Donaueschingen lies on the eastern fringe of the Black Forest, on the river Brigach, which together with the Donauquelle ("Source of the Danube") in the Schlosspark and the Breg, which joins it below the town, form the Danube. From 1723 Donaueschingen was the seat of the Princes Fürstenberg, whose territories passed to Baden and Württemberg in 1806.
To the west of the church in Donaueschingen's town center is the Hofbibliothek, with a scholarly collection of books, a music collection and many old German manuscripts, including Codex C of the "Nibelungenlied" (13th C.).
On the east side of Donaueschingen stands the Schloss (originally Baroque; rebuilt in 1772 and again in 1893), with sumptuously furnished state apartments (tapestries; Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo furniture). The Schloss is open to the public from Easter to September; in October a festival of contemporary music is held here.
The Princely Collections features works of the Swabian masters of the 15th and 16th centuries. A notable work is the retable of the passion by Hans Holbien the Elder.
Southeast of the Schloss in Donaueschingen, in the beautiful Schlosspark, can be seen the so-called Donauquelle (Source of the Danube; "To the sea, 2,840km/1,765mi"), in an enclosure designed by A. Weinbrenner, with an allegorical representation of the Baar (the upland region between the southern Black Forest and the Swabian Alb) and the young Danube (by A. Heer, 1896).
Above the Donaueschingen Schloss, to the north, is the Karlsbau, with the Fürstenberg Collections (notable in particular for the fine paintings of the Swabian and Franconian schools of the 15th and 16th centuries, including works by Lucas Cranach, Hans Holbein the Elder, Matthias Grünewald and Bartholomäus Zeitblom; also natural history and folk collections).
To the west of the Schloss in Donaueschingen stands the Stadtkirche (St John's; 1727-47), in Bohemian Baroque style, designed by the Prague architect M. Kanka.
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