A two hour walk

Going along the B 31 West from Freiburg using the exit “March” or in a few minutes from Umkirch you reach Hugstetten, a part of the town of March. What takes us there? This unpretentious town contains a true jewel – the English Garden of Hugstetten. When you have found a parking place for your car, maybe in front of the town hall with its magnificent facade, you can walk back in the direction of the Dorfstrasse and there find the old local jail, which you can recognize by a sign. To the right of the town hall walk towards the Protestant church, which was the Catholic church St. Gallus until the sixties. Because it was too small, the Catholics built a new church and the Protestants took over the time-honoured building and now call it Martin Luther Church. If the church is open, it is worthwhile having a look at the modern inner renovation. From here you can follow the yellow rhombus on the sign “Marschhügelpfad” (marsh hill path). After a few steps, you arrive at a pleasant square. Here on one side you find the old bakehouse, which is occasionally used by a local group to keep old customs alive. It was formerly the washhouse of the castle, which we can see on the opposite side through a wide iron gate. The English Garden begins on the left side of the bakehouse. We reach it across a foot-bridge over the mill brook which offers impressive photo views. What a jewel the English Garden in Hugstetten is. It was designed by Conrad von Andlaw in the 1820s. That becomes clearer and clearer as we climb the Hugstetten Marschhügel. You can spend some time near the statue of St. Antonius of Padua. He is called “Careless Tony” because you can pray to him if you have lost something. But we still have our mobile phone, smartphone and camera! Then we can inform ourselves about the trees in the park by reading the good information signs. There are some wonderful very old tall trees which go back to the time when the park was begun. We can see them on the other side.

A bit farther on we reach the Tea House, rather hidden in the trees but typical for an English garden. There are wonderful places to sit with a splendid view but always with a wall for your back. However today we can’t see anything or very little because the trees block the view. Originally the view was free. That’s why a tea house or country seat was built. The servants brought tea and sweets and whatever the heart desired here from the castle. How we wish that were possible today! The highlight is the raised area with a free view of the Breisgau plain. A sign tells us what we can see if we look carefully and are familiar enough with the area. But it is very easy to see the tower of Freiburg Cathedral which from this distance looks so small. And in the background the Feldberg which in winter could be snow covered. We are happy and continue merrily along small paths past well cared for private gardens to the exit from the park. In Hugstetten there are fine restaurants where we can reward ourselves for the efforts of our walk.