We, Len & Phyl Holder, have lived in the Black Forest since 1989, teaching English locally and, particularly in the summer months, welcoming holiday guests and seeking to provide for their physical and spiritual refreshment. In 1992 we began 'Haus Barnabas', which means the house of encouragement. In 2002 we were able to take over the former Gasthaus Engel in Utzenfeld to enlarge our work in partnership with Tim & Deb Brooks. The language teaching was taken over by Allen Broome in the 'King's School of Languages' in rented facilities near-by and Deb Brooks continues to work with Allen & Annette Broome in teaching English, German and French. Why not come for a language course and stay in Haus Barnabas? Len has a love for nature and particularly birds and by arrangement is pleased to hold evening sessions to talk about local birds and to lead days out in search of them. Tim has an interest in steam trains and history and sometimes arranges specific outings to visit sites of historical interest or to incorporate rides on the

Haus Barnabas, formally Gasthaus Engel, is a friendly, family guesthouse run by two English couples, Len & Phyl Holder and Tim & Deb Brooks. Our mother-tongue is English but we also speak German and Deb speaks fluent French. We are evangelical Christians and in this regard we offer morning devotions and a Sunday morning worship service for guests who are interested, but we are happy to welcome all guests irrespective of their personal beliefs. We are in a beautiful location, ideal for walking our Black Forest hills and valleys or touring southern Germany, the French Alsace and Switzerland. In winter the Feldberg ski slopes are only 30 minutes away by bus from the bus stop immediately outside our front door. The Konus guest card provides for free use of public transport and also some concessionary prices on local amenities. Many of our guests are English-speaking and in each guest room we provide detailed information about local facilities and places of interest with full details of accessibility with bus and train times. Our English guests marvel at the reliability and efficiency of the German public transport system!

Our village of Utzenfeld in the Black Forest is situated between the two small towns Schönau and Todtnau in the upper Wiese valley. Our local mountain is the Belchen with cable gondola taking you up to 1415 m with 360 degree views including on a clear day the Swiss Alp range. An hour's bus ride, (quicker by car), over the Feldberg mountain pass brings you to the delightful tourist town of Titisee with its lake for boating and swimming and a range of shops and eating places. Many guests return with a cuckoo clock in their bag! More locally, the town of Todtnau offers the amazing attraction of a 2.9 km mountain coaster (Rodelbahn) down the Hasenhorn mountainside and also one of the highest waterfalls in Germany. During the summer months guests can enjoy Schönau's modern open-air swimming pool set in park land for relaxing and playing, which is approx 2 km from our house. For winter sports our house is ideally situated for access to the main Black Forest ski slopes with a regular bus service to the popular Feldberg resort.