We started at the Tourist Information office at 11:00 and checked on things to see and do here. Because of winter and Fastnacht, not many places here were open right now (Winter Pause). Many of the stores didn’t open at all today. A few of the tourist shops were open, but most of the wood carving stores were closed.
We first went to the Schwarzwald Museum by the Tourist Office. We spent about an hour in the museum and it was Wonderful. Lots of good German Black Forest history. We saw traditional clothing, celebration clothing, and house wares. The museum was filled with beautiful wood carvings and carved furniture. Some rooms in the (house) were set up as they would have been–with straw weaving, watch making, wood carving, and a typical bedroom. We loved it all.
There was a beautiful collection of old clocks and beautiful carvings. There was a section that went down under the house made to look like you were in a gemstone mine. At the end of the tour was a restaurant/room all set up for Fastnacht partying. Around the room were historical Fastnacht costumes and mannequins with masks. It was all so fun and so interesting. We really enjoyed it.
Come walk with me through the museum:
These decorative crowns were worn by brides and used for special celebrations. They weighed up to 5 kilos!
This is a clock peddler salesman.
These flat, painted clock faces were common because they took less time to make and they were easier for the salesmen to carry. I love them.
These next photos show the straw weaving industry from the Black Forest. Many of these home industries kept these mountain people busy during the cold and snowy winter months.
These woven straw ribbons are intricate and beautiful.
These straw samplers show all the different patterns.
History of straw weaving:
Here’s a woodcarver’s workroom:
Doors and furniture were beautifully carved. The carvings tell stories and capture images and faces from long ago. Fascinating!
A typical farm house:
A bedroom:
The clock maker’s shop:
Oh, the beautiful old clocks!!
“Because we are here in the strange/unusual part of the Black Forest where clock manufacturing is carried out in all homes.”
“If you ask these watch dealers where they travel, they answer: To the land of watches. This is their common saying, they may afterwards travel in France, in Turkey, in North America or elsewhere.”
Electric lights came to Triberg in 1884.
Soldiers from Triberg who died in WWI.
A medical transport.
A blacksmith/tool maker.
This part of the museum was made to look like the gemstone mines.
Next we saw a room that replicated a cozy restaurant in the Loewen Hotel.
An old replica of the town of Triberg:
The 100 Year Jubilee:
This part of the museum looks like it’s used as a restaurant today, maybe for special events?
The last part of the museum/restaurant had a wonderful display of Karnival costumes from years past.
The museum tour ended in a room with sleds, toboggans and ski items.
We loved spending time here. It was so interesting and so nicely presented. I love the culture and traditions of this part of Germany, not so far from where my people come from.
Our Frankfurt Germany Mission 