Freiburg is a great city about 50 kilometers south of Lahr. It is a wonderful city to go to university or live and work. It has a great cultural offering (theatre, symphony, opera, jazz), great outdoors activities such as mountain biking, hiking, skiing, inline skating (roller blading) and much, much more. There are tons of coffee houses, bars, restaurants and as you can see all of them have outdoors seating in the summer. The soccer club of this town plays in the 2nd Bundesliga after several years in the Bundesliga, even participating in the European Soccer Cup (UEFA). The city has a very historic feel to it, there are little streams running through the downtown area, mostly is pedestrian only (no cars, just delivery) and the main transportation are streetcars. I have lived here in 1991 and 1992 when I was working for a Pharmaceutical company called Goedecke AG (at times part of Warner Lambert, now Pfizer) and enjoyed the time very much. Although it was a short stay I made friends for life. One of them actually lives in Brazil now and I very much look forward to meet him in September.
One of the old city gates.
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Cobble stone street with street car lanes and the "Freiburger Muenster" (Cathedral of Freiburg) in the background. It has one of the largest towers in Germany, I believe it is only second to the Dome in Cologne and the Cathedral in Ulm.
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Just another shot, showing the approaching street car, coffee houses
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For those history buffs, I thought you might be interested to read some information about this great city. I borrowed the history part form the website of Freiburg, you can find it at http://www.freiburg.de/6/6/611/index.php.
After the House of Zaehringen built a castle on Schlossberg in 1091, the small settlement on the site of today's southern old town and Oberlinden was chartered as a free market town by Konrad and Duke Bertold III in 1120. The market rights, favorableble location and the silver mines in the Black Forest soon led Freiburg to grow into a prosperous and influential city. In 1200, Bertold V initiated the construction of a new, large parish church, Freiburg Cathedral. The citizens of Freiburg later took on the financial responsibility for building the Cathedral, which was completed as early as 1513 - making it the only German cathedral to be completed in the Gothic style. After the last of the Dukes of Zähringen, Bertold V, had died in 1218, he was succeeded by his nephew, Egino, Count of Urach, who assumed the title of Count of Freiburg. The 150-year rule of the Counts of Freiburg was mainly characterized by wars with other rulers and disputes with the town's inhabitants, which is why, in 1368, the 
wealthy citizens bought their independence by paying him 15,000 silver Marks and submitted to the rule of the House of Habsburg. After an initial decline, the city grew and prospered and became Reichsstadt from 1415 to 1427. Archduke Albert founded the university in 1457, which was taken over by the Jesuits in 1620. The city had to survive many sieges during the Thirty Years' War, which reduced the population to 2,000 and largely destroyed the suburbs. This wave of destruction and change culminated in the taking of Freiburg by the French troops in 1677. On the orders of Louis XIV, Vauban completed the fortifications which the Austrians had begun, had the city walls razed to the ground and built a fortress with eight bastions around the old town. He had three forts built above one another on Schloßberg, on the site where the old castle had been. After 1697, Freiburg went from French to Austrian control and back again several times, until it finally came under Austrian rule again in 1745. Before leaving, the French razed all the fortifications to the ground. In 1805, Napoleon incorporated Freiburg in the newly established grand Duchy of Baden, which was involved in the wars of liberation of 1813-14. In subsequent years, the city evolved into an economic and political centre on the Eastern bank of the Upper Rhine. In 1821, the Bishop's seat was moved from Constance to Freiburg, and in 1845 the first train ran from the newly opened Freiburg train station to Offenburg. During the revolution of 1848-49 Freiburg saw fights between revolutionaries and government troops. The liberal politicians Carl von Rotteck and Carl Theodor Welcker taught at Freiburg University. In the second half of the 19th century, Freiburg experienced strong growth and the emergence of completely new suburbs, Wiehre and Stuehlinger. In 1899, Freiburg University was the first German university to accept a female student; in 1910 the municipal theatre was inaugurated; and in 1911 new university buildings were finished. In 1920 and 1921 respectively, two Freiburgers, Konstantin Fehrenbach and Joseph Wirth were appointed Chancellor of the Republic by the Reichspraesident. In 1938, Freiburg's synagogue was burnt down. On 27th November 1944, large parts of the city were destroyed during an air raid, the Cathedral largely escaping destruction. In April 1945, Freiburg was occupied by French troops, who established a government and administration for Baden in 1946. Since the merger with Wuerttemberg in 1952, Freiburg has been the seat of the district's administrative offices. Today, the city has around 200,000 inhabitants, among them 30,000 students at the university, polytechnical colleges and the teaching college. Many research institutions also benefit from the proximity of the university.
wealthy citizens bought their independence by paying him 15,000 silver Marks and submitted to the rule of the House of Habsburg. After an initial decline, the city grew and prospered and became Reichsstadt from 1415 to 1427. Archduke Albert founded the university in 1457, which was taken over by the Jesuits in 1620. The city had to survive many sieges during the Thirty Years' War, which reduced the population to 2,000 and largely destroyed the suburbs. This wave of destruction and change culminated in the taking of Freiburg by the French troops in 1677. On the orders of Louis XIV, Vauban completed the fortifications which the Austrians had begun, had the city walls razed to the ground and built a fortress with eight bastions around the old town. He had three forts built above one another on Schloßberg, on the site where the old castle had been. After 1697, Freiburg went from French to Austrian control and back again several times, until it finally came under Austrian rule again in 1745. Before leaving, the French razed all the fortifications to the ground. In 1805, Napoleon incorporated Freiburg in the newly established grand Duchy of Baden, which was involved in the wars of liberation of 1813-14. In subsequent years, the city evolved into an economic and political centre on the Eastern bank of the Upper Rhine. In 1821, the Bishop's seat was moved from Constance to Freiburg, and in 1845 the first train ran from the newly opened Freiburg train station to Offenburg. During the revolution of 1848-49 Freiburg saw fights between revolutionaries and government troops. The liberal politicians Carl von Rotteck and Carl Theodor Welcker taught at Freiburg University. In the second half of the 19th century, Freiburg experienced strong growth and the emergence of completely new suburbs, Wiehre and Stuehlinger. In 1899, Freiburg University was the first German university to accept a female student; in 1910 the municipal theatre was inaugurated; and in 1911 new university buildings were finished. In 1920 and 1921 respectively, two Freiburgers, Konstantin Fehrenbach and Joseph Wirth were appointed Chancellor of the Republic by the Reichspraesident. In 1938, Freiburg's synagogue was burnt down. On 27th November 1944, large parts of the city were destroyed during an air raid, the Cathedral largely escaping destruction. In April 1945, Freiburg was occupied by French troops, who established a government and administration for Baden in 1946. Since the merger with Wuerttemberg in 1952, Freiburg has been the seat of the district's administrative offices. Today, the city has around 200,000 inhabitants, among them 30,000 students at the university, polytechnical colleges and the teaching college. Many research institutions also benefit from the proximity of the university.
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