Freiburg Im Breisgau

On Monday(14 February) Mary, Charlene, Dad and I drove to Freiburg Im Breisgau to visit with one of Mary's former exchange students. This city is located in the southwest corner of Germany, near where the countries of Germany, Switzerland and France meet. We were told that this part of Germany was the warmest, but as you can see, we had snow. We did notice as you were by the Rhine, there was less snow, and as you moved away from it, the more you got.







At the end of the street is Schwabenturm, one of the two remaining gates that were along the wall that surrounded this very old city. The city is home to one of the nations oldest Universities. Most of the city was destroyed during WWII, but they rebuilt it, including the old center district.










About the only good picture I was able to take of the spire of the cathedral is this one. The building was started in the early part of the 13th century, and it took 300 years to complete. During that time, the plague and wars slowed or interrupted construction. Because of the poor natural lighting, I was unable to get any good pics of the building, and inside I was unable to use the flash.








Interior of the Cathedral, too dark to get a good pic, and too damn big to use a flash.












Exterior shot of the cathedral, with a partial view of the market square. I took quite a few pics of the old central district, but I only posted these few.












The ruins of the Castle Lichteneck. Located along the A-5, it is just north of Freiburg Am Brisgau, and visible from the Autobahn. On the sight burgenwelt.de I found more information on this ruin. First recorded mention of it was about 1250, and it was destroyed by the French in 1675.