The Schauinsland (literally "look-into-the-country"; near Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany) is a mountain in the Black Forest with an elevation of 1,284 m (4,213 ft) above sea level.

Due to the high amount of silver mining, it was previously known as "Erzkasten" (literally "ore box"); the name "Schouwesland" first appeared in 1347.

The mountain is located roughly ten kilometres (6.2 miles) south-east of Freiburg's city centre.

During the lawsuit against the operating company, the Freiburg-based artist Richard Schindler wrote an expert report which is considered the first of its kind.

It is also referred to as "midwife's tunnel" due to the fact that around the end of the 19th century midwives, as well as the children of Kappel, used it as a shortcut to Hofsgrund.

[1] Since 1975, the Barbarastollen, a reconstructed part of the mine, has been used by the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Emergency Aid as a storage facility for Germany's archived materials.

On tours, visitors are shown a wide range of medieval tunnels and shafts from the final stages of when the mine was in operation.

The 12 km (7.5 mi) long route winds its way up public roads from Horben over the Holzschlägermatte to the cable car station at the top of the mountain.

A doctor from the Groddeck Hospital then tried to convert the building into a 48-bed rehabilitation centre, but this failed due to changes in health legislation and lack of credit.

In 2011, the Berghaus was acquired by three couples from Freiburg, who wanted to convert the building into a conference centre and holiday home in the spring of 2015.

Afterwards, the workers' welfare union ran the guesthouse as a conference and meeting place for groups for thirteen years.

The farm is located at 1,050 meters (3,440 feet) above sea level and can be reached on foot from the Hofsgrund church in 30 minutes.

From Freiburg (valley station Horben), the Schauinsland can be reached by Germany's longest cable car.

[3][4] During the winter time, every couple of years, the Schauinsland cable car can be used as a ski lift when ideal snow conditions permit.

Known as the "wild run", it is highly treacherous, being over 8 km (5.0 mi) away from the valley station, thus making it the longest ski-run in the Black Forest.

From the viewing platform, roughly 20 metres (66 feet) high, Mont Blanc can also be seen, which is not possible at the base of the tower due to the ski resort "Haldenköpfle" just in front.

It was already snowing when they left Freiburg, and despite several local people advising Keast not to walk on Schauinsland in such weather, they went on.

The observatory was founded in 1943 by the German Luftwaffe of the Third Reich to make the most accurate prediction of the ideal frequency for military radio communication by observing the solar activities.

Both this building and the solar telescope were built in 1943 and were used to observe the quality of the ionosphere for the purpose of military radio communication.

A measuring station for the permanent monitoring of the artificial and natural radioactivity in the atmosphere has existed on the Schauinsland since 1957.

Among other devices to measure traces of radioactivity in the air, the "Ortsdosisleistungs-Messnetz" and the supervision of the adherence to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) takes place there.

The Schauinsland is a very popular leisure area for Freiburg and the region as it is suitable for a number of outdoor adventurous activities including hiking, skiing and mountain biking.