Baechle
by german_eagle
One thing you will notice in Freiburg are the tiny canals on the streets called "Baechle". They are the remains of the medieval canals for the water supply of the people who lived and worked in the old town.
There is a saying in Freiburg that these foreign singles who step in the "Baechle" will marry a local soon ... so be careful (or not :-))!
Alternative energy sources
by Nemorino
Since Freiburg has more hours of sunlight per year than any other German city, the people here have long been active in using solar panels and other alternative energy sources to provide heat and power for their houses.
This particular house, on a street called Eichhalde which is part of the Freiburg Bicycle Loop Trail, is being built with (they say) a "small power plant in your own house", using Stirling technology in combination with solar panels.
a great place, when you love vintage-cars
by globetrott
Close to Freiburg you will find one of the best specialists for restoring vintage cars of all types :
British Classic Cars in D-79286 Glottertal - Talstraße 14
I have been there several times, admiring these wonderful cars, that are unfortunately totally out of my financial range. To a certain extent you may take a look at these cars, when you are lucky to find a nice soul letting you into the big hall. A few cars are also standing outside of the Garage.
In any case, for car-enthousiasts there is also one of the best collections of rare vintage-cars close to Freiburg :
The Schlumpf-Collection in Muhouse/France
just a bit more than 1 hour to drive from Freiburg : The world's largest collection of rare Bugattis, a giant collection of racing-cars and a lot more. The brothers Schlumpf had spent all of their fortune buying cars and restoring them, finally they were bancrupt and had to flee the country
Enlarge my other pics and you will see some of their best cars on my self-made-postcard, using my best pics of the museum or click here for my Mulhouse-page
Himmelreich - a hell of a village
by globetrott
Himmelreich is one of the german expressions for heaven and a tiny village east of Freiburg is named that way. It is quite interesting that this village of Himmelreich is in Hoellental (hell-valley): This is the name of the narrow and rough valley that all of the transports had to go through, when they wanted to get from Titisee to Freiburg. At the end of that valley like hell that small village might have been seen as heaven / Himmelreich , maybe because all of the troubles were over in that flat landscape there.
Even nowadays, when you have taken the steep road through the Höllental with plenty of heavy trucks in the needle-pin-bends you might be happy to be back on ordinary roads again.
The village itself has NO places of interest for the ordinary tourist, except maybe the funny and un-usual name of the village at the train-station.
It is really just a pity, that the station looks more like a Sprayer's heaven nowadays !
b.t.w. take a look at my last picture, when you like to go to Himmelreich by car : this is the only sign-post that will take you from the main road through Hoellental / hell-valley to Himmelreich.
Vauban-Allee
by Nemorino
This is the only street in Vauban which is not named after someone who opposed the Nazis. It is the main street, Vauban-Allee, where the tram line number 3 now runs. This street, like the entire district, was named after the French military engineer Sebastian le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), who designed and built the fortifications on the Schloßberg from 1679 to 1687.
Second photo: Vauban-Allee.
Third photo: In 2006 the tram line number 3 was extended into Vauban, where there are now three stops along the Vauban-Allee.