This morning we left Baden Baden for the Swiss Alps. Our route took us through the intriguing Black Forest and included a late morning stop for a tour of the Schwarzwalder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof (don't ask me how to pronounce that - typing it was hard enough), an Open Air Museum. I love places such as this, where you can see and experience how local people really live and work in a place and culture so different from your own.
The Vogtsbauernhof (farmhouse of the district governor) that we toured was built on this property in 1612 and was occupied until 1965 by the family and their animals, all under one roof. We learned that Black Forest farmhouses are very large and typically built into the side of a hill to allow access to the third floor, where farmers store their wagons, tractors, hay, and farm tools. The animals live on the ground floor and the family lives on the second floor. During our drive through the Black Forest (Schwarzwalder) we saw plenty of farmhouses like this that are still in use today.
In the picture below Tom is quite comfortable sitting in the "master's chair" in the living area of the farmhouse.
This is the wood-burning stove in the two-story kitchen; it still works and is used in museum demonstrations.
And this is a typical child's bedroom. The farmhouse is made for short people (apparently poor nutrition
stunted their growth) and has short beds and doorways. One of our group members, Joe, is 6'8" so he had to really watch out while touring the house, walking stooped over most of the time, which provided a few laughs for the rest of us.
I thought this religious scene on the front side of a smaller farmhouse at the museum was interesting.
The Black Forest is also known for its cuckoo clocks...
and Black Forest cherry cake. Tara ordered one especially for us. YOLO!!
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