{"id":12383,"date":"2026-10-27T00:56:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T23:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonnenhof-sonnhalde.de\/de_de\/warum-heisst-der-schwarzwald-schwarzwald\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T00:56:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T23:56:59","slug":"why-is-the-black-forest-called-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonnenhof-sonnhalde.de\/en\/warum-heisst-der-schwarzwald-schwarzwald\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is the Black Forest called the Black Forest?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why is the Black Forest called the Black Forest? The honest answer is: what is firmly documented is when the name first appears. Why the forest was called \u201cblack\u201d, on the other hand, has not been conclusively explained. It is most often explained by the dark, dense forest. According to our research, the often-told story of the Romans and the \u201cSilva Nigra\u201d cannot be supported by ancient sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Forest
Photo: RicardaLueck<\/a> \/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why is the Black Forest called the Black Forest? The short answer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The German name is first recorded in 868, in a charter of the St. Gallen monastery. It speaks there of a \u201csaltu Svarzwald\u201d. Both Planet Wissen and Wikipedia report this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason for \u201cblack\u201d is usually seen in the impression of a dark, dense forest that is hard to access. Planet Wissen describes the Black Forest as a landscape made up of about 80 per cent firs and spruces, \u201cin other words dark coniferous forest\u201d. There is, however, no evidence that the name-givers meant exactly that. The website schwarzwald-geschichte.de also says that the origin of \u201cblack\u201d has not been fully clarified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where does the name Black Forest come from? The Romans and \u201cSilva Nigra\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A popular explanation is that the Romans called the forest \u201cSilva Nigra\u201d, Latin for \u201cblack forest\u201d. Schwarzwald Tourismus, for example, tells it this way, though as a story that people tell. Planet Wissen also names the Romans as the name-givers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ancient authors who mention the mountain range, however, use other names:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Name<\/th>Source and period<\/th>Meaning<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Abnoba mons<\/td>Pliny and Tacitus (1st century), Ptolemy (around 150)<\/td>Name of a mountain range, assigned to the Black Forest<\/td><\/tr>
Marcianae silvae<\/td>Ammianus Marcellinus (4th century)<\/td>probably \u201cborder forest\u201d<\/td><\/tr>
Svarzwald \/ Swarzwald<\/td>Charter of the St. Gallen monastery, 868<\/td>first German form of the name<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Latin form \u201csilva nigra\u201d, by contrast, appears in medieval charters. This is stated by schwarzwald-geschichte.de. Whether this expression was already in use in Roman times is not documented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abnoba and the Marciana Silva: names from antiquity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Wikipedia, the name \u201cAbnoba mons\u201d is predominantly associated with the Black Forest. It is found in Pliny and Tacitus. According to schwarzwald-geschichte.de, Abnoba was a Celtic goddess whom the Romans equated with Diana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ammianus Marcellinus speaks of the \u201cMarcianae silvae\u201d. Wikipedia derives this from the Germanic word for \u201cborder\u201d. The Black Forest therefore probably marked the frontier region with the Marcomanni east of the Roman limes. This too is an interpretation, not an established fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why \u201cblack\u201d? Several explanations, none established<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The dark forest<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dense canopies let little light reach the ground. Anyone who experiences a large, sparsely settled wooded mountain range perceives it as dark. This explanation is the most widespread, but it remains a conjecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firs and spruces<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Today conifers shape the picture. However, according to schwarzwald-geschichte.de, the high proportion of spruce largely stems from reforestation in the 19th century, after many areas had been cleared. Deriving the name from today's spruce alone therefore falls short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A forest that has changed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The forest was not always as we know it. According to a specialist article by Helmut Volk (FVA Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg), the managed forest in the Southern Black Forest reached a low point around 1790 through intensive use. Around the Feldberg the proportion of forest was then about 30 per cent; pasture fields and Reutberge (hillsides cleared for farming) shaped the landscape. Today it is about 70 per cent there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forest and people: timber, ore and monasteries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The name tells only part of the story. According to Schwarzwald Tourismus, people penetrated deeper into the forest in the Middle Ages, among other reasons because of ore and silver; Irish and Scottish missionaries founded monasteries. Later, many trees were felled for shipbuilding and for charcoal. Especially large firs, the \u201cHoll\u00e4nder\u201d, served as masts for the Dutch merchant fleet and were transported on rafts down the rivers to the Rhine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The specialist article by the Forest Research Institute (FVA) also shows how strongly use shaped the forest: around 1790 the Southern Black Forest had many pasture fields, even on steep slopes. Coppice management ended around 1930. Today mixed forests grow there, with spruce, fir, maple, rowan and beech, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Black Forest in numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n