A Night in the National Park

The Black Forest National Park begins twenty minutes beyond our grounds. No one has intervened there since 2014: the forest is free to become wilderness again.

Night is when the forest leaves its strongest impression. At around ten, as the fires are burning at the house, you set off with a national park ranger. After fifteen minutes, your eyes have adjusted to the darkness. You hear an owl, the rutting calls of deer in autumn, then long stretches of nothing, and that nothing is the true reason to be here. On clear nights, a canopy of stars hangs above Hornisgrinde that is no longer visible from the brightly lit Rhine Plain.

The ranger decides where the route will lead that evening, according to the weather, the season and what the forest has to reveal. All you need to do is follow.

When you return, a light will still be on for you. Warm tea will be waiting, and your bed is close by.