Wilde Gutach

Looking south into the here about 700 m deep valley of the Wild Gutach, to the plate with horn head ( right) and Feldberg mountain, on the horizon

The Wild Gutach is a river in the Black Forest (Baden- Württemberg).

Geography and Geology

The Wild Gutach created by the confluence of Heubach and glass Erbach near the Hexenlochmühle at Dreistegen. The larger and longer the source stream that Heubach, rises near Furtwangen on the eastern slope of Stone Mountain ( 1141 m above sea level. NN ). Heubach and Wilde Gutach flow in a generally northwesterly direction initially in the narrow meandering gorge of Wildgutach, then stretched in the course through the valley Simon forest with several village centers ( Simonswälder valley). The Wild Gutach opens in Gutach in here smaller by nearly a third Elz. Meanwhile, the term Simonswälder Valley for the Valley of Wild Gutach total used.

The Simonswälder valley is traditionally attributed to the Middle Black Forest, but it bears so clearly trains of the Black Forest, that the now bear the physiographic subdivisions according to Bill.

Typical of the landscape is the strong contrast between the so-called Danubian ( once danube flush ) relief with plateau and trough-shaped, grassland rich high valleys on the one hand and the Rhenish (rhine flush ) relief on the other. The here sharp shaped valley landscape with canyons, rocky cliffs and waterfalls with their exceeds the valley floor about 700 meters towering escarpments the familiar dimensions German low mountain range.

How the hell valley is also the Simonswälder valley through a narrow and deep grave -like depression tectonically conditioned ( Wildgutach Trench ), and also the drainage towards the upper valley is opposite to the general Southeast gradient in this part of the Black Forest. So the valley with soft hollow forms, which merge into the ever deepening scores of Wildgutach starts, gets in Upper Simon forest suddenly a wider, first U- shaped profile, and finally reached between Kandel ( 1242 m above sea level. NN ) and Obereck ( 1177 m above sea level. NN ), about 7 km from the mouth into the Elz Valley, a depth of about 800 m. Beyond the warp due to rectilinear Elztales only covers a much lower mountainous terrain with elevation changes of 300 m.

Except for the isolated red sandstone rest of Steinberg's close to the source of the valley of the Wild Gutach of gneisses in various stages of recrystallization of granite and porphyry is characterized. Thereupon acid brown soils have formed on block-rich Steep slopes often only ranker.

Vegetation

The vegetation is characterized by mountain forests, the species composition reflects the locations of the colline to the high montane zone. Near-natural spruce-fir -beech mixed forests (see also: forest communities in Central Europe) are due to the many hard to farming steep slopes or in greater proportion than generally receive in the Black Forest. On the undulating plateaus dominate pure spruce stands, which are, however, about the long term leads to more natural Artzusammensetzungen. The Valley of Wild Gutach has various extreme locations. Therefore, large parts are protected. The protected forest area Zweribach is one of the oldest forest reserves in Germany.

Attractions and buildings

Hexenlochmühle with two overshot waterwheels in the gorge-like Hexenloch
Balzer Lord God, one in a tree almost ingrown stone statue of Christ
Pond gorge below Guetenbach
Hirschbachwinkel cases and Zweribachwasserfälle in the rugged Zweribach - Kar ( Bannwald and NSG)
Balaton reservoir in the high valley of the plate Zweribachs
Zweribachwerk, power plant above Simon forest
Brend Summit
Kandel summit
Schultiskopf and Spitzer Stein ( rocky ridges )
Kostgfällschlucht with waterfalls and the Gfällfelsen ( climbing area, NSG)
Chapel on the Hörnleberg

Economy and Transport

Along the Wild Gutach has been produced and processed from time immemorial, especially wood. Typical Black Forest mountains farming was restricted to the few upland areas. The mining operations contributed significantly to the large wood consumption. In Simon forest was located from 1550 to 1682 an ironworks in which besides the ores from the leading- Griesbachtal ores were processed from the west of the candelabra located Suggental.

By Simonswälder valley was one of the more frequented routes of the Black Forest, which is why transit operations, preload services and accommodation allowed to earn a living. The old Kilpensteige led through the ravine-like Kilpachtal over the saddle Old Corner to Villingen, the new, daring by Robert Gerwig trassierte road runs further south on Guetenbach and Neueck. In Guetenbach developed watches and toy manufacturing, and mechanical engineering. Simon forest is highly tourism- oriented and increasingly attractive as a residential area on the outskirts of the metropolitan area of Freiburg im Breisgau.