 |  |  |  |
A stage set! No artist could paint it more beautifully. Here the Lichtentaler Allee opens up to the slopes of the Black Forest…
From here you can see the tower of the monastery church in Lichtental Monastery and, far in the distance, a magnificent villa, popularly known as Seelach Castle, which has only recently been brought back to life after decades of slumber. And this was also Clara Schumann’s home. There used to be fertile fields here, which were cultivated by the nuns of the convent. It was here, in the “pretty house on the hill”, that Johannes Brahms lived and composed for nine summers from 1865 to 1874 …and it was here that he composed his second symphony with the famous leitmotif in the second movement….
It was not that long ago that agriculture was still practised on the monastery meadow, until it was discontinued in 1976 and the current meadow was laid out. It was artistically landscaped by Bernd Weigel, head of the gardening department at the time.
These enchanting trees, which seem to cover our avenue, are Hungarian silver lime trees. They owe their name to the silvery lustre in which they shine every spring and the special pruning gives the impression of walking under a canopy.
And then there’s the beguiling scent at blossom time… every year we celebrate the lime blossom festival here. The avenue with its even planting is also a popular photo motif and has been used as a backdrop for several domestic and foreign films.
