Breisach had a Jewish presence for over 700 years until the Shoah when the 1756 synagogue was…read moreburned down during Kristallnacht on November 9-10, 1938. The Jewish men were then sent to Dachau. By 1940, the entire Jewish community was sent to the Gurs interment camp in France eradicating Jewish life in Breisach. In 1301, Jewish merchants settled in Breisach. In 1349, the entire Jewish community was killed due to false accusations of poisoning the well water during the Black Death Pogroms. In 1550, the Jewish community was reestablished and a permanent cemetery was built. The old synagogue was built in 1756. The Synagogue Square Memorial at Synagogenplatz preserves the footprint of the old synagogue. Peaceful today, it is a memorial to the atrocities of the past.

Triberg is famous for being the cuckoo clock capital of the world. In fact, you'll hear many call…read morethis area of the Black Forest the German Clock Route Triberg is also famous for boasting not 1 but TWO of the World's Largest Cuckoo Clocks & these particular villages are always competing to take the reigns from the other We visited the First World's Largest Cuckoo Clock in Schonach, not to be confused with the current World's Largest Cuckoo Clock in the neighboring Triberg village This clock was built 32 years ago by a watchmaker by the name of Josef Dold who wished to educate others (a.k.a tourists) on the inner workings of the cuckoo clock The son was manning the shop & told us about his dad ( Josef Dold ) & how they built their clock in 2 years . The clock is made on a scale of 50:1......it was as big as a house & the clock shop was actually inside.....they even had a little upstairs loft-type area.....but this was where the cuckoo lived & we were not allowed ;-) It was cool walking around the clock's inner-workings while being told all about its history & seeing their lovely handmade clocks for sale Only Cooing on the half hour & at the top of the hour, we had just missed the Top of the hour but happily browsed around his shop, looking at the handmade clocks for sale & then enjoyed the lovely back yard to await the adorable little bird to come out & made his appearance Being quick on the camera trigger, we captured our little bird as he came out to coo his 1 coo, at the 30 min mark. The "tour" lasted about 5 min, if even that but the day was pleasant & the setting whimsical. Well worth the 2 Euros (or something like that - can't remember how much it cost)

Don't feed the crocodile!…read more This was a fun stop on our walking tour of Freiburg. Our guide pointed out the crocodile in the canal. The granite crocodile head is about a meter long and sticks out from the water. Look down or you may miss it.

This place is simply amazing. It's literally a collection of all kinds of Black Forest homes that…read morehave all be relocated to this very site for touring. My wife, who studied historic preservation, said it's the best museum she's probably ever seen. We spent hours here looking around and would absolutely come back again.

If you've never been to a German Freilichtmuesum, they are essentially a collection of historic…read morebuilding brought together to give visitors an idea of everyday life in bygone times. This Freilichtmuseum situate in the Gutach valley is designed to give you a glimpse into life in the Black Forest during the late Middle Ages. The collection of local houses and other structures is an interesting window into earlier times. The tour that we took was informative in helping us understand the life of ordinary people then. One unpleasant aspect was the amount of cheap tourist shops surrounding the museum. There wasn't much authentic about this consumerist aspect. I will say though that this type of museum is not for everyone. If you're of school age or just love history, this is a great place to spend an hour or two. If not, it would probably be more interesting to spend your day somewhere else in this gorgeous region.