The Hotel Silberkönig in Gutach, where we spent the night, also has a chapel.
We held our morning reflection there.
Back on the Way of St James, we make a pilgrimage along the small river Elz.
Soon we are back in the forest.
View of the valley
We take a short break at this bridge over the Elz. We study the orientation boards.
Back at the edge of the forest
We pass a Black Forest house with the Stollen restaurant on Bleibacherstrasse.
We reach Kollnau.
Kollnau is a district of the large district town of Waldkirch and was an independent municipality until 1974.
Kollnau, at the entrance to the Kohlenbachtal valley, belonged to the Margarethen monastery in Waldkirch around 1,000 years ago.
An eventful industrial history has always characterised the district: In the 17th century, the forging and smelting furnaces of an ironworks and hammer mill were located here.
Church of St Joseph in Kollnau
This is what it looks like inside the church in Kollnau.
The town hall of Kollnau. It was built in 1774 as a schoolhouse and then remodelled several times.
Waldkirch is reached.
Waldkirch has been known for over 200 years as a centre of organ, barrel organ and music automaton construction as well as clockmaking (e.g. Black Forest cuckoo clocks). The settlement was fortified with a town wall in the 13th century. The ruins of Kastelburg Castle tower above the town.
Kastelburg Castle is the landmark of the town of Waldkirch. The lords of Schwarzenberg built Kastelburg Castle around 1280.
The castle was destroyed by the Austrians in 1634 and never rebuilt.
The town chapel of Our Lady is probably the oldest surviving building in the town. The building dates back to 1336 and was erected by the townspeople to avoid having to go to the ‘Leutkirche’ church of St Walburga outside the town walls, which was difficult in winter and dangerous in times of war.
The chapel was rebuilt in 1931 and extended to include the choir, in which the baroque high altar is located. There is a statue of St Nepomuk at the front left.
Town church of St. Margaretha: The oldest sources in Waldkirch refer to the founding of the convent of St. Margarethen by the Swabian Duke Burchard II around the year 918. The convent of St. Margarethen was a noble women's convent in Waldkirch, which was converted into a Benedictine convent in 994 and a canon or collegiate convent from 1431. The patron saint is derived from St Margaret of Antioch, an early Christian martyr († around 305). The current building was constructed in 1732-1734 by the famous Vorarlberg Baroque architect Peter Thumb. A large statue of St James can be seen in the choir at the top left. The fully preserved ensemble of baroque former canons' houses of the collegiate monastery of St Margarethen has been preserved on the church square.
Baroque interior of St Margaret's Church
The main altar is dedicated to St Margaret and her assumption into heaven.
A head of St Nepomuk can be seen to the right above the head of St Margaret.
He welcomes her to heaven - which, however, is not possible in terms of time.
For more than 400 years, the town hall has stood where the heart of the town beats: right on the market square. The late Renaissance-style building, which is well worth seeing, has seen a lot in its chequered history: the town fire of 1638, the reconstruction and the remodelling in 1871 to its current form.
After Waldkirch, we continue our pilgrimage along the Elz and cross it.
Here we walk past the Gasthof zur Straussi in Buchholz. Behind it you can already see the Pankratius church. Right next to the church is our accommodation, the Gasthof Löwen.
Oberprechtal - Gutach
Waldkirch Buchholz - Freiburg
