Hello everyone. We spent our day hiking near Schramberg. It's about 40-50 km away from us. We saw castle ruins there and a small waterfall. When I read about this place, I thought we must visit it. There was a low observation tower in the photos that caught my interest.
First we drove to the city center. There were many small hotels where we rented a room and could hike in beautiful places. There were some beautiful buildings. We especially liked the town hall, called Rathaus in German, built in 1899. Being in a mountainous area, there were ups and downs which made walking challenging but the architecture was beautiful. There were also star-rated hotels offering panoramic mountain views. We parked here and climbed the mountains. It was very instructive for us.
There was an information board here explaining how charcoal used to be produced. They compacted the charcoal here. Wood piles were shown and various woods and branches were added later. There was a chimney in the middle of these structures and stairs to check it. The workers job was very difficult and dangerous. They had to check how the charcoal was burning every hour and unfortunately many workers lost their lives in this job.
The most interesting information on the board was that this process is no longer necessary, but we know that coal mining has resumed in Germany. Maybe charcoal production will also resume. So, this is a very current issue. We all love barbecue, so charcoal is very tasty for barbecue. Remember that this structure was twice as large. Workers had to get up every hour to check this chimney. They were even getting up at night and checking it with these stairs. The fire shouldn't be completely lit, it should burn slowly and smoke.
A snippet of how it was shown in a photo was shown. Smoke was coming out of the chimney in the middle of the mound and charcoal was being produced in this way. There were information boards along the way. Here it was shown how wood was piled up like a wigwam to obtain charcoal. But we continued on our way, getting closer to our goal. It was quite interesting to walk in the forest and have informative surroundings. The current topic was charcoal production and how it was done step by step in ancient times.
There was also an information board here. It showed how the chimney in the middle of the wigwam was made. We continued. They had to design this production method and that's why it had an interesting structure. It was very interesting to see it for the first time. We looked at the next information board. Yes, the wood was arranged around it, a chimney was made in the middle and then the top was probably covered with branches.
There was an interesting tree, twisted in a spiral shape. It was very big. The information board showed how the wood pile was covered with branches and made ready for burning. The diameter of this structure was quite interesting. It showed how charcoal burns and coal miners had to constantly monitor this process. They had to check the burning temperature every hour of the day.
So, this job was quite dangerous. It wasn't fun to be next to this structure. It was quite difficult to have to check it every hour. An information board showed the families of the coal miners. In a colorful photograph, it showed how their children and themselves looked like and how they worked. It was nice to have such information boards everywhere because they reminded us of past professions and difficult jobs.
Finally we found mushrooms and started picking them. There were a lot of chanterelles here. They were scattered on the ground like yellow buttons. They were immediately noticeable from a distance. Forest mushrooms are really delicious. I love mushroom picking very much.
This year we only collected white mushrooms, poplar mushrooms, birch mushrooms and russula mushrooms. We just found the russula mushroom. And a great white mushroom appeared before us. Great, I think it looks like it's coming through the branches of the tree. In the future, there was a trench and a wall starting. We came to the side of this wall, it was quite well-preserved. There was a manhole window.
It was a small place. It was interesting. There were houses 10 meters away from the castle, people lived near the ruins. There was a small hotel here, the water was flowing. We washed our hands, it was ice-cold water. There was a wheelbarrow on a wall used to carry soil. There was probably a schematic picture of the castle gate and castle, it started to be built in 1447 and completed in 1526. It was explained what was happening here. It was wonderful, we could rent a room here, visit the castle, read the history and have a good time. A tourist group had already come.
We went up to the center, it was a tower with many windows. The castle had once burned down. Fortunately something remained because it was stone. We could see the water source from above. This castle was built as a defense castle in 1498, turned into a lord's mansion in 1552. It was restored between 1969-1981 and now various cultural events are held here. It was wonderful, it would be nice to listen to a concert here. We tried a song that came to mind. Our voices weren't perfect, but we tried.
After leaving the castle, we had a great time. Now we were heading to our next stop. Here, we climbed up to an observation platform. There were wall remains and a closed courtyard. People not only know how to build castles, but nature also builds castles. There was a huge rock and yellow mold. We were progressing on this journey. To our left was a small cliff and to the right were rocks. It was interesting; nature looked like it had melted and flowed down. This was red sandstone and houses and churches were made of this stone. We came to a bridge where water was flowing over the stones. Below, there was a small waterfall.
The path continued with stairs and there was a cliff below. Stairs had been made among the rocks. Who placed these stones, who made the stairs? It was a dangerous road; stones could fall, but we hoped they would hold. There were massive rocks. We reached a forest path. We wondered where it would lead us. Along the way, we picked mushrooms. As we expected, we encountered small waterfalls. These places were very beautiful.
What a beautiful view. It was very pleasant to watch this beauty. A surprise awaited us on our way. A bridge and a small waterfall. The water was cold. I tested it with my hands and in June, there was ice-cold water. Walking in the forest was very comfortable right now, neither too hot nor too cold, the weather was perfect. When we found such water sources along the way, our spirits rejoiced. We crossed bridges made of logs and water flowed below.
We were almost reaching the summit and we took a break in a wonderful place. It was great to have tea with such a view. The waterfall was flowing below; we took a break next to the flowers here. We saw thunderclouds. We had to hurry. After getting up from the bench, we realized that this place was a meditation place.
We met a 72-year-old man who had come up here by bike. He told us there was a small chapel here. Built by a doctor in 1890. We looked inside; it had parquet flooring and benches. There were even pillows for sitting in winter. We saw a prayer book here. Lighting candles was prohibited because it's a forest area to prevent fires. There was also a bell in this small chapel.
There is an information board on the walls, built in 1890. There is also a visitor's book and we decided to leave a comment. This chapel is very beautiful and well-maintained. We closed the door and continued on our way.
There was another brick chapel on the road, also well-built. There was a bell there too. There were stained glass windows with the figure of Virgin Mary. These chapels had access to bells. We continued on our way. There was a house below that looked like a small castle, with towers. There was a large solar panel field on the left. People had adapted to modern life by using solar energy. We saw wooden figures in the mountains, maybe made by children.
We saw a church. It was ringing six o'clock. We had been walking for 8 hours. There was a cross on top of a large rock across from us. We went down and headed towards the city church. It was nice to wander around, listen to the bells.
There was a bench here, we rested and enjoyed the view of the mountain and the rock. Schramberg was a beautiful city, small but with very nice historic buildings. This church had been renovated, painted and well-maintained.
The flowers we encountered on the road were very beautiful; everywhere was full of flowers, even the bridges were decorated with flowers. The river was flowing, a gentle breeze was blowing, it was very pleasant. There was an old statue, there was no information on it, but it could have been a preacher holding a cross. Modern houses and historic buildings stood side by side. A small part of the church was visible, there were stained glass windows and clocks. We didn't have time to enter the church and explore the inside. We had to continue on our way.
We entered a street and tried to climb to the top of the mountain with stairs. There was a monument with Virgin Mary on the rocks, climbing points were visible. They were interesting places. We continued on our way.
On the road, we found a mushroom, a fly agaric that someone had taken a bite of. We had to continue. We had to reach before sunset. We climbed up a rock and from the place where the cross was visible on the opposite mountain, the view opened. There was a plaque here, saying "God, protect this place and the residents of this town."
Schramberg was a very peaceful place, birds were singing, it was very beautiful. Along our way, there were seats made of logs, but we couldn't sit on them because they were wet. There were yellow and purple flowers on the roadside; it was very beautiful.
There were high blueberry bushes on the roadside. Our hands turned ink-like from the blueberries. They were very tasty. On our way, we found a Polish mushroom and a blueberry. These were edible.
Our hiking adventure was very enjoyable. Even after 16 kilometers, we still had energy. We saw the ruins of a castle, learned about charcoal production, saw a few waterfalls and picked mushrooms and strawberries. We returned home tired but happy. The trip was very nice. I hope you enjoyed it too.
