Hirschsprung (Black Forest)

The Black Forest Hirschsprung (German: Schwarzwälder Hirschsprung) is a legend from the Höllental valley in the Black Forest in Germany. Over time the name has passed from the legend to a place in the valley.

The name means "stag leap" and it is a narrow, gorge-like section of the ravine-shaped central portion of the Höllental ("hell valley") with high walls up to 130 metres high. It is also called the Höllenpass ("hell pass"). It is located on the parish boundary between Breitnau and Buchenbach. The Hirschsprung gorge was only 9 metres wide before the upgrade of the road. The southern Hirschsprung rocks have been tunnelled under by the Jägerpfad ("hunter’s path"), which ran alongside the Höllenbach (or Rotbaches) stream, but is now closed.

Eight hundred metres up the valley is the station on the Höllental Railway that is named after the Hirschsprung. Today it is only used as a crossing loop and is not open to passengers. The impressive size of this station in what is a very thinly populated region is due to the fact that additional locomotives used to be coupled onto trains here in order to pull or push them up the ramp to Hinterzarten.

Until 2001 there was a kiosk belong the Hirschsprung at the eponymous car park along the B 31 federal highway.

According to the legend, a knight from nearby Falkenstein Castle went on a deer hunt in the Höllental valley. After some time he sighted a splendid stag and took up the chase. But the stag made it difficult for him, because he was fast and agile war; nevertheless the hunter did not give up and pressed on after the animal.

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Wikipedia