tale is existing about a red deer's jump across it. Behind the rocks with the ruins of Falkenstein Castle, the valley broadens out somewhat and provides more space for the houses and farms of Falkensteig. At Himmelreich ("Heaven") hamlet and its railway station, the valley abruptly opens up into the Basin of Zarten. Importance for transportation The great importance of the Höllental today for long-distance traffic crossing the relatively low-lying Hinterzarten saddle (about 910 m) was only achieved at significant cost. Initially, the cart track through the Wagensteige ("Wagon Ascent") valley to the north was more important. But by the 12th century, another track, the Falkensteige ("Hawk Ascent"), had been built by the dukes of Zähringen from Freiburg im Breisgau to Donaueschingen, through what was then called the Falkenstein ("hawk stone") Valley (Falkensteiner Tal), the present-day Höllental. The track was guarded at the exit to the narrow pass by the Falkenstein Castle ("Hawk Rock Castle"), but was later threatened, nevertheless. Not until the coach and the large bridle train of Marie Antoinette, which was to bring her to her future husband, the subsequent Louis XVI of France, had to traverse the route, was the track developed into a road. The Falkenstein Valley achieved fame again during the retreat of French troops under General Moreau in 1796, at the Battle of Emmendingen, and was referred to as the Val d'enfer ("Hell Valley"). As early as 1691, Emperor Leopold I had described the present-day Hirschsprung as die Höll ("hell", formerly also "hollow"), when he reviewed the defence of routes through the Black Forest. Even the name of the Ravenna ravine had French or other Romanic origins; it is related la ravine. The term arose considerably earlier because it was already in use by 1560. During subsequent work on the route, the gorge at Hirschsprung was successively blasted open. The level of traffic on the present-day B 31 has resulted in plans to replace the main road through Falkensteig, the gorge, and the bends at Höllsteig by tunnels. Since 1887, the Höllentalbahn (Hell Valley Railway) has passed up the gorge, initially using a rack railway system. The incline is 1:18 and it climbs a total of 441 m. The walking trail along the bottom of the ravine, known as the Jägerpfad ("hunter's path"), once belonged to the Freiburg-Lake Constance Black Forest trail (Schwarzwald-Querweg Freiburg-Bodensee), but this has been currently diverted over the northern