Over the four-days Easter weekend, we went on a road trip from Lausanne up to the Black Forest area (Schwarzwald) of Germany. We took the A12, A1, A2 then cross into Germany onto the A5. Our first stop was Freiburg where we stayed overnight.
Freiburg is located in the southwest of the state of Baden-Württemberg on the southeastern edge of the Upper Rhine Valley and the western foothills of the Black Forest.
Freiburg was founded in 1120 as a free market town (hence its name, “free borough”).
The history of the city is a fascinating read, if you have time. I glanced at it on Wikipedia and noted that it was a commercial center (silver mining, richest in Europe in the 1300’s), a learning center (founded in 1457 with the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, it is one of the classic German university towns), a Catholic stronghold against the protestants, and an environmentally-friendly city.
Freiburg has a number of sister cities (university town mostly), as shown on the cobble-stoned town hall sqaure (Rathausplatz)
Begun in the Romanesque style, the cathedral was continued and completed in 1513 for the most part as a Gothic cathedral.
Due to the soft nature of the stones used in its construction, the church is constantly under repair. See the gargoyles ?
When we walked into the church, it was packed due to Good Friday service.
Not only there were three statutes in front of the church, the entrance and its walls were studded with numerous figurines depicting various events from the bible.
More about Freiburg to come later this week.