Staufen im Breisgau, Germany: the wine town where Faust met the devil

On a building in the heart of Staufen, a mural shows a winged devil carrying off a man - a reminder that this little Black Forest town claims the real Doctor Faust. The historical Johann Faust, alchemist and necromancer, is said to have died here around 1539 in the Gasthaus zum Löwen, perhaps in an experiment gone wrong; the rumours of a pact with the devil fed the legend later immortalised by Marlowe and Goethe. A town of about 8,000 people in Baden-Württemberg, Staufen lies at the foot of the Black Forest in the sunny Markgräflerland wine country, about 20 kilometres south of Freiburg and some 60 kilometres north of Basel.

Above the cobbled, pedestrianised old town rise the ruins of Burg Staufen, a thirteenth-century hilltop castle sacked by Swedish troops in 1633 and left a romantic shell, its terraces giving wide views over vineyards and the Rhine plain.

Wine, silver and pilgrims

Staufen grew prosperous on its vineyards and on silver mined in the nearby Münstertal, and a golden scallop shell on the town hall marks its place on the pilgrims' road to Santiago de Compostela. Colourful half-timbered houses line the main street, while a town museum tells the Faust story and "Mephisto" leads costumed evening tours through the lanes.

A base in the southern Black Forest

Set where the Black Forest meets the warm Rhine plain, Staufen makes a relaxed base for the region: vineyards and wine festivals such as the August Markgräfler Weinfest, hiking and cycling into the hills, and the thermal spas of the surrounding valleys all lie close at hand.