In the region called "Hotzenwald"
"Markgräflerland" and "Hotzenwald" are two regions in the south of the Black Forest which were formerly described as regions that don‘t belong to the Black Forest. But they do.
Especially the region called "Hotzenwald" is a varied part of it, a less frequented hiking area. It is the most southern part of the Black Forest.Step by step the Black Forest leads down to the Rhine valley where you reach the border to Switzerland. Many visitors to the Black Forest never get there because they concentrate mostly on the area around the "Feldberg" massif and the lakes. This southern region is not as high as the other regions but it is sunnier and there is less fog here. Beautiful valleys with the rivers Wehra, Murg, Alb and Schwarza flow to the west to the River Rhine. You will find more about these valleys on the following pages.
In this "Hotzenwald" region there have always lived stubborn and unconventional people the "Hotzen".They were peasants and they lived on very small farms. There were also people who scraped saltpetre from the walls of the stables which was needed as gunpowder. A third group of inhabitants consisted of wood cutters. All these people were freedom loving characters that did not want to be told what to do or not to do. They had special privileges. In the 18th century when they were in danger of losing these privileges they rebelled. Their hero was Fridolin Albiez who was called "Saltpetre -Jack (You will find more about him in the chapter dealing with "Stories from the Black Forest").
The profession of the "saltpetre scraper" existed for a long time. It was only in the year 1934 that the last one of them died.
> The Regions
> The Black Forest is divided into three areas
> Famous Roads
> Homeland of the Rafters
> Lakes and the Highest Mountain
> Glaciers and Lakes: The Primeval Landscape
> The Upland Moors: The typical landscape
> At the Schluchsee
> Lake Titisee
> The Höllental
> The gorge of the Wutach
> The Belchen
> The Schauinsland
> The mountain called Feldberg
> The lake called Feldsee in the Feldberg massif
> In the region called Hotzenwald
> Four valleys in the Hotzenwald region
> The fifth valley in the Hotzenwald
More publications: Hawaii - the aloha state • Cybernetic Computer
