Black Forest

Black Forest (Ger. Schwarzwald), a wooded mountain-chain in Baden and Württemberg, running parallel with the course of the Rhine after its great bend near Basel, and often only a few miles distant from it. The Rhine also bounds it on the south, and the level country between the Enz and the confluence of the Neckar with the Rhine borders it on the north. The chief rivers rising in the Black Forest are the Danube, Neckar, Murg, Kinzig, Elz, Enz, and Wiessen. Of these, the valley of the Kinzig divides the southern and loftier portion from the northern district. The chain attains its greatest elevation in the bare and round-topped Feldberg (4903 feet high), above celebrated Höllenthal, a narrow valley known in connection with Moreau's retreat in 1796. The great mass called the Kaiserstuhl (Emperor's Chair), situated near Breisach, is quite isolated. As to the geological character of the mountains, primitive granite and gneiss form their core, porphyry occurs on their sides, and sandstone in the north and east. Silver, copper, cobalt, lead, and iron are found in greater or less quantity in the principal chain, which is luxuriantly wooded, its name Schwarzwald being derived from the dark-tinted foliage and immense number of its firstrees. The district is also rich in mineral waters—e.g. the baths of Baden-Baden (q.v.) and Wildbad (q.v.). On the Rhine side the descent is precipitous, but towards the Danube and the Neckar it is gradual. Among its numerous valleys, the Murgthal is the most famous for its natural beauties; but, indeed, the whole of the country is here rich in picturesque scenery, gemmed with cascades and deep mountain-lakes, around which cluster the legends of many centuries. The climate is healthy, but severe, although the western slopes are studded with vineyards. Summer rye, oats, and potatoes are cultivated in some parts, but with difficulty, the rearing of cattle being attended with much greater success. This, and the manufacture of articles of wood, forms the chief industry of the inhabitants. The making of wooden clocks and other kinds of timepieces employs about 40,000 persons; and not less than 600,000 articles of this kind, including musical boxes, are exported annually to all parts of the world. A railway starting from Pforzheim makes the complete circuit of the mountains, which are now crossed by a line from Offenburg to Singen, and by numerous shorter lines. The Black Forest railways have been difficult engineering enterprises. The line between Freiburg and Neustadt rises 2000 feet in 22 miles, and at some parts has rails on the rack system. See Seguin's Black Forest, its People and Legends (2d ed. 1886).