40 Best Sights in The Black Forest, Germany

Five kilometers (3 miles) south of Rastatt, in Förch, Ludwig the Turk's Bohemian-born wife, Sibylle Augusta, constructed her own charming little summer palace after his death. Inside, in an exotic, imaginative baroque interior of mirrors, tiles, and marble, her collection of miniatures, mosaics, and porcelain is strikingly displayed. One of the only original palaces left unscathed by the war, the opulent interior includes a one-of-a-kind, 18th-century Florentine cabinet with 758 colorful panels. Note that the palace can only be visited inside with a 50-minute guided tour held every hour, usually only in German, though English information sheets are available.

The town quite literally grew up around the former Schloss of the Margrave Karl Wilhelm, which was begun in 1715 and was in use for more than 200 years. Thirty-two avenues radiate from the palace, 23 leading into the extensive grounds, and the remaining nine forming the grid of the Old Town. Today, the palace is home to the Badisches Landmuseum.

A pink-sandstone, three-wing Schloss forms the centerpiece of the small town of Rastatt, north of Baden-Baden. Built at the end of the 17th century by Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm of Baden (known as Ludwig the Turk for his exploits in the Turkish wars), its highlights include the chapel, gardens, and a pagoda. It played a pivotal role in history at the turn of the 18th century, when a meeting called to end the fighting between France and the Holy Roman Empire and declare the existence of the state of Germany ended in the death of the French envoy. Inside the palace itself are museums of German defense history.

Near Gutach, this is one of the most appealing museums in the Black Forest. Farmhouses and other rural buildings from all parts of the region have been transported here and reassembled, complete with traditional furniture, to create a living-history museum of Black Forest architecture through the centuries. Demonstrations ranging from traditional dances to woodworking capture life as it was in centuries past; be sure to check the website for daily shows.

Regional traditional costumes can be seen at this museum in a former monastery in the village of Haslach, 10 km (6 miles) northwest of Gutach. The village is quaint, with a fine collection of half-timber houses. Pom-pom-topped straw hats, bejeweled headdresses, embroidered velvet vests, and Fasnet (Carnival) regalia of all parts of the forest are on display.

Triberg's famous Schwarzwaldmuseum is a treasure trove of the region's traditional arts: wood carving, costumes, and handicrafts. The Schwarzwaldbahn is described, with historical displays and a working model. The Black Forest was also a center of mechanical music, and, among many other things, the museum has an \"Orchestrion\"—a cabinet full of mechanical instruments playing like an orchestra.

Don't miss Freudenstadt's Protestant Stadtkirche, a Gothic-influenced Renaissance church just off the Market Square. Its lofty L-shape nave is a rare architectural feature built in 1608, constructed this way so that male and female worshippers would be separated and unable to see each other during services.

Rottweil, 26 km (16 miles) east of Triberg, has the best of the Black Forest's Fasnet (Carnival) celebrations, which here are pagan, fierce, and steeped in tradition. In the days just before Ash Wednesday, in February or March, \"witches\" and \"devils\" roam the streets wearing ugly wooden masks and making fantastic gyrations as they crack whips and ring bells. If you can't make it to Rottweil during the Carnival season, you can still catch the spirit of Fasnet. There's an exhibit on it at the Stadtmuseum, and tours are organized to the shops where they carve the masks and make the costumes and bells—just be aware that the museum is only open Tuesday through Sunday, from 2 to 4. The name Rottweil may be more familiar as the name for a breed of dog. The area used to be a center of meat production, and locals bred the Rottweiler to herd the cattle.

In a former munitions factory, the vast Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, or simply ZKM, houses a top-notch collection of media art, in all genres from painting to video and audio—about 9,000 pieces in all—starting from the end of the 20th century, along with regularly changing exhibitions, which include highlights from the Staatliche Kunsthalle through it's expected reopening in 2028. It's an all-day adventure where you can watch movies, listen to music, try out video games, flirt with a virtual partner, or sit on a real bicycle and pedal through a virtual New York City. Since the space is so large, exhibitions are divided into sections—atrium 1 and 2, and atrium 8 and 9—with separate ticket prices for each section, or one combined ticket to see everything.