Wutach Valley Railway, Railway line in Black Forest, Germany.
The Wutach Valley Railway is a railway line that runs 61.5 kilometers through Baden-Württemberg, connecting Waldshut-Tiengen with Immendingen. The track passes through narrow valleys and crosses several impressive viaducts, with Blumberg-Zollhaus serving as a special station that houses a railway museum.
The line was built between 1887 and 1890 as a strategic railway to enable military transport through the Black Forest region. Engineers designed the route with many curves and loops to keep the gradient below one percent.
Local residents call this railway the Sauschwänzlebahn, which refers to how it winds through the mountains like a curled tail. The name shows how people see the constant turns as a defining feature of the line.
Visitors can explore the railway museum at Blumberg-Zollhaus station, which displays historical locomotives and carriages from the line's past. The route remains active for train travel today, making it easy to experience the journey firsthand.
The line contains Germany's only spiral tunnel and requires 25 kilometers of track to cover a straight-line distance of 9,6 kilometers between Blumberg and Weizen. This engineering feat shows how builders solved the challenge of extreme slopes.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
