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The Alb valley has lots of options for easy to medium outdoor activities on foot and by bicycle. The forests have a dense network of hiking trails, all well marked and signposted. You can start walking everywhere along the valley and select a short or long tour just as you like.
The tram network allows one way hiking tours over the hills from one valley to the next. Arriving on the Alb valley tram S 1 you could either hike South to the Murg valley and take the S 41 back, or North to Ittersbach or Langensteinbach and return on the S 11.
For an easy bike tour, there is a bike trail along the whole valley. Bikes can be transported for free (on weekdays after 9 a.m., on weekends all day) on the trams, so you can take your bike up to Herrenalb and comfortably cycle back downhill along the river. Mountain bikers and hardcore cyclists will find roads and marked mountainbike trails up and down as many hills as they want.
Written Oct 28, 2011
The house next to the bridge is inhabited by the sculptor Detlef Dwarnicak (not that I had ever heard of him before but that's what the sign outside the house says...) This guy does wooden sculptures of all kinds in various styles. If you walk past, have a look into the garden. There is a totem pole, a group of chickens, an owl, a bearded spirit with mushrooms, frog and snail...
I wonder about the hooded figure in front of the house, it makes me think of a dementor.
Written Oct 28, 2011
The name of the village indicates its origins: Marxzell = "Marci cella". A cella is a dependance of a monastery, with two or three monks who take care of a parish church and its community. Saint Marcus, Mark the Evangelist, indicates a relationship with Reichenau abbey in the early ages. Later on Marxzell was connected with Herrenalb.
The catholic parish church is still dedicated to St Mark. It is the oldest parish church in the Alb valley. The steeple remained of the 14th century church, the nave was substituted by a new and larger one in 1782.
The chapel inside the steeple contains the tombstones of the last nuns of Frauenalb who died in the early 19th century when their convent had already been closed down.
I would have liked to see the interior but the church was closed, and I could not find any hints about regular opening hours.
Written Oct 28, 2011
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Marxzell has some tradition as location of a goat market. Goats are the perfect domestic animals for these rough mountain regions and steep slopes. They were the poor man's cow.
A sculpture opposite the car museum recalls the Marxzell goat market. Farmer and merchant are both dressed in their Sunday best. The object of the trade is a big strong billy goat. The handshake confirms the sale. Both look happy with the result of presumably long and tough haggling about the price.
Written Oct 28, 2011
No matter if you are a car freak or not - if you like exploring old stuff, or if you are a devoted messie, this museum is absolutely worthwhile. It was begun 40 years ago by a family of private collectors, and is still private property. They collected oldtimer cars and everything that is related to them, no matter how distant. Not only tools and parts and petrol pumps and such, but also toys, souvenirs, dishes, automatic musical instruments, trophies, teddy bears, household items... Dressed-up dummies impersonate the owners and users of the cars.
This museum is a jungle. Imagine a couple of halls with as many cars as ever fit in. Then imagine stuff of all varieties from the same era squeezed in between the cars, in the cars, on top of the cars, hanging from the ceiling and on the ground and everywhere. Only a narrow passage in the middle is left for the visitors. Seeing the museum is more like an expedition. You'll discover more details, more little things and more funny settings again and again.
More photos are in the travelogues.
The cars are roughly sorted by country and company. A side hall is dedicated to agriculture, tractors and tools. The second hall has a large collections of fire engines and even a firefighting helicopter. One room is a workshop (but nobody could work in such a mess). The upstairs gallery shows motorbikes and bicycles. A cinema, complete with an old projector and a piano, shows a movie about old cars.
Some of the cars are fully functional, the owners can often be seen with them in oldtimer parades in the region.
How to get there: The museum is located in Marxzell, which is a village in the Alb valley about halfway between Bad Herrenalb and Ettlingen. Take the tram S1 and get off at "Marxzell"; from the station it is a walk of 5-10 minutes to the museum.
Opening hours: daily 14.00 - 17.00
Entrance fee: adults 5 €, concessions 3 €
Written Oct 28, 2011
Website: http://www.fahrzeugmuseum-marxzell.de/
Frauenalb used to be a convent of Benedictine nuns, founded in the late 12th century. Its history consists of a series of destructions and rebuildings. In 1598 the convent was closed down due to the all too worldly ways of life of the inmates. During the 30 year war it was reopened and a new convent established. Around 1700 the nuns first erected new convent buildings (1696-1704), then a magnificent baroque church (1727-1736).
The secularization of 1802/03 brought the final closedown. In the following years fires damaged the empty buildings, other parts were torn down to reuse the material for other building projects. The remaining ruin has become a remarkable landmark of the upper Alb valley.
Visiting the ruins is free, they are accessible 24/7.
Getting there:
The tram S 1 along the Karlsruhe - Bad Herrenalb route stops nearby at "Frauenalb/Schielberg", 3 minutes walk from the tram stop to the church.
Frauenalb is 5 kms from Bad Herrenalb, which is an easy hike along the valley. You can also include Frauenalb in longer hikes over the hills. Trails are easy and well marked.
More pictures of Frauenalb with impressions of autumn colours and winter snow can be found in my travelogues.
Written Oct 28, 2011
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The whole length of the Alb valley up to Bad Herrenalb is well connected to Karlsruhe's tram network. The line S 1 runs from Bad Herrenalb via Ettlingen to Karlsruhe, passes both Karlsruhe central station and the city centre and continues to the northern suburbs. Important stops are "Marxzell" for the car museum and the village, and "Frauenalb-Spielberg" for the ruins of the convent. A visit to Marxzell can well be combined with Bad Herrenalb.
When coming from Karlsruhe, check carefully because the S 1 runs every 10 minutes in the city, but not all of them do the whole way, many end in Ettlingen. Two trams per hour (daytime hours on weekdays) continue to Bad Herrenalb, the interval is 20 and 40 minutes alternating. In the evening and on weekends there is one tram per hour. Have a look at the timetable before starting your trip to avoid long waiting periods (lesson learned the hard way). And don't confuse the S 1 and S 11, the S 11 leaves the Alb valley in Busenbach and continues to Ittersbach, in other words, wrong way.
Download of S 1 timetable
Fares: A single ticket from Karlsruhe to Marxzell or back (5 zones) is 3.70 € (same zone as Bad Herrenalb).
Groups up to five people travel cheapest with the Regioplus ticket for 13.50 € which is valid for 24 hours of unlimited travel in the whole KVV area.
Written Oct 28, 2011
Marxzell is a small village but the traffic running through it is by no means village-like. The main road which runs past the train station and the car museum is a Bundesstraße, a major country road, with rather heavy traffic. Many drivers don't slow down as they should be. The zebra crossing in front of the museum is meant to provide safety for pedestrians but - hm, I'm not so sure how far you can really trust car drivers. Better look left and right twice.
Written Oct 28, 2011
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Marxzell is a village in the Alb valley in the Northern Black Forest, between Ettlingen and Bad Herrenalb. In fact it consists of a handful of villages (Marxzell and Frauenalb down in the valley,...
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