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Freiburg im Breisgau (German: [ˈfʁaɪbʊʁk ʔɪm ˈbʁaɪsɡaʊ] ⓘ; Alemannic: Friburg im Brisgau; French: Fribourg-en-Brisgau; lit.Freecastle in the[ a ] Breisgau; mostly called simply Freiburg) is the fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. With around 236,000 inhabitants, it ...
Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau is a major city in a secluded wine-rich corner of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, on the edge of the Black Forest.Picturesquely located on the river Dreisam, in between green mountainsides, it enjoys one of the sunniest and warmest climates among German cities.
- Freiburg Minster
- Münsterplatz
- Historical Merchants’ Hall
- Freiburg Bächle
- Augustiner Museum
- Schwabentor
- Schlossberg
- Rathäuser
- Martinstor
- Haus Zum Walfisch
Begun as a Romanesque church in the 13th century, Freiburg’s awe-inspiring minster would take another 300 years to complete. Despite the destruction wreaked around Münsterplatz in 1944, the minster came through with only minor damage. In 1869 the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt described the 116-metre tower as the most beautiful in the world, and ...
Surrounding the minster is a cobblestone pedestrian square, ringed by historic monuments and scene of a market that trades every day of the week except Sundays. The square was almost totally flattened by bombs in 1944, but along with the minster one of the buildings to come through intact was the Wentzingerhaus on the southern margins of the square...
Also on the south side of Münsterplatz is a magnificent Renaissance building constructed as a market storehouse. The hall is impossible to miss for its crimson facade and glazed patterned tiles on its bay windows. In its current format, with crow-stepped gables and arcade on the ground floor, the building dates to the start of the 1530s. The four s...
You can’t spend any time in Freiburg without dodging one of the little waterways in grooves in the Old Town. These are fed by the Dreisam river and are called Bächle. They were first recorded in the 1200s and in Medieval times they had a few uses, like helping to fight fires, providing local trades like tanners with water but were also open sewers....
On Augustinerplatz a former Augustinian monastery has been converted into a stylish gallery for art from the Middle Ages to the Baroque. In the gallery upstairs are works by German Renaissance masters like Matthias Grünewald, Lucas Cranach the Elder and Hans Baldung Grien, as well as paintings from the Speyer Altarpiece by Master of the Housebook. ...
The younger of Freiburg’s two Medieval gates went up in the middle of the 13th century and is close to the oldest crossing on the Dreisam River. The tower is three storeys high and built from red sandstone. The staircase tower and half-timbered extensions are a little later, from the 16th century. On the town side you can see a Baroque painting fro...
Protecting Freiburg from the east is a 456-metre hill in the Black Forest. As a handy strategic position Schlossberg was fortified from as early as the 1000s, and though these structures are now in ruins efforts have been made to bring them to life. One of the main draws now is the Schlossbergbahn, a funicular railway that opened in 2008 and lifts ...
Freiburg’s New Town Hall and Old Town Hall are in the same compound on the picturesque Rathausplatz. The Old Town Hall is on the north side and is in the Renaissance style, dating to the end of the 1550s. On the curved cable above the clock you can make out the double eagle of the Holy Roman Empire, while Freiburg’s various ruling families down the...
The older of the two city gates is on the southwest side of the Old Town and has stood here in some form since 1202. The first record of the Martinstor is from 1238, but analysis of the timbers has shown they’re a little older. The gate was an anchor for the Medieval fortifications, but when the French military engineer Vauban redesigned the city’s...
This elegant early Renaissance house was ordered by Jakob Villinger von Schönenberg who was the Grand Treasurer to the Holy Roman Emperor. The house goes back to the 1510s and over the next hundred years accommodated some important personalities. The Dutch humanist Erasmus visited between 1529 and 1531, while Emperor Ferdinand I used the house arou...
Welcome to Freiburg! We are excited to welcome you and inspire you with the rich diversity of our city! With relaxation and activities. Indulgence and intellect. Nature and architecture. Art and culture. With the natural ease and dynamic energy that characterizes the lifestyle here in sunny southern Germany. Whether for a weekend, a couple of ...
- Pedal along the Dreisam. Freiburg is a paradise for cyclists, with more than 400km (250 miles) of dedicated bike paths that crisscross the town and its flanking forests and villages.
- Cheer on the local soccer team at the SC Stadium. Freiburg doesn't take itself too seriously, until the local football (soccer) team runs onto the pitch that is.
- Fly high in the Schauinslandbahn cable car. Climb aboard the Schauinslandbahn, Germany’s longest loop cable car, and glide to the top of 1,220m (4212ft) Schauinsland – the name translates, appropriately, to "look into the country."
- Dip your toes in the Bächle. Wandering through the medieval old town, make sure you keep your feet dry or you might end up marrying a local, or so the local folklore goes.
Freiburg im Breisgau is an eminently livable city in southern Germany with easy access to neighbouring countries and to the outdoor activities and sights of the nearby Black Forest. It is frequently called Germany's 'sustainable city' and, taking advantage of the sunny location near the Rhine river in Baden-Württemberg, it is renowned for its ecological initiatives, vineyards and university life.
Black Forest Towns. If you’d like to explore the Black Forest while in Freiburg, you have lots of wonderful day trip options. Some must-visits include an open-air museum, the old resort town of Baden-Baden, Triberg for cuckoo clocks and the Triberg Waterfalls, and the charming small towns of Staufen and Gengenbach.
