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The mighty Danube River begins in the hidden Black Forest town of Donaueschingen. It rises as a clear, three-meter-deep spring in the city center, surrounded by a stone basin with zodiac symbols. From there, the Danube - Donau in German - flows for 2,800 kilometers to the mouth of the Black Sea, passing the major cities of Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade.
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There is so much poetry in that journey from dark forest to dark water. But while my journey began at this blessed pool, where the Danube begins its eastward course, I headed in the opposite direction-into a part of southwestern Germany with which I was unfamiliar.
Although the Black Forest is prized for its unspoilt nature, sense of remoteness and vast mountains - green from top to bottom with snow-white scrub in the colder months - the region is easily traversable by boat all year round , by bicycle and with the Deutsche Bahn national railway. That's good news for those who like to discover a new place by train, because the most attractive railway line here - the Höllentalbahn - starts in Donaueschingen, before taking off 80 kilometers later in Freiburg, on the western edge of the Black Forest. One of the country's steepest routes, the Höllentalbahn, has an equally poignant translation: the Hell Valley Railway. And I knew I would love it.
It's a good time for train travel in Germany. Last summer, Deutsche Bahn launched a monthly subscription ticket for nationwide travel on local and regional routes for €49, while super-value fares for short distances cost €9.90 - and this will remain the case. According to Deutsche Bahn, car emissions allowances have since increased and passenger numbers on local services have risen by a quarter. That sense of lasting value was also visible on the Höllentalbahn. My entire ride cost €16, but I broke up the 90-minute journey with multiple stops along the way.
Before boarding, there was time to explore more of Donaueschingen. From the train station I followed the road to Haus Fürstenberg, following in the footsteps of Germany's last emperor, Wilhelm II, a regular visitor to the princely residence. The grounds are dotted with oaks and birches, and beyond the tree line the palace rises like a castle in the Loire Valley, with a top hat dome on its yellow facade. Inside there is a stately but nice museum, with a gold-plated travel jar that once belonged to Napoleon.
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The atmosphere on the lakeside is fiesta-like, with wooden-framed cuckoo clock shops and café owners offering frothy beer steins
Next door, taking over several city blocks, is Fürstenberg Brauerei, a baroque brewery palace from the 18th century. It was a little too early for a lager, but Emperor Wilhelm II loved it so much that the beer became His Majesty's official drink.
My journey on the Höllentalbahn began shortly afterwards, and after a quick transition from factories to farmland the railway soon found itself in the middle of the Black Forest. Forging a straight route through the undulating highlands was impossible in 1901, when the line was completed, so the Höllentalbahn dives and lurches like a heavyweight boxer. Slowly at first, but then with bursts as he passes several worthy stops.
The first of these is Titisee, a glacial lake from which, according to legend, newborn babies were born. Today, it's a popular escape for spa tourism from spring to fall, when visitors come to have their skin polished baby pink. But as the dark days turn into the snow of winter, Titisee comes into its own. It takes time for the lake basin to freeze, but when it does, the style and pace of life on the water accelerates, from relaxing boat trips that last until the end of October to ice skating at Christmas and New Year, when conditions are just right.
The atmosphere on the lakeside is fiesta-like, with wooden-framed cuckoo clock shops, café owners offering frothy beer steins and restaurant menus filled with the trappings of the season.
Since the lake had yet to freeze, I made do with a walk along the shoreline, after which I moved into the Seehotel Wiesler hotel. As I sat on the terrace overlooking the water, the owner's son-in-law, Fabian Isele, stopped by to offer wine and local wisdom.
"The best thing you can learn about the Black Forest is that nature rules," he told me. " Auerhahn [western capercaillie] live on the Feldberg. Wolves have returned, just like in a Grimm's fairy tale. There is still so much untouched by our hands."
The reverence for the forest and the creatures within it was also evident the next day in neighboring Hinterzarten, a short train ride away. Hinterzarten, the highest point of the Höllentalbahn (885 m), is the kind of village most suitable for winter. Chimney smoke swirled from old-fashioned farmhouses. Byres was ready with long hipped roofs to withstand the wind and snow.
A short walk from the train station, along a wide farm road, is the Ospelehof, one of the oldest stables in this forest. Martin Braun is a wiry fourth-generation farmer, dressed in lederhosen, who tends a butcher shop, cheese shop, guest house and restaurant that offers farm tours and raclette parties in the dairy below his house.
From the Hinterzarten saddle, the train plunged past waterfall cavities and took us over the stone arches of the Ravenna Viaduct
The warm basement environment of the restaurant provided relief from the cold and dry chill. Next to a copper kettle for churning cheese, woolen furs were arranged on the log benches, and cowhides and framed portraits of Martin's herd of Highland cattle hung on the walls. "I've always been a fan, but the topography is a challenge for them - and for me," he said. "This is a world of forests, after all." Together we ate a plate of intense cheese with garlic from the surrounding wild lands, and burgundy beef salami and ham produced in Martin's barn smokehouse. It was amazing.
The most memorable part of the journey arrived that same afternoon, when the railway crossed a landscape of striped hills with ravines and bridges. From the saddle of Hinterzarten, the train plunged past cascading waterfalls and took us over the stone arches of the Ravenna Viaduct, overlooking the narrow, deepening Höllental valley - hell, as early German visitors once called it, or Val d 'enfer for the French. . Contrary to this feeling of moving to the underworld, we had not fallen from heaven or earth. We had sunk only 400 meters.
As the sun began to fade, the Höllentalbahn began its final descent through tunnels and twilight-lit trees, making its final stop at Freiburg station on the edge of the Black Forest. Passengers meandered off to the twinkling lights of the Altstadt, the old town, beneath Gothic spiers and stone gargoyles, and I happily joined the crowds on the showpiece Münsterplatz, or Minster Square, enjoying a lager and a plate of roast goose and dumplings - a Black Forest dream. For many newcomers, Freiburg is a reverie of a city, and at this magical time of day, the highlight of my train journey felt - almost - like a fairytale ending.
Trip offered by Visit Germany. Double rooms in Seehotel Wiesler in Titisee by € 98 B&B and Park Hotel Post in Freiburg from € 149 guest rooms . Tickets for the Höllentalbahn can be purchased online (bahn.de). Trains from Eurostar, TGV Lyria and Deutsche Bahn connect Donaueschingen and Freiburg with London in less than seven hours (from £72, one way).