Freiburg Blog: The Black Forest

Though I greatly enjoyed exploring Freiburg and hearing from our guest lecturer, Sara McLennan, my favorite parts of our time in the Freiburg area was our visit to Vogstbauernhof and the Black Forest walking tour. I have always been interested in history, so learning about how some of the settlers of the Black Forest lived was very intriguing. Unknowingly, many of the practices of the people living in the region were sustainable, although some practices were also certainly detrimental to their health. Specifically, I thought it was interesting that keeping the livestock on the floor below where the family lived in order to create heat and insulation in the house solved two problems at once. Additionally, these families also lived essentially a zero-waste lifestyle. However, there were also several significant drawbacks of their lifestyle that caused severe health concerns, such as using the smoke from cooking to smoke the meats, because it would cause the women or people who cooked to be susceptible to lung disease. Overall, I thought the Black Forest was beautiful, and I enjoyed when it rained during our hike (during the second visit), and having the opportunity to boat around Lake Titisee after.