Menzenschwand

Menzenschwand lies in a picturesque south-facing high valley on the southern slopes of the Feldberg mountain (at 1493 metres above sea level, the highest mountain in he Black Forest). Menzenschwand lies within the Feldberg nature reserve, which comprises approximately 4420 hectares (ca 10,000 acres). The beauty of the landscape of the glacial valley and its diverse, unique flora and fauna, combined with picturesqueness of the long-established, idyllic village create an atmosphere of particular quality: the perfect place to relax.

Franz Xaver and Hermann Winterhalter always had, and particularly so in the second half of their lives, a very close relationship with their parents and brothers and sisters in Menzenschwand.

The brothers felt drawn back again and again to the place where they were born to visit their father and the families of the two sisters, Justina and Theresia. A large number of gifts of money permitted their relations to finance costly enterprises, such as, for example, the reconstruction in about 1850 of the “Adler” (Eagle), in Menzenschwand- Vorderdorf, which had, since 1835, been the Winterhalter parents’ residence. The plans for this were drawn up by the Karlsruhe architect and lifelong friend of Winterhalter’s, Joseph Berckmüller.