Not a photo opportunity

Today I trotted into the hills behind Herdern and made my way to the top of the Schlossberg on trails I hadn't traveled previously. Sometimes when it's gray and wet down in Freiburg, hiking into the hills will bring you over the fog into sunshine; not so today. Nonetheless, the mountain looked lovely in the mist.

In 1706, after the Habsburgers had recaptured their hold on the Schlossberg, someone decided the view of Freiburg down below would look better from a nice garden terrace, so they built one below the fortifications, in the fashionable French style. An 18th-century engineer's sketch of the Kommandantengarten suggests it included an Asian-inspired "Maison de plaisance." Only a hint of the garden--a semi-circular wall--remains.

Inside the wall are several tall trees, a bench, and, today at least, mysterious remnants of a fire pit begging to have its photograph taken.