Cuckoo Clocks Blog

What could be more beautiful than to stop for lunch on a warm summer day in the inn and take a seat in the beer garden (in German: “Biergarten”). With a non-alcoholic drink or a cold beer with a tasty meal, you can recharge your batteries for a further hike, a walk or simply take a break from everyday life.

The German beer garden culture therefore became an export hit worldwide and quite a few connect Germany with these places. Hekas has lovingly captured this for one of his most beautiful clocks. Who takes a closer look at the cuckoo clock, sees the many beautiful details and recognizes with which love this was designed. Equipped with a robust 8-day movement, two beautiful melodies (Der fröhliche Wanderer and Edelweiss), this clock was the perfect choice for the “Black Forest Clock of the Year 2018”.

After a second place in 2017, Hekas was able to win with their cuckoo clock “Gasthaus zum Bären” against the strong competitors. Every year the most beautiful Black Forest clocks are honoured by the “Verein die Schwarzwalduhr” (VdS), thousands of visitors to the Dorotheenhütte in Wolfach had the opportunity to vote.

The whole team of the Schwarzwald-Palast congratulates Mr. Kammerer and his team!

Especially for our French speaking friends, we created a new place to go: With larger pictures and attractive offers,  https://www.cuckoopalace.fr/ is now ready for clients from France a who love authentic, high quality cuckoo clocks directly from the German Black Forest. We are looking forward to your visit.

Especially for our Italian speaking friends, we created a new place to go: With larger pictures and attractive offers, https://www.cuckoopalace.it/ is now ready for clients from Italy a who love authentic, high quality cuckoo clocks directly from the German Black Forest. We are looking forward to your visit.

Especially for our Spanish speaking clients, we created a new place to go: With larger pictures and attractive offers, https://www.cuckoopalace.es is now ready for clients from Spain and South America who value authentic, high quality cuckoo clocks directly from the Black Forest. We are looking forward to your visit.

© Hinterzarten Breitnau Tourismus GmbH

The Black Forest is not only worth a trip for its marvelous clock making traditions. The region in south-west Germany is one of the most popular destinations for German and foreign tourists alike.

While summer time scores with lush forests and deep green meadows, the winter transforms the Black Forest into a magical Winter wonder land. Since its higher position in the mountains, snow is basically guaranteed during the winter months. Fans of the outdoors are offered a vast number of fun activities.

A favorite of many are winter hikes through the breath taking nature. The tourist information of the Black Forest offers a large scale of prepared tours. From short and sweet hikes to long tours, everyone can find their match. Many routes can be combined with a hearty meal or a stop for sleighing.

If you’re more into fast activities, the Black Forest won’t disappoint you either. 250km for alpine and 1700km for cross country skiiers offer almost endless possibilities. If you’re new to winter sports, there are several schools that can not wait to teach you how to ski or snowboard. In case you already are a Pro, you should check out the ski-jumps and the free ride slopes.

© STG

After the sun has set behind the mountains, the Christmas magic really starts in the Black Forest. The already neat cities and villages are brightened up by bright lights and create a wonderful atmosphere to enjoy mullet wine and local treats in.

A very special Christmas market is the one of the Ravenna canyon. The highly romantic market makes the canyon being illuminated with lights. Concerts and other cultural events take place there during the four weekends leading towards Christmas. There is even the possibility to visit the market in the line of a torch hike – a dreamlike experience.

If you only make it tot he Black Forest the days after Christmas, the ‚Christmas Magic of Triberg’ (December 25th to 30th) is definitely a must. A million lights illuminate the city during the darkest days oft he year. The spectacle is topped by a breath taking fire show and fire works around the famous water falls of Triberg.

Enjoy the combination of nature, culture and cozyness, which makes the Black Forest so wonderful during winter. We promise you won’t regret it and have a marvelous Christmas time in Cuckoo Clock country.

© Black Forest

The cuckoo clock belongs to the Black Forest just like the famous ham and the Bollen hat. Hardly anyone travels the region without purchasing one of the special clocks as a souvenir. Strictly speaking, the Cuckoo clock is not an invention of the Black Forest region, though. It was there where it received its present day style and became world famous.

Clock production has a long history in the Black Forest and started already way before the introduction of the Cuckoo clock. In the middle of the 17th century, the local clock industry had its beginnings and started to grow. But it is also documented for example that August of Saxonia owned a Cuckoo clock in 1629 already.

© Black Forest

During the 18th century, the clock makers of the Black Forest started to manufcatur Cuckoo clocks as well. Inseperably connected with that developemtn is for example the name of Franz Ketterer of Schönwald. He was one of the first Black Forestians to design and construct a clock with a cuckoo. They were more like regular clocks though, equipped with a cuckoo call.

A competion in the mid-19th century brought the distinctive design that the Cuckoo clocks are famous for. The competition was won by architect Friedrich Eisenlohr with the design of a rail road house. His typical house design was developed into todays chalet clocks and carved clocks, the two most popular types of Cuckoo clocks.

The invention of the Cuckoo clocks is more a development that took two centuries and included several influences. The original Cuckoo clocks are inseperably linked tot he Black Forest today. When purchasing a Cuckoo clock, it is important to make sure that it is an authentic product from the Black Forest, recognizable because of the Vds-certificate. This gives you a guarantee that you purchase not an inferior plagiarism but an item of quality and value.

The winner of 2009 by August Schwer

Until January 16th 2015, you have the chance to vote for the Black Forest Clock of the Year. The clocks are exposed at the brewery of Rothaus in Grafenhausen/Black Forest. 14 different models from seven different manufacturers are shown: Traditional clocks as well as modern ones.

At the end of the guided tour through the brewery, the visitors end up at the Zäpfle-Bar, where the clocks are exposed. The audience hast he possibility to watch the clocks closely and soak in all the little lovely details. An empty beer barrel serves as a ballot box. After the exhibition has ended on January 16th, the votes are counted and the winner is presented in a special ceremony.

Fans oft he Black Forest clock do have some more days to check out these special clocks and to vote for their favorite.

Christmas Magic in Triberg

Just like most regions have their own rituals, there are special Christmas traditions in the Black Forest as well. Sometimes, they have their origin in religion, but some are also century old habits that are passed on from generation to generation.

It is especially the nights between Christmas eve and Epiphany that are important. These twelve nights, also known as ‚Raunächte’, are nights where to ghosts are said to be especially active. This is why people sometimes still put candy outside, so that the ghosts are becalmed. Also, the twelve days and nights have the function of an outlook on the coming year – each day stands for one month. The weather on a certain day represents the weather for the respective month, for example. Also it is important to have a close look at your dreams during these nights, since they are supposed to describe the upcoming year as well. Medical herbs have a stronger effect during the Raunächte – caused by the strong connection to the other side. As you can tell, the twelve days of Christmas are very special in the Black Forest.

There are some other habits that are cause by old legends, too: The Black Forest farmers don’t go see their animals in the barn on Christmas eve, for example. It says that the animals talk to each other in the Holy night. Also, you should not wash your laundry between Christmas and the twelfth day – you are risking to ‚wash a person out of your life’ by that.

There are other beautiful traditions that have been lasting up until today, that make Christmas in the Black Forest a very special one: One of them is the ‚Triberger Weihnachtszauber’ (Christmas Magic in Triberg). The whole area around the world famous waterfalls is illuminated by more than one million lights. Another beautiful event is Christmas Eve in Freudenstadt: The whole city gathers and sets torches and wood piles on fire – which causes the whole valley to illuminated.

Source: http://www.schwarzwald-netz.com/168/Schwarzwald-Geschichte/Sagen-im-Schwarzwald-Weihnachten.html

Picture by TWZ Event GmbH.

What  do the Black Forest and South America have in common? More than you might think, and at least one city. In Venezuela, there is a city that looks like it was packed up in the Black Forest and unpacked in South America. The name of the city is Colonia Tovar.

In 1842, 392 inhabitants of the Kaiserstuhl-area, which is located at the border oft he Black Forest, decided to try their fortune in South America. They emigrated to Venezuela and settled in an area that had similar climate conditions like their home region. The town of Colonia Trovar was founded, and it was built according to German traditions: Half-timbered houses, schools and churches were designed in the traditional Black Forest way. German songs and poems were given from generation to generation, and the regional dialect of southwest Germany is still spoken by the elderly. The city was isolated from the rest of the country due to lack of useable roads.

Since roads were constructed in the midth if the 20th century, the city has become a popular destination for tourists.

The traditions are well taken care of : The cuisine is still influenced by Germany and specialities oft he town are sausage, beer and of course Black Forest cake. Octoberfest is celebrated annually, as well as typical south German carnival. Ando f course, you can find our beloved cuckoo clocks there as well – they are still manufactured there and very popular with tourists.

If you’re in need for break  of south america during your travels, you might want to consider a stop in little Germany – and enjoy a little piece of home faraway from home.

Railway house clock with 8-day-movement by Rombach & Haas

An important milestone in the history of clock making in the Black Forest is the invention of the railway house clock, or Bahnhäusle Uhr in German.

Railway house clock with 8-day-movement by Rombach & Haas

But how did this design came into being? It has its origin in a design competition in 1850. The principal oft he clockmaker school in Furtwangen, Robert Gerwig, called for a competition to develop a new, contemporary clock design.  The winner oft he competition was Friedrich Eisenlohr, who worked as an architect for a railroad company. His inspiration were the houses of the gatekeeper of the railways. He added a clock face to transform it into a clock. With this simple, yet genius idea, he influences the look of clocks up until today. They were the base for the rich decorated carved Cuckoo clocks that are wold famous today which were invented a little later.

You can still buy the traditional railway house clocks today. Although most people think of carved clocks when they think of cuckoo clocks, there are manufacturers such as Rombach & Haas who also produce clocks with the original design up until today.