Christmas market at the Black Forest Gutach open air museum – Germany

Gutach Black Forest open air farm museum - Christmas market 2012
Gutach Black Forest open air farm museum – Christmas market 2012, a very special atmosphere.

This was our second visit to the Gutach Black Forest Museum in nearby Germany. The first time was some 2 years ago during the Summer. Our visit to the Gutach Black Forest Museum was part of a day trip out of Riquewihr, Alsace to the nearby Black Forest in Germany. The open air museum is normally closed in Winter but we discovered that it would open for a special Christmas Market event on Dec 14-16, 2012. So we decided we wanted to see this very special place in a different atmosphere.

A Black Forest farm, as it was 400 years ago

At the Vogtsbauernhof open air museum, you will have a great approach to culture and history in the mountain villages of the Black Forest. You will find out how people have lived and worked in Black Forest farmhouses over the past 400 years.

Vogtsbauernhof - Black Forest farmhouse in Gutach
The Vogtsbauernhof is the only farm in the museum still standing in its original location. It was built in 1612. In 1964 it was the first building to be opened to visitors.

The open air museum is presenting a total of 6 farmhouses. Each farm house represents the architecture and economic situation of its area of origin – giving you the opportunity to explore nearly the whole Black Forest. During the Spring,  Summer and Fall, when the museum is open one can access the inside of each farmhouse and experience how kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms were once equipped and discover the day-to-day life of their inhabitants.

Labourer's cottage in the Black Forest
This cottage was built in 1819 in Oberprechtal. The inhabitants of this type of cottage would have earned their living as weavers, foresters or day-labourers.
The contents of the cottage, from the furniture to the dishes and the linen, all came complete with the cottage and was kept on by the museum, exactly as its last owner left it in 1993.

A romantic background for the Christmas market special event

During the Christmas market, the farmhouses are building a spectacular background, very impressive at night.

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Our visit to the Gutach Black Forest open air Museum was part of a day trip from Riquewihr, Alsace to the nearby Black Forest in Germany. Our trip by car took us to Marckolsheim on the Rhine. There is the German border.  We drove to Emmendingen and then to Freiburg im Breisgau where we visited the market, the cathedral and had lunch. Then we headed to Gutach via Waldkirch, Elzach and Haslach. We were back at 8 pm.

Contact & Opening hours of the Gutach Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof (Black Forest Living Museum)

Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum
Vogtsbauernhof
77793 Gutach (Schwarzwaldbahn)
Tel.No.: 0049 – 7831 – 93 56 0

Opening hours 2013:
The museum will open again in 2013 from March 24 till beginning of November,
daily from 9 am to 6 pm (last admission 5 pm).

Christmas Market 2012:
December 14 till December 16
Friday afternoon till Sunday evening

Check their website for 2013 updates

Traditional Black Forest farmhouse at the Gutach open air museum
Traditional Black Forest farmhouse at the Gutach open air museum

How to get to the Gutach Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof (Black Forest Living Museum)

Our visit to the Gutach Black Forest Museum was part of a day trip out of Riquewihr, Alsace to the nearby Black Forest in Germany. Our trip by car took us to Marckolsheim on the Rhine. There is the German border.  We drove to Emmendingen and then to Freiburg im Breisgau where we visited the market, the cathedral and had lunch. Then we headed to Gutach via Waldkirch, Elzach and Haslach. We were back at 8 pm.

By car: 
Directly on the B33 between Hausach and Gutach.
From the A5, exit Offenburg, direction Villingen-Schwenningen B33.
From the A81, exit Rottweil, direction Offenburg B462/B294.
From Freiburg, follow Waldkirch – Elzach – Haslach and Gutach
(Schwarzwaldbahn, Attention: this is NOT Gutach im Breisgau) B294/B33.
Car park: Directly next to the B33, bus park.

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This page is an initiative of Les Remparts de Riquewihr – luxury and romantic holiday homes in the heart of Alsace, France – ideal base to visit all of Alsace as well as nearby Germany and Switzerland.