Mal Rogersvisits the greenest city in Germany, befalls a local tradition that predicts you're going to marry a Freiburger and comes home still a single man
LET'S BE clear about one thing. The cuckoo clock was invented here in the Black Forest, not in Switzerland. It was designed in this immense forest of fir and spruce and great timber farmhouses stretching all the way down to Freiburg.
The Black Forest gateau, too, is a local invention, its roots reaching back to the mists of the 20th century. In German, the layered chocolate, whipped cream and cherry cake is known as Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.
Black Forest gateau may be the first thing that pops into your head when you think about this neck of the fairly extensive wood, but funnily enough, the quintessential characteristic of its capital, Freiburg, is its system of gutters. Really.
Called Bächles,these small rivulets of water run alongside every street in the Old Town. The brains behind the drains designed them for firefighting in medieval times. The water also came in handy for Freiburgers' ablutions on fire-free days.
Legend has it that if you step into a Bächle, you're going to marry a Freiburger. Now, I have to tell you I fell into the gutter three times on the way home from a particularly hospitable reception at the town hall - but nothing to report as yet.
Lining the Bächles are beautifully cobbled streets, constructed from intricate patterns of granite pebbles from the nearby Rhine. I presume if you see one that's not too well laid, it'll have been done by a Rhine-stone cowboy. I consulted my guidebook, but no mention of it there.
However, the book did tell me that the Bächles (and their legend) were first mentioned in print in 1246 - very old drains indeed. But then Freiburg is a very old city.
The most westerly outpost of the Habsburg Empire - from the 14th to 19th century - it was originally set up as a market in 1120. The Historisches Kaufhaus, a Renaissance building constructed between 1520 and 1530, was once the financial centre of the entire region and is a fabulous building to visit today.
The cathedral, one of the oldest and most elegant in Europe, towers over the medieval streets. Begun in 1200, work was finally completed, snagging and all, in 1513. Unlike many ecclesiastical showpieces in Europe, today there seems to be as many bona-fide customers as tourists making use of the church. This certainly adds to the atmosphere - even if you're a tourist.
Despite the cathedral being so graceful that its design and tracery work have been copied throughout Europe, it had its bog-standard purposes too. Look carefully at the main door pillars and you'll see the exact dimensions of a loaf of bread, inscribed circa 1400 in the sandstone. Were your loaf too small, you could legally march the baker up here and demand recompense. Other official dimensions are etched in the wall, only some of the many curios in this building.
Heading outside, you're immediately in the market place, the Münsterplatz, and engulfed by the aroma of food sizzling on stoves and braziers. Basically, you can eat yourself to a standstill here for a fiver. Schnitzels, sauerkraut and potato salad are on sale everywhere; should this fail to satisfy you, the urbane Freiburger's idea of a snack is "Currywurst, frites und Prosecco €7". That classy combo is available throughout the marketplace, as are bockwurst (sausages), fricadelles (meat balls) and knackerwurst (nothing to do with balls).
Freiburg is officially the greenest city in Germany. Public transport is king and the old city is car-free. This being a university town (there's no heavy industry here) you can be assured of lively nightlife and the restaurants serve food that is seriously delicious if fatty enough to be life-shortening.
The town is easy-going, with a southern European feel to it - the folks here have more in common with the French just down the road than they do with Hamburg way northwards. If you like your trip abroad to be Catholic and sensual as well as efficient and elegant, Freiburg should feature high on your list.
• Mal Rogers was a guest of the German Tourist Board and the Freiburg Tourist Board
Go There
Zurich airport in Switzerland is the nearest airport with direct flights from Ireland. Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus.com) flies daily between Dublin and Zurich.
5 places to stay
• Western Premier HotelVictoria. 54 Eisenbahnstrasse, 00-49-761-207340, www.hotel-victoria.de. This is classified as one of the most ecological hotels in the world. Café Colonial Hemingway has a choice of 100 cocktails. Double rooms from €120.
• Colombi Hotel. Am Colombi Park, 16 Rotteckring, 00-49-761-21060, www.colombi.de. Slumber soundly in Freiburg's only five-star hotel, with its classically styled rooms overlooking the Old Town. Doubles from €280.
• Central Hotel. 6 Wasserstrasse, 00-49-761-3197100, www.central-freiburg.de. A comfortable four-star hotel, smart, friendly and centrally located. Doubles from €129.
• Hotel Oberkirch.22 Münsterplatz, 00-49-761-2026868, www.hotel-oberkirch.de. This 250-year-old hostelry is right by the cathedral. In summer, the great oak dining tables spill out on to the garden terrace. Doubles from €146
• Markgräfler Hof. 22 Gerberau, Freiburg, 00-49-761-32540, www.markgraeflerhof.de. Lavish breakfasts, cosy rooms, and an even cosier bar. Doubles from €105.
5 places to eat
• Zum Roten Bären.12 Oberlinden, 00-49-761-387870, www.roter-baeren.de. On the go since 1120, this is the oldest restaurant in town. The signature dish, Badisches Hausrecht, consists of medallions of beef, veal and pork with different sauces.
• Colombi Restaurant.Am Colombi Park, 00-49-761- 2106500, www.colombi.de. A gourmet restaurant with numerous awards. The cuisine is local and delicately prepared.
• Café-Restaurant Bergstation.390 Schauinslandstrasse, Oberried, 00-49-7602771. This restaurant is at the top cable-car station, so the views are panoramic. The food is equally impressive - you can be utterly indulged with kaffee und kuchen (coffee and delectable cake) or beer and schnitzel.
• Hausbrauerei Feierling.46 Gerberau, 00-49-761-243480, www.feierling.de. A microbrewery and restaurant on three levels. Daily specials cost €6; fancier stuff such as smoked Schäufele (pork shoulder) in a zesty sauce might set you back €12.
• The Isle of Innisfree.2 Augustinerplatz, 00-49-761- 22984, www.isle-of-innisfree.de. Okay, we don't have to do Irish pubs abroad, but this one's a gem, in a historic cellar. Tomas Bagge from Cork runs it with his Swiss wife Gines, and their salads are renowned.
5 places to go
• Schlossberg.The Schlossberg, to the east of the city, takes about 15 minutes to hike up to from the city centre. From the tower at the top, you'll get impressive views of the Black Forest, the Kaiserstuhl mountain and the French Voges mountain range.
• Schauinsland Cable Car.Bohrerstr. Horben bei Freiburg, 00-49-761-4511777, www.bergwelt-schauinsland.de. You need Tram 2, then bus 21. Then the cable car will whisk you some 1,300m to the top of Freiburg's resident mountain, Der Schauinsland. It'll cost you €20, but the views are worth it.
• Münsterplatz.A market happens by the cathedral every morning. Traditional stalls sell craftware, including intricate wood carvings from Black Forest wood. Some craftsmen will carve you a bespoke wooden trinket on the spot.
• Augustiner Musuem, Augustinerplatz, 1500 Gerberau, 00-49-761-2012531, www.museen.freiburg.de. Like all German cities, you could get lost in Freiburg's museums for a week. The oldest and biggest is the Augustiner Musuem, specialising in regional art from the middle ages.
• The Münster Unserer LiebenFrau, or Cathedral of Our Dear Lady, comes complete with gargoyles and glorious stained-glass windows. Most of the cathedral was flattened, as was most of Freiburg, in 1944. The cathedral was eventually rebuilt with the old windows intact (some wily priest in 1937 had them removed for safe- keeping). You can climb the narrow staircase to the top for a great view of the town and a peek inside the bell tower.
Hit the shops
• The Münsterplatz, or marketplace, is open 7.30am-1.30pm every day except Sunday. On the north side, regional stall holders sell myriad handmade crafts; on the south side are stall holders from all over Germany and beyond. For small boutique-type shops, head down the Schusterstrasse.
A good night out
• Start off at the Café Colonial Hemingwayin the Victoria Hotel with a Bellini. Then it's on to the nearby Jazz House(www.jazzhaus.de) for disco and pop. We could finish off in one of Freiburg's newest and, dare I say, trendiest nightclubs, such as the Räng Täng Täng(Grünwälderstrasse), or the Kagan, a disco with a spectacular view of the city - find it in the main complex built onto the Hauptbahnhof.
Hot spot
• Two miles to the south of the city centre is the greenest part of this green city. Vauban is a radical experiment in living ecologically - many of the houses and businesses are energy-neutral, an astonishing communal achievement.