Wender·Vista
Freiburg im Breisgau
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileGermany
at the western edge of the Black Forest

Freiburg im Breisgau

— — a sandstone spire and shallow water channels.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A small university city where stone-bottomed Bächle still run beside the cobblestones, the old water channels of Freiburg, dating to the twelfth century. The Münster's single sandstone spire holds the skyline. Vineyards begin at the city's edge and the Schwarzwald rises behind. One of the sunniest places in Germany, and it shows in the colour of the wine.

from the studio
Freiburg im Breisgau
— bring it home

Freiburg im Breisgau, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Freiburg im Breisgau

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Freiburg im Breisgau sits in the Upper Rhine Valley in Baden-Württemberg, pressed against the western flank of the Schwarzwald. The Dukes of Zähringen founded the city in 1120 around a market. Today the population is roughly 230,000, swollen by students of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, established in 1457. The Schauinsland mountain rises to 1,284 metres at the city's southern edge, and the Kaiserstuhl vineyards roll west toward the Rhine. The climate is among the warmest and sunniest in Germany.

— the stone

The Freiburger Münster is built largely of red sandstone quarried from the Black Forest foothills. The single tower rises 116 metres and is considered by architectural historians one of the finest Gothic spires anywhere. Jacob Burckhardt called it the most beautiful in Christendom. Most of the structure dates between 1200 and 1513, the spire completed around 1330. The stone weathers continually, and the cathedral workshop has been replacing damaged blocks for seven centuries to keep the tower intact.

— the visit

The Münstermarkt fills the cathedral square most mornings except Sundays, selling wine from the Markgräflerland and Kaiserstuhl, Black Forest hams, and asparagus in season. The Bächle, narrow stone channels running through the old town, date to medieval times and once carried water for fire-fighting and livestock. Local tradition holds that a visitor who steps into one will marry a Freiburger. The Schauinsland cable car climbs to the summit in about twenty minutes from the city's southern edge.

— where
Germany · Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg
— elevation
278 m · 912 ft
— position
47.9959° N · 7.8494° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
20 km W
Kaiserstuhl
wine region
30 km E
Titisee
lake
50 km W
Colmar
town
70 km S
Basel
city
N
Freiburg im Breisgau
Kaiserstuhl
Titisee
Colmar
Basel
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Freiburg im Breisgau — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The Bächle are small stone-lined water channels that run along many streets of Freiburg's old town. They date to medieval times and once carried fresh water for fire-fighting and livestock. They flow continuously today.

The single sandstone tower of the Freiburger Münster rises 116 metres. The spire was completed around 1330, well before the rest of the cathedral. Architectural historians consistently rank it among the finest Gothic towers in Europe.

The Dukes of Zähringen founded Freiburg in 1120 around a market on the western edge of the Black Forest. The market charter shaped the city's grid, much of which survives in the modern old town.

Freiburg consistently ranks among the top two or three German cities for annual sunshine hours, regularly recording over 1,800 hours. The Upper Rhine Valley climate is warmer and drier than most of the country.

The Markgräflerland to the south and the Kaiserstuhl to the west grow Gutedel, Spätburgunder, and Müller-Thurgau among others. The warm climate and volcanic soils on the Kaiserstuhl produce some of Germany's earliest harvests.

— about the piece in your home

Many customers send these to former Freiburg students or family in Baden. The Münster spire and the Bächle are the city's two most-loved images. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note carries the place clearly.

The red sandstone tones and Black Forest greens sit comfortably in Alpine-modern, European-traditional, and warm-minimal rooms. The stained-glass facets also hold their own against deeper jewel-tone palettes built around oxblood and forest green.

Warm sandstone reds and forested greens have returned through the broader European-traditional and old-world-modern direction. The tile's Gothic architecture and natural palette read clearly within that movement without leaning kitsch.

A single Large reads cleanly above most consoles. Above a standard sofa, a four-tile Mural carries the wall; a nine-tile Mural fills a true feature wall. The spire composition holds at every scale.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and built for vertical installations: backsplash, shower surround, powder-room wall. Reserve the Glossy finish for framed wall pieces away from steam.

A soft microfibre cloth with water handles everything. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective finish, so household cleaners are unnecessary and the image will not fade with washing.

Yes. Every piece in the WenderVista atlas is curated and signed by Reid Wender from a single Knoxville studio. The art is not licensed and not reproduced from third parties; each tile is hand-finished in-house.

— if this one stayed with you

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