Into the Black Forest

One of my favourite fairy tales of my childhood was Wilhelm Hauff's "The Cold Heart". It's set in the Black Forest and it is a very dark, moody tale about a kind-hearted young man in love with a girl but too poor to marry her. In the course of the story he sells his heart to a giant that lives in the depth of the forest and in return becomes so rich that he can marry his love. But now he has no heart to feel and he gets more and more callous. But, yes, in the end it all gets sorted and they live happily ever after. I loved this tale especially the parts in the forest with all the creatures and its darkness. It really coined my idea of this enormous, dark forest in the mountains located in the South of Germany. Ok, and also the Black Forest Cake my grandma makes sometimes. :-)

So for me it always was something very mystical and sweetly scary. Full of the Brothers' Grimm, full of goblins, pixies, dwarfs, giants, fairies and witches. All these in the depth of the forest, where the sun is unable to reach the ground because the fir trees are so high and thick, and the shades of green are dark and blue and emerald. And where you as a human only get around if you know the place very well or if you are a lost wanderer.

We decided to be wanderers guided by maps and set out to explore on a warm summer's day. And when you get deeper and deeper into this forest you come to understand why it fuelled the imagination of the people through all times. The trees have ears and every now and then you have the feeling that the whole forest is watching you very carefully...