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Black Forest Magic US$1 Equals 0.89 Euro ~ By Steenie Harvey

This article is from the best of International Living - Subscribe To International Living Magazine  ~ Get The Facts ~

A couple of hours south of Frankfurt is the Black Forest - the Schwarzwald. Source of countless scare-the-wits-out-of-the-kids fairytales, the Black Forest isn’t as ominous as it sounds. Although place names include Hexental (Witches’ Valley) and Höllental (Hell Valley), it’s not all dense pine forest. Rather it’s a patchwork of mixed woodlands, green valleys, and highlands decorated with waterfalls...and some exceptionally pretty villages and spa towns.  If you enjoy walking or cycling you’ll be in your element...and you often spy deer grazing at the forest edge. The forest’s well-maintained paths are traffic-free and better surfaced than a lot of the continent’s “proper” roads. Plus they’re so clearly sign-posted that there’s no danger of going astray. For outdoor types, it’s an all-year-round destination. During winter - invariably cold and snowy - it’s a major center for cross-country skiing. Like their flower-filled gardens, houses - often styled like wooden alpine chalets - are immaculate. Don’t look for a fixer-upper...they don’t exist. In the nicest areas, you’re talking at least $250,000. Like everywhere else, apartments depend on size, location, and facilities. Here’s a typical one in Wiehre, a leafy district within walking distance of the medieval heart of the Freiburg’s Altstadt (old town): a 360-square-foot studio with separate kitchen and shower room for $91,000. However, in Black Forest villages some 30 minutes from Freiburg, you’ll often get twice the space for the same price. The Tuscany of Germany Near the border with both Switzerland and France’s Alsace region, Freiburg-im-Breisgau is the Black Forest’s “capital.” A university town of half-timbered houses with an 800-year-old history, it boasts of having the country’s kindest climate. Thanks to the sunny summers and the acres of surrounding vineyards, locals call this region Toskana Deutschlands - Germany’s Tuscany. Pointy Gothic turrets shaped like burghers’ hats and cobbled, lamp-lit squares are commonplace in Germany - and Freiburg has its share. However, few other settlements still have Bächle. The Bächle were designed as a kind of urban cooling system - and also proved useful for animals to drink from. Today, though, you’ll see school kids pulling off their footwear to go and paddle. Local lore tells that if you inadvertently step in one of the Bächle, you’re sure to marry a Freiburger!

With 50,000 students seeking accommodation, Freiburg has a lively letting market. Anne, in Holtz Immobilien, explained that a studio apartment of 350 square feet costs from $48,000 to $112,000, depending on the area. Outside the Altstadt, Wiehre is Freiburg’s most desirable neighborhood - a 1,370-square-foot apartment here was listed for $363,500. She also had a detached house (1,730 square feet) for $471,000. 

Immobilien Schlimgen’s window featured a lovely modern home styled like an old-fashioned Black Forest farmhouse. Priced at $282,500, it is reasonable for this area. As luck would have it, I’d honed in on what must be Germany’s only realty office without an English-speaker. Nevertheless, my German just about stood up to the test - Herr Schlimgen told me the property was in the Elztal valley, 20 minutes driving time from Freiburg. Built in 1991, living space amounted to around 1,600 square feet and included a separate studio under the roof, which could be rented to vacationers. 

Holtz Immobilien (Anne von Oppel), Eisebahnstrasse 64, 79098 Freiburg-am-Breisgau; tel (49)761-560-00; fax (49)761-560-01; e-mail: a.v.oppel@holtz-immobilien.de; website: www.holtz-immobilien.de. 
Immobilien Schlimgen (Marc Schlimgen), Unterlinden 3, 79098 Freiburg-am-Breisgau; tel (49)761-319-6380; fax (49)761-338-87.
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Freiburg’s surrounding villages are as delectable as...well, a slice of Black Forest gâteau. Believe me, nothing in Britain or the U.S. masquerading as “Black Forest cake” does justice to a genuine Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte, the region’s most famous cake. This chocolate sponge with chocolate sides and topping is packed with sharp-tasting black cherries and flavored with alcoholic Kirschwasser (a clear schnapps also made from cherries). Slices are invariably gargantuan...to compound the damage, they come loaded with real whipped cream. Muttering “a moment in the mouth, a lifetime on the hips,” proved useless. German cakes and pastries are too scrumptious to resist. Apfel (apple) and other fruit strudels are another of my undoings. Sometimes they come in a vanilla sauce, sometimes with cream, sometimes with icecream...and sometimes with all three. Anybody with a passion for pickled cabbage and pig meat in all its guises will be more than satisfied...you can have a trencher-woman’s meal for around $7.50. Cooking is hearty to say the least, but you can ring the changes with beef and venison. Fish choices are rather poor—most menus only included trout, salmon, and pike-perch. However, a wonderful seasonal treat appears at the end of summer when you’ll see inns advertising Frische Pfifferlinge hier! Pfifferlinge are a type of mushroom—something like chanterelles. They’re often served in a cream sauce accompanied by spätzle (home-made egg noodles).  Bad Krozingen If you have the same guidebook as me, you’ll not see Bad Krozingen mentioned. And I suspect other guides don’t feature this village either. Consequently it’s not on the Black Forest coach tour circuit, where cuckoos flap from clocks at every step...and cafés condemn you to death by Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte.  I discovered Bad Krozingen courtesy of the receptionist in Freiburg’s Park Hotel Post. Asking where I could find a spa, she recommended I try it (and even packed towels in a bag to take along). Around 25 minutes by train from Freiburg, it’s just the kind of medium-sized village, where I could imagine living. It’s very neat, with day-to-day shops set around a pedestrian precinct. There’s also an open market under the round-towered Rathaus (town hall).

The spa isn’t a run-of-mill outdoor bathing area in the woods full of splashing kids. (And be warned, a lot are.) No, Bad Krozingen is up towards the serious end of German Badekultur, though it’s not compulsory to do anything other than relax. Complete with a grassy sunbathing area, it has a large outdoor pool - the perfect place to spend a summer afternoon. Here you can get vigorously pummelled by jets of thermal water...and I do mean pummelled. The jets almost knocked me off my underwater perch. I imagine it would be a great place to visit in winter, too. There are also three indoor pools (one heated to 96 degrees F), a ‘Sauna-Paradies,’ and all kinds of health treatments. 

A day-ticket costs $14.50; massages start at $20. Admittedly if you’re only looking for a watery dip, the Vita Classica is more expensive than ordinary Strandbads - which usually charge a $3 entrance fee. However, it is far more luxurious and adult-orientated. The few kids here were very well-behaved, not frolicking like boisterous puppy dogs. 

There are a couple of realtors in the village, but as I visited on a Saturday, they weren’t open. The cheapest Bad Krozingen property I saw at the time was a 700 square foot apartment in a residence with a garden for $156,250. I later discovered that Holtz Immobilien in Freiburg had some properties here. There’s also listings from realtors and private sellers in the regional newspaper, the Badische Zeitung. Samples include a 275 square foot studio in a renovated Altbau (older-style building) in Bad Krozingen for $48,200. A larger apartment of 825 square feet in a similar-style village house is $146,300.
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. Vineyards And Castle Ruins Following a riverbank trail from Bad Krozingen (or taking a train) brings you to Staufen. This perfect village huddles below another Schlossberg, a verdant hill smothered in vineyards and crowned with castle ruins. Just as in Freiburg, the pedestrianized village center comes complete with watery pitfalls - more Bächle. There are some magnificent medieval buildings, many with frescoes, including the Gasthaus zum Löwen (Lion Inn). Here, in room number 5, Doktor Faust allegedly made his pact with the devil in 1539. I’d always thought Faust was a literary creation of Goethe, but the famous German writer was inspired by a real story. Of course, the real Dr. Faust wasn’t actually carried off by Mephistopholes in a puff of pantomine smoke. Staufen’s doctor managed to blow himself to smithereens in an experiment. He was working as an alchemist, employed by the local Count to turn base metal into gold. Maybe it was the sulfuric fumes pouring from the Lion Inn that suggested devilish deeds, but rumors proliferated. One Franciscan monk testified he’d earlier seen Faust consorting with the devil in the form of a dog - obviously it wasn’t wise back then to greet a friendly hound in the street. Goethe may have been inspired to embellish the Faust story by a German chapbook that appeared in 1587. It was “compiled as a horrible example and severe warning for all conceited, clever, and godless people.” The title page proclaimed it was the true “Historia of Doktor Johann Faust, the widely acclaimed magician and black artist, how he pledged himself to the devil...what strange adventures he saw...until he finally received his well deserved wages...”  After poking around the old part of the village, I rambled towards Staufen’s ruined castle - where the Faust legend is occasionally enacted on summer evenings. Houses are modern but absolutely gorgeous...all wooden balconies...and just about every one has an equally gorgeous garden. Again, though, you have more chance of a face-to-face encounter with Mephistopheles than finding a fixer-upper around Staufen. Going rate for a 1,100 square foot apartment in a residence with garden is around $203,000. The cheapest family house I saw (1,600 square feet with separate studio of 550 square feet) was $285,000.

The top photo is of Staufen Castle and the surrounding vineyards. The bottom photo is the view from the castle out across the surrounding fields.

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Mysterious Wildwood

Take the train from Freiburg to Titisee, and you’ll pass through Himmelreich (heaven). For forest lovers the landscape is otherworldly - here you’re deep in the mysterious wildwood. Just past Himmelreich, a magnificent bronze stag stands guard on the steep wall of a gorge. It’s known as the Hirschsprung (Stag’s Leap) and legend tells of a stag jumping the abyss to escape a huntsman. 

Whether from fear of who (or what) lurked in the bosky hills, it was the Romans who first gave the Black Forest its name - in Latin, silva negra. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has found themselves on a path without another hiker in sight...and started musing on the fate of Little Red Riding Hood. By the way, the original version was horrific: Not only was she ate by the wolf, she was raped first. 

But there’s nothing scary about Titisee. The Black Forest’s largest natural lake, its lakeshore has developed into a busy little resort. There’s skiing in winter and the lake usually freezes solid, creating a natural ice-rink. However, although it’s neat and pretty, it’s on the coach tour trail...too many shops selling cuckoo clocks for my taste. That said, it’s easy to escape the crowds if you decided to vacation here. At least a dozen walking trails lead off into the forests. Nor is it overly expensive - at the lakefront’s Boothaus bar-café I had a monstrous plate of bockwurst (sausage) and potato salad for $5. 

I didn’t find any realtors - but I should have bought the Badische Zeitung beforehand. From that, I later discovered there’s one in the new part of the village. For more information, contact: Sparkasse Hochschwarzwald Immobilien, Am Postplatz 6, D-79822 Titisee-Neustadt; tel. (49)765-1900-174. Offers included a 580-square-foot apartment for $75,000 and an 11-room chalet-style home for $422,000. 

SIDEBAR: Purchasing Costs

If you intend buying in Germany, estimate 10% for additional costs - agent’s commission fee, property transfer tax, notary fee, and additional adminstrative costs. The bulk of this extra money goes on property transfer tax (3.5% of purchase fee) and agent’s fees. No specific law regulates commissions, though it’s usually between 5% and 7% of purchase price. This commission fee is usually split between buyer and seller, though in some cases either party may agree to pay the agent’s fee in full.

Sidebar: Where To Lay Your Head

In Freiburg, I checked into the Park Hotel Post, an old-fashioned family-run hotel. Less than a five-minute stroll from the Altstadt, it’s beside the Colombi Park and guests are welcomed with a glass of Sekt. Including breakfast, singles cost from $93, doubles from $120. Contact Park Hotel Post, Eisenbahnstrasse 35/37, 79098 Freiburg; tel. (49)761-385-480; fax (49)761-316-80; website: www.park-hotel-post.de 

SIDEBAR: Why Germany?

Why have we decided to feature Germany - the Black Forest and beyond? It’s a country we rarely cover, largely due to its reputation for being expensive. 

I wondered if that reputation were justified. While Germany is still regarded as Europe’s economic powerhouse, growth has slowed almost to a standstill in recent years. And even if the reputation is deserved, would adding a German property to your portfolio represent a good investment? After all, many expats rent homes here...some even decide to buy. These aren’t generally retirees - they’re mostly people sent to cities like Frankfurt on company assignments. But there’s nothing to stop any U.S. citizen buying a home in Germany. 
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The Gutach Waterfalls, in the mineral water spa town of Triberg.

Culture and cleanliness Germany has two things going for it that few other countries can match: culture and cleanliness. Its historic towns spill out like jewels from a treasure chest...villages are film-set perfect...its transport system and health service can’t be faulted...and sports facilities are among Europe’s best.  Skiing in winter, hiking and cycling in summer - nobody tackles the Great Outdoors quite as enthusiastically as the Germans. The seasons are also punctuated with countless fests…of the roll-out-the-beer-barrel and get-stuck-in-the-sausages variety. If you’ve never visited before, I’d urge you to take a vacation. Certainly for visitors, language is unlikely to be a problem—most professionals and those in the service industries speak English. I first visited Germany as a teenager - on a school exchange to a village called Lampertheim, not far from Mannheim. I was astounded that my pen friend’s family ate far better food than we did in England...that this teeny-weeny village had the most fabulous outdoor swimming pool...that summers were baking hot...that people thought nothing of zooming down the Autobahn to Switzerland for the weekend.  Strange thing for a chaotic person like me to say, but I find Germany’s orderliness appealing. I like the fact that trains and buses run on time...that cyclists never stray from the paths set aside for them...that citizens dutifully separate their garbage, depositing it into special recycling bins. Not just any old recycling bin, mind you...they’re marked green glass, brown glass, paper, etc. I can’t tell you how many permutations there are, but it’s a lot. Germany offers a stable property market. No big ups…but no big downs either. Don’t expect fabulous yields from rentals. The norm is 4% to 6% after tax. Frankfurt realtor Peter Talkenberger says most Germans regard 5% to be a very good return. Safety, security, and stability are paramount in the German mentality. Any investment promising yields of 10% or 12% would be considered extremely risky.

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He also says that while there are few market price fluctuations, demand for choice locations remains high. New German homeowners often spend two years finding their ideal home. “Bearing this in mind, it’s wiser to invest in properties in the better areas of town. The initial price may be higher, but the investment will be worth more in the long run.”

The quality mark

So far, so gloomy? One upside is that you’ll get exceptional quality for your money...looking at new building work in areas I visited on this trip, I could see that materials were of a high standard. Plus the workmanship seemed first-rate. Germans build to last. You can’t always say the same about building standards and materials in many parts of southern Europe. 

Properties are expensive when compared with rural France, for example…more comparable to prices right now in Ireland. However, in my view, Germany represents far better value than Ireland. And although you’ll find cheaper locations than the Black Forest and the Bavarian Alps, these are two of Germany’s most desirable areas...particularly for seniors seeking a homegrown retirement location. Even though it often seems like it at times, not all German retirees buy homes in Spain.

One general recommendation: If you’re interested in owning, investing, or residing in Germany, confine your search to the former “West Germany.” Herr Talkenberger warns that the promise of high returns after reunification wasn’t realized in the former East Germany. Commercial and retail premises stand empty in the East...and a lot of German investors got their fingers badly burned. And the summer floods can only have added to these woes.

Lucky for me, the Black Forest and Frankfurt weren’t affected by Fluten damage. Most of the worst flooding happened in the old East Germany...places like Dresden. That said, I think buyers should look carefully at where a property is situated anywhere in this country. If any of the talk you hear about global warming proves true, any riverbank home may prove to be a liability.

SIDEBAR: The Angst Factor

Germans are among Europe’s top-paid workers, but the country has one of the EU’s lowest home-ownership rates. Only 42% of people own property - the majority prefer renting. Why this is so is something of a mystery—and it can’t simply be put down to property prices. You’ll pay the same (or more) in Ireland, where over 80% own homes. 

Some of this reluctance to invest in real estate is linked to the angst factor. A pessimistic streak runs through the German psyche: fear of unemployment is never far away. Should that happen, the State will pay the rent...a jobless citizen won’t be thrown on the street. However, the State isn’t so generous toward home-owners.

Another point...Germans rarely “flip” properties. Buyers usually stay in the same house for life. Unlike in Britain and Ireland, there are no housing booms and busts with steep rises (and subsequent falls). You’re unlikely to lose money buying in Germany - but don’t expect to make juicy gains over the short to medium term either. 

Mainhattan

I kicked off my trip among the skyscrapers of Frankfurt-am-Main, one of Europe’s major banking and commercial centers. No spelling mistake - the city is nicknamed “Mainhattan,” because it sits on the River Main...and its skyline could be straight from a North American city. 

Although its history is ancient, the center feels ultra-modern. Little evidence remains that it once boasted the country’s largest medieval quarter...bombed to oblivion by the Allies in World War II. And while it’s certainly not the Germany of popular imaginatio - all oompah bands and stout men in lederhosen shorts - its wide streets and airy parks suggests it’s a pleasant place for expats to live and work. Opera, theater, concerts, quality restaurants - and wonderful shopping, too.

The engine room of corporate Germany, Frankfurt is home to an array of multinationals as well as the European central bank. Like Munich and Berlin, it’s mostly an apartment city. Market rates are $280 to $375 per square foot. 

For family homes within commuting distance of Frankfurt - and here commuting can mean a 90-minute drive - you’re talking $250,000 to $500,000. Detached homes in the most scenic parts of the Black Forest and Bavaria also attract similar prices...and elsewhere few family homes cost less than $180,000. Even the smallest piece of land fetches around $150,000 - and you’ll generally pay the same again to build a simple one-family home.

Overall, Germany’s property market has been static in recent years, but Frankfurt has posted increases of 7% to 8% in the last four years. “You don’t have to watch the market - and rises are very steady,” says Peter Talkenberger of Allgrund, an agency specializing in sales and rentals for non-Germans. 

Fine if you’re seeking stability, but the market is small, tight, and priced accordingly. Very much a working city, its population only numbers 680,000...and with 550,000 work places, unemployment isn’t a problem. Consequently everybody wants homes in the inner city...until they start acquiring kids and need a “family house.”

Apart from a couple of small areas around the two main railway stations, nowhere in Frankfurt is considered undesirable. The most sought-after neighborhood is Westend, close to the banking district, but also take a look at 19th-century quarters such as Sachsenhausen, Bockenheim, and Bornheim. 

Frankfurt’s rental market is also tight. On average, 20 people chase every apartment advertised. Landlords can pick and choose tenants - and I’m told few want families with kids. Many expats don’t necessarily look for furnished apartments. It often makes more financial sense to rent unfurnished and buy a stack of flat-pack furniture from IKEA. Rates are $1.25 to $1.70 per square foot for unfurnished apartments and $1.40 to $1.90 per square foot for furnished. 

Sample Sales And Rentals

* In Rödelheim, there’s a 645-square-foot apartment in a residence built in 1991. Carpets and modern furniture are included in the sale. The agents state it’s ideal for renting to short-term tenants: business people from the banking and IT sectors who want to be near their workplace. By S-Bahn (right outside the door), travel time to the Stock Exchange is about five minutes, and it’s five to 10 minutes into the city. Price: $145,000 plus $12,000 for a parking lot.
* A 645-square-foot apartment in a renovated residence in Bornheim, a northeastern Frankfurt neighborhood. There are easy links to the city center by Metro, and Bornheim has a friendly feel with lots of small shops and restaurants. Berger Strasse is Bornheim’s shopping street and there’s a twice-weekly farmers’ market here, too. Price: $198,500.
* Also in Bornheim, a 1,300-square-foot loft condo on two levels in a luxuriously renovated Altbau - an older-style apartment residence dating from 1900. The property is a five-minute walk from Berger Strasse. Price: $295,000.
* 10 minutes by U-Bahn (Metro) from the Westend banking district, there’s a 1,184-square-foot condo in Bockenheim, the university quarter. In a renovated early 20th-century residence, it features large windows and bright, spacious rooms. Advertised as having good investment potential, it’s currently rented out. If you wanted to continue with a tenant, agents Allgrund could take over arrangements for you. “You don’t need to pay for this service...in Germany the tenant or company pays.” Price: $305,000.
* A furnished two-bedroom apartment in Frankfurt-Bornheim near Berger Strasse. On the second floor, it has a big kitchen and balcony. Price: $1,220 monthly.
* Furnished three-room apartment in Frankfurt-Westend of around 1,400 square feet. Price: $1,735 monthly.

Contact: Allgrund (Irmi and Peter Talkenberger), Freiligrathstrasse 14, 63303 Dreieich, Germany; tel. (49)700-1010-7000; fax (49)700-1010-7001; e-mail: relocate@allgrund.com; website: www.allgrund.com. 

In Frankfurt, I stayed in the Metropolitan Hotel, Munchener Strasse 15; tel. (49)69-242-609-0; fax (49)69-242-609-99; e-mail: Metropolitan-Hotel@t-online.de. It’s nothing exceptional but it’s clean and central. Including breakfast, singles cost from $72, doubles from $94. (Watch when you visit Frankfurt. During trade fairs, all city hotels charge astounding rates—at the Metropolitan, singles can actually be as high as $220 per night.)
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