Heckengäu

Not far from the gates of Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Pforzheim there's lots to discover for avid natural history enthusiasts, while hikers or cyclists will find plenty of scope for exercise, gourmets can sample tasty dishes, "culture vultures" can stroll through old towns steeped in history, and visitors and locals alike can enjoy the wide range of activities on offer.

The Heckengäu region is a cultivated landscape formed partly by human beings and partly by grazing sheep. For centuries busy hands gathered stones from the fields and deposited them around the plot boundaries, creating stony banks on which hedges took root. These endless hedgerows are still today the most striking feature of the countryside. They gave the region its name (Hecke = hedge) and shaped the small-parcelled, cultivated landscape which has produced an exceptionally rich diversity of flora and fauna.