Updated on November 3, 2024 by Angelika

The weather is good again for today's 12 of 12. The forecast is for a pleasant 15 to 18 degrees. I've decided to explore a place on the German Half-Timbered Road. I hardly dare admit it — so far I've only ever driven through Altensteig on my way to other destinations in the Black Forest. The houses on the thoroughfare don't look particularly attractive. I've already seen that the old town stretches picturesquely up a hill, decoratively crowned with a castle. I guessed that a tour could be steep and strenuous. But today is finally the day! It takes 45 minutes by car from Sindelfingen.

Altensteig still belongs to the district of Calw in the northern Black Forest and is located on the Nagold, a tributary of the Enz river. For centuries, Altensteig was a tanning and rafting town. However, rafting was displaced by the railroad connections created at the end of the 19th century. The last tannery ceased operations in 1995.

Today I'm taking you on a tour of the old town of Altensteig, which I'm exploring along the so-called Historic Mile. Before I return home, I'll stop at the Monhardter Wasserstube, a relic of the timber rafting era.

Panoramic View of the Old Town

I park on Postplatz, right in front of the Schatten smoking bar. Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix look over at me from the posters in the window. It's a good thing I gave up smoking years ago. I walk a little way up Egenhauser Straße because I've already seen on the way here that there's a nice view of the old town between the gaps in the houses.

Afterwards, I drive up to the Altensteig viewpoint, where I can see the town, which rises like a terrace above the Nagold valley, and the surrounding countryside (this is where I took the featured image of this article).

Starting Point of the Historic Mile: The Silbermühle (Silver Mill)

I find a parking space very close to the Silbermühle, on Saumarkt in Rosenstraße. The historic Silbermühle was once a flour mill on the River Nagold. It has nothing to do with silver - it was named after its owner in the 19th century, Carl Silber. Today, the building houses the town library. The Silbermühle is the starting point of my tour of Altensteig along the "Historical Mile", which gives an insight into rural life in past centuries.

Half-Timbered Houses and History in Rosenstraße

The path leads me back to Rosenstraße to the Old Bürgerspital. It dates back to the 15th century and originally served as a poorhouse and hospital for needy citizens. In the 17th century, a new baroque half-timbered building was added on top of the late Gothic first floor.

On the corner of Rosenstraße and Gartenstraße stands the former Gasthof Waldhorn, which is currently being renovated. In the 18th century, the Waldhorn housed one of 12 breweries in Altensteig.

Now it's up the Alte Steige and the steep part of my tour begins.

Bäck-Schwarz: The Oldest House in Altensteig

Bäck-Schwarz is supposedly the oldest house in Altensteig. It stands on the town wall and was originally built in 1459 with timber-framed and mortise-and-tenoned half-timbering and plank-frame walls, but has been rebuilt several times since then. The house was named after the baker Jakob Schwarz, who lived and worked in this house in the 19th century.

Old Town Hall and Rococo Fountain: Two Highlights on the Market Square

A very special building is the Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus): It has two completely different looking sides. Towards the valley, at 28 meters high, it is the tallest building in the old town after the castle and the town church. The lord of the manor, Wilhelm von Urbach, had it built in 1463/64 as an office and department store. The town of Altensteig bought it in 1825 and used it as the town hall until 2006. To see the front of the building, I have to climb some steep stairs.

On the hillside opposite the Old Town Hall is the town hall fountain with a beautiful rococo-style obelisk bearing the city coat of arms and the Württemberg ducal coat of arms.

City Treasury, Blume and Hegelhaus

Here on the market square, an impressive whitewashed house with gray half-timbering catches the eye -  the city treasury. The house, built in 1655, impresses with its half-timbered construction with ornamental core.

The house at Blumenstraße 1 is called Blume (literally Flower),and was built in 1483 for the chaplain. From 1556 it was the seat of the deaconry, then the German School, before it was converted into a restaurant called "Mohren" and later "Blume".

At the end of Blumenstraße I reach the Hegel House. The simple building on the town wall was Altensteig's schoolhouse from 1558 to 1743. Until 1746, it belonged to the grandfather of the famous philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

Church and Castle: Altensteig's Landmarks

To get to the castle, I walk back along Blumenstraße and on to Kirchstraße, where the Protestant town church, completed in 1775, stands, which together with the castle dominates the skyline of Altensteig's old town.

The imposing residential tower of the Old Castle (Altes Schloss) was built on the walls of a Romanesque castle from the 11th century. The two towers on the western and eastern sides of the wall are called "Heaven" and "Hell". The New Castle was built in the 17th century by the court architect of the Duke of Württemberg, Heinrich Schickhardt.

Before I make my way home, I stop off at the Haag Bakery for a coffee break with delicious apple cheesecake and cappuccino.

Monhardter Wasserstube: Testimony to a Bygone Era

On the way back, another highlight awaits me a few kilometers from Altensteig on the B28, the Monhardter Wasserstube. This historic dam from the 19th century on the Nagold was reconstructed and restored between 1985 and 1987 according to plans from 1883. A short footpath leads from the parking lot to the facility. Information boards explain the region's methods of timber rafting, which shaped life in the Nagold valley for centuries. I am glad that I came here, because the Monhardter Wasserstube is not only very interesting, but also a quiet, beautiful and idyllic place by the river.

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