Freiburg im Breisgau Things to Do

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These banners on the front of the theater are all quotations from a resolution passed by the Freiburg City Assembly on January 30, 2007, asserting that Freiburg understands itself as a cultural city and intends to further develop itself as a city of the arts.

The reason for displaying these quotations is that a mere two months later the city council has proposed drastic budget cuts for all cultural institutions in Freiburg, including all the museums and the theater.

At the end of the performance of Massenet's Werther, the baritone Matthias Flohr interrupted the final applause to read out a statement urging people to sign a petition opposing these budget cuts, which many audience members did on the way out.

Freiburg is so far the only large German city to have elected a member of the Green Party as its mayor. Without going into the details of local politics, I think it would be fair to say that having a Green mayor is highly beneficial for the central issues of city planning, transportation policy, pollution control, ecology and regenerative energy use -- but apparently not so beneficial for the city's embattled cultural institutions.

Update: Several other German cities have since elected Green mayors -- including Stuttgart, where Fritz Kühn was elected in 2012.

Second photo: Another quotation, affirming the need for motivating conditions for the arts and artists.

Third photo: A third quotation, in which the City of Freiburg commits itself to preserving its central cultural achievements, offerings and institutions.

People coming to Town Hall Square can see the monument to Berthold Schwarz, the famous monk and the inventor of gunpowder.
On the pavement in front of the town hall you can see nine coats-of-arms of the twin-cities of Freiburg.
I was surprised and pleased to see the coat-of-arms of Lviv, a Ukrainian city, among them.

These are the biggest sights here: Rathaus - the historic Town Hall - where the newly married couples can be seen. It's an old wedding tradition to register the marriage here.
Rathausplatz - Town Hall Square - is in front of the Town Hall.
You can see a stream flowing through the square to the river.
It flows through downtown Freiburg.

We were first of all attracted by Muensterplatz.
The building of Muenster, an old cathedral, is about 500 years old.
We admired its unique glass windows, the magnificent front door, sculptures, the high altar and, of course, its height - 116 meters.
I just couldn't take pictures of the entire cathedral with my feeble camera.
This is what I got.
You can climb the tower of the cathedral and gain a splendid view of the city and the neighboring hills of the Black Forest.
Muenster tower is open on Sundays.

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Inviting paths go along the Dreisam River for those who like to walk. The paths themselves are stroller-friendly, though you might have to negotiate stairs or rough paths to get down to them. We enjoyed a few strolls, including a rather long walk out of town in the direction of Umkirch. While Mommy and Daddy were doing just fine, we were a bit concerned Minifrosch might be getting a bit too much sun, so we didn't go all the way to the next town.

The buskers I saw in the Marketplatz in Freiburg im Breisgau were an absolute delight. These were definitely not your everyday run of the mill buskers. These were extremely talented young classically trained musicians, who were a joy to stand and listen to. I took this photo when these two girls were playing by themselves as a duo. After walking around the markets and visiting the Muenster, I came back and the group had added another three musicians. They all played strings of different kinds and were just wonderful. By this time, I had my hands full munching on my Bratwurst Roll so I didn't take another pic. Wish I had now.

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The university was founded in 1457, and today has more than 22,000 students, including over 3,000 from foreign countries. The liberal arts faculties are still in the city center.

The building in the photo, known as KG I, has a strange motto engraved across the top of the façade: Dem ewigen Deutschtum, "To the eternal Germanness". This slogan, which sounds as ridiculous in German as it does in English translation, was added during the Nazi period when the façade was renovated after a fire.

Second photo: The same building has another motto around on the other side, facing the library: Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen, "The truth will set you free" -- a biblical quotation (John 8:32), which was put there when the building was first built in the early 20th century.

Third photo: More university buildings.

Fourth photo: An outdoor café near the university.

Fifth photo: The Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, in another part of the city.

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The Freiburg University of Music was founded in 1946. The current building, on the east side of the city, has been in use since 1984.

This is a good place to go for free or very low-priced concerts of classical music. Admission to most of the concerts costs all of six euros, and just half of that for students.

Second and third photos: Statues in front of the Music University.