Schauinslandbahn, Cable car system in Black Forest, Germany

The Schauinslandbahn is a two-cable gondola lift running from a lower station at 473 m in the Bohrertal near Horben to an upper station at 1220 m below the Schauinsland summit. Its 37 cabins carry up to eleven passengers each over 3565 m of line, with a maximum span of 734 m between supports 6 and 7 and 67 m of clearance above ground.

Built to Professor Georg Benoit's design after three years of construction, the Schauinslandbahn opened on 17 July 1930 as the world's first continuously circulating cabin cable car. A 1932 cabin-hitching error that killed three people led to safety recommendations adopted in Switzerland and elsewhere. The city of Freiburg bought the line in 1968, and after a 1987 closure the ten large cabins were replaced by 37 smaller ones.

The line is run by VAG Freiburg, the city's tram and bus operator, and bus route 21 connects its lower station with the terminus of tram route 2 at Günterstal. In 2020, for the line's 90th anniversary, the Freiburg cartoonist Peter Gaymann decorated two cabins with chickens: one becomes a henhouse, the other shows scenes of daily chicken life. They entered service on 1 December.

The ride up takes roughly 20 minutes and visitors should bring weather-appropriate clothing since conditions at the top can be windy and cool. The system is straightforward to access and information about hiking trails and the surrounding area is available at the station.

The line is a two-cable circulating system with one carrying cable but two traction cables, a layout built to Professor Georg Benoit's design. Its longest span, 734 m between supports 6 and 7, lifts the cables 67 m above the ground. A mid-way tensioning station, looking like two joined pylons, holds concrete weights of 58 and 52 tonnes.