The Land of Fairy Tales, Cuckoo Clocks, and Black Forest Cake
By Ann Parenti
There are many myths about the origins of the Black Forest cuckoo clock. However, the early forerunners of the cuckoo clock can be traced to the mid-17th century. Residences of the timber-rich Black Forest region created and sold clocks to generate income during the winter months.
By the early 1800s, the mechanism needed to produce the familiar “coo-coo” sounds had become a standard clock feature. In 1987, the Black Forest Clock Association was established to ensure the integrity of the area’s cuckoo clock-making tradition. A “certificate of authenticity” from this organization is awarded only to clocks crafted entirely out of wood from the Black Forest.
Another connection to the Black Forest is the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale fables. You can almost see Little Red Riding Hood or any other characters from their assorted tales coming out of the woods. To this day, the homes in the area still resemble gingerbread houses.
We took the opportunity earlier that day to walk around the picturesque town of Breisach and do a little shopping and stop along the way for coffee and hot tea. As we strolled back to the boat, we saw the most intricate garden in a charming neighborhood. The only disappointing thing was that it had a fence that made photographing it almost impossible, with one exception. There was a small cut-out that the owners provided to give a little memory to all of us tourists to take back with us. I got the lone photo of a cute little fountain on the property, but the rest of the garden will stay in my memory forever.
Later in the day, we took a guided tour of the famous Black Forest and witnessed many demonstrations. There was a glass blower, a clock-making presentation, and of course, we couldn’t leave without a demonstration on how to make a proper Black Forest cake! Now I am armed and dangerous with that recipe! Ha! We all had an opportunity to buy a piece of the cake that was premade at an earlier date because the one the bakery chef created takes five days of refrigeration to set.
We went back to the bus, and on to our final adventure on the Viking cruise for the evening. The last stop will be Lucerne, Switzerland, so stay tuned!
