friday September 11th

Our home university has a direct exchange program with the universities of Baden-Württemberg, so for our orientation we were told to hop on the regional train and get to Freiburg im Breisgau. Friday morning the nine of us left Heidelberg and three trains later we got to Freiburg Hauptbahnhof (Central train station), where we were met by our program coordinators Silke and Regine and five other UMass foreign exchange students from Mannheim Universität and one from Konstanz Universität. From there we  took a bus to the Schwarzwald (black forest).

Half an hour walk from the bus stop was our destination, the hillside hostel (not pictured here) owned by Freiburg Universität that shares its view of the Schwarzwald (and, on a clear day, France as well) with its visitors. Interesting story behind this hostel, when the Nazis took control of Germany, Freiburg Universität was afraid they would have their money confiscated so they bought it. They currently use it for educational retreats and our foreign exchange orientations.

         

Saturday we went on a small hike. We passed through woods, hilltops, farms, and creeks.

We then made it to Schniederlihof, a hidden gem in the shape of a farm house built in 1593. It is now a museum that showcases the way of life of a farmer from that time. From the looks of it, it definitely wasn't an easy (or fun) life. The running of the farm was a huge group effort, and because the trek to town was not an easy or a quick one, the father had to be skilled in woodwork and blacksmithing as well as manage the farm . When the sun went down the work ended and there was not much left to do other than sleep, especially in the winters.

Pictured here is the kitchen. And like the kitchen the interior of the rest of the house wa dark and cramped with low ceilings. There were very few places to sit or sleep, and in the winters the animals slept inside the house. Life in Schniederlihof must have been difficult but it did put life in modern times in a much more appreciative perspective.

(On the bright side the view from the balcony is stunning.)