48.25° N · 8.21° E · Black Forest
In the Gutach valley, the Black Forest open-air museum brings together farmhouses with enormous roofs from across the region, with their stables, mills and workshops. It is open from the end of March to early November, every day from 9 to 18 h, and has its own train stop on the Ortenau S-Bahn.
Part of Black Forest
Step by step
Its own stop, Gutach Freilichtmuseum, on the Ortenau S-Bahn; by car, along the B33. By train, the ticket works out cheaper.
Walk through the houses with their kitchens, stables, mills and workshops.
Sundays and public holidays from 11:00 to 16:00, plus advice from Menne for children.
The Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof, in Gutach, is the Black Forest's open-air museum. It revolves around a farm that is still in its original place, the Vogtsbauernhof, built in 1612 according to a study of its timber. Around it, farmhouses and houses from other districts have been brought piece by piece: the Hippenseppenhof from Furtwangen, the Lorenzenhof from Oberwolfach, the Falkenhof from Buchenbach, a house from the Hotzenwald, another from the Schauinsland, a day labourer's house, the Schlössle from Wildberg and, since 2023, a house from the Ortenau. The museum was founded in 1964 by Hermann Schilli, director of the Freiburg carpentry school, and today it receives about 230,000 visitors a season.
What strikes you most are the roofs: enormous, almost down to the ground, because beneath them the family, the livestock, the hay and the harvest lived together. You go into smoky kitchens, bedchambers, stables and workshops. Outside there is a barn, a grain mill, a water-powered sawmill, the bakehouse and still, vegetable gardens and animals of old breeds.
Right now, in November 2026, the museum is closed until the Christmas village.
The museum's website lists, for those arriving by train with a valid bwegtPlus ticket, €12 per adult instead of €13, and €5.50 per child aged 6 to 17 instead of €7. It accepts the Museumspass, the Schwarzwald Card and the HeimatKärtle. Check the other rates (families, groups, annual pass) on the museum's website or by phone (+49 7831 46 79 3500).
The museum is in Gutach (Schwarzwaldbahn), in the central Black Forest; do not confuse it with Gutach im Breisgau.
The Triberg waterfalls are along the B33 to the south, and by train, on the Schwarzwaldbahn from Hausach: they combine well in a day.
Allow half a day. The farmhouses take 2 or 3 hours at an easy pace, and longer with children or if a demonstration is on. The site is on a slope, with dirt paths and stairs inside the houses: comfortable shoes.
It works very well with children. On Sundays and public holidays, from 11:00 to 16:00, there is an open workshop for families, and the museum has a family programme and tips from its mascot, Menne, designed for them. The animals and the mills usually do the rest.
The museum organises guided tours for groups, with a practical part, and a wine tasting, as well as programmes for schools. Check conditions and prices on its website. For the rest of the year's activities, see its events calendar.
Who it's for
What to bring
More to do
Itineraries
Tips
With a valid train ticket you pay €12 instead of €13, and the stop is at the door.
It opens at 9:00; in the morning the houses are quieter than at midday.
The Triberg waterfalls are in the same district, along the B33 or by train from Hausach.
Questions
From 21 March to 7 November 2027, every day from 9:00 to 18:00, with last entry at 17:00. In December 2026 the Christmas village opens, from the 11th to the 13th.
€13 for adults and €7 for ages 6 to 17, according to its own website; arriving by train, €12 and €5.50.
By train to the Gutach Freilichtmuseum stop, changing at Hausach if you come on the Schwarzwaldbahn.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/germany/baden-wurttemberg/black-forest/things-to-do/vogtsbauernhof
