New 7 Natural Wonders of the World

New Seven Wonders of Nature-One of 28 nominees. Winners will be announced in 2011.

 

Black Forest
Germany, Europe
New Seven Wonders of Nature
Coordinates: 48° 0' 0? N, 8° 15' 0 E
The Black Forest region ('Schwarzwald') is essentially known for three distinctive features: its highlands, scenery and woods, the typical Black Forest Gateau ('Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte') whose success is based on tasty cherry schnapps and the traditional cuckoo-clock. The Black Forest region is blessed with a particularly rich mythological landscape.
Black Forest Slideshow	Black Forest, Germany[1]

 

The Black Forest (German: Schwarzwald) is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 meters (4,898 ft). The region is almost rectangular with a length of 200 km (120 mi) and breadth of 60 km (37 mi). Hence it has an area of approximately 12,000 km² (4,600 sq mi).

Geology
Geologically, the Black Forest consists of a cover of sandstone on top of a core of gneiss. During the last glacial period of the Würm glaciation, the Black Forest was covered by glaciers; several tarn lakes such as the Mummelsee are remains of this period.

Rivers
Rivers in the Black Forest include the Danube (which rises in the Black Forest), the Enz, the Kinzig, the Murg, the Nagold, the Neckar, the Rench, and the Wiese. The Black Forest is part of the continental divide between the Atlantic Ocean drainage basin (drained by the Rhine) and the Black Sea drainage basin (drained by the Danube).

Points of interest

Winter on Schauinsland: famous "Windbuchen" Beeches bent by the windThe cities of Freiburg and Baden-Baden are popular tourist destinations on the western edge of the Black Forest; towns in the forest include Bad Herrenalb, Baiersbronn, Calw (the birth town of Hermann Hesse) Freudenstadt, Furtwangen, Gengenbach, Gütenbach, Sasbachwalden, Schramberg, Staufen, Titisee-Neustadt, Hausach, and Wolfach. Other popular destinations include such mountains as the Feldberg, the Belchen, the Kandel, and the Schauinsland; the Titisee and Schluchsee lakes; the All Saints Waterfalls; the Triberg Waterfalls, not the highest, but the most famous waterfalls in Germany; and the gorge of the River Wutach.

The Vogtsbauernhöfe is an open-air museum that shows the life of sixteenth or seventeenth century farmers the region, featuring a number of reconstructed Black Forest farms. The German Clock Museum in Furtwangen shows the history of the clock industry and of watchmakers.

For drivers, the main route through the region is the rapid A5 (E35) motorway, but a variety of sign-posted scenic routes such as the Schwarzwald-Hochstrasse (60 km (37 mi), Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt), Schwarzwald Tälerstrasse (100 km (62 mi), the Murg and Kinzig valleys) or Badische Weinstrasse (Baden Wine Street, 160 km (99 mi), a wine route from Baden-Baden to Weil am Rhein) offers calmer driving along high roads.. The last is a picturesque trip starting in the south of the Black Forest going north and includes numerous old wineries and tiny villages. Another, more specialized route is the 'Deutsche Uhrenstraße' ("German Clock Road") , a circular route which traces the horological history of the region.

Due to the rich mining history dating from medieval times (the Black Forest was one of the most important mining regions of Europe around 1100) there are many mines re-opened for the public. Such mines may be visited in the Kinzig valley, the Suggental, the Muenster valley, and around Todtmoos.

The Black Forest also was visited by on several occasions by Count Otto von Bismarck during his rule 1873-1890. Allegedly, he especially was interested in the Triberg Waterfalls. There is now a monument in Triberg dedicated to Bismarck, who apparently enjoyed the tranquility of the region, which was something that could not be found in his residence in Berlin.